Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is deeply concerned with gates and walls again, this time ones that will be used to imprison a Russian teacher in Siberia. "We ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov," wrote Gorbachev in an open letter to Bill Gates.
On June 12th, 1987, president Ronald Reagan delivered a famous speech at the Brandenburg gate of the Berlin wall, saying "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!". Now the former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev
finds himself deeply concerned with gates and walls again, this time ones that will be used to imprison a Russian teacher in Siberia. The leader wrote an open letter to Microsoft founder Bill Gates to implore him to intervene on behalf of the accused man:
"A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps.
"We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers...and are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual property violations. However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov."
Microsoft responded that this was a criminal case initiated by the public prosecutor's office in Russia and not by Microsoft. A company statement said, "We are confident that the Russian courts will make a fair decision."
