Experts Lash Out at Microsoft Monopoly
By Yekaterina Dranitsyna
Staff Writer
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For The St. Petersburg Times
Microsoft’s monopoly is taking away revenues from Russian developers.
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Russian private companies, state bodies, associations and individual PC users are getting increasingly dependent on software provided by American IT giant Microsoft — a dangerous and expensive luxury for a country that is to join the WTO, experts said at a meeting at the Rosbalt new agency on Friday. The recent case against Alexander Ponosov, a school principal in Permsky Kray, accused of piracy after buying 16 computers with non-licensed software for his school, has given the issue wide coverage in the Russian media. Ponosov could spend five years in jail and be charged over $10,000 for copyright violation. When Russia joins the WTO, copyright regulation will become even stricter. Given the high levels of computer piracy in Russia, any company could be charged with violating copyright law and using pirated software, if competitors suggest to law enforcement authorities that they check the software, the experts said. Though blaming piracy, they focused on the threats associated with Microsoft’s monopoly and discussed whether Linux or other open source operational systems could rival the giant. “Competition between schools for a better education should be fair. Abuse of intellectual property rights has become normal practice in Russia, while schools aim to teach moral principles,” said Andrei Lovyagin, deputy of the St. Petersburg legislative assembly. In St. Petersburg the situation as regards schools is rather favorable. A city government decree has ensured that since 2005 local schools have been supplied with licensed Windows software. This year 264 million rubles ($9.96 million) will be spent on that purpose, Lovyagin said. “This complete dependence on Microsoft is a deadlock. I do not agree with this policy. We think of our informational safety and the need to use informational systems with open codes,” Lovyagin said. Other participants listed the disadvantages of using Microsoft software. “Nobody knows what is hidden inside those programs with closed codes. Developers are based outside Russia and all the money goes to other countries,” said Pavel Frolov, director of Linuxcenter company. Oleg Sadov, technical director of Linux Inc., said that all large web servers use Linux because of its better infrastructural solutions. “Linux software consists of separate components that may be assembled in a way convenient to each particular company and its particular purposes,” he said. And Linux does not suffer from computer viruses, he added. However other experts were more cautious about the prospects of Linux. “Any operation system is good in an appropriate environment. Windows is good for game lovers. Linux could take its place in education or industrial production,” said Filipp Torchevsky of Sun. He called for more diversity. “Interest in open source software emerged three to four years ago. At the moment the Central Bank of Russia is discussing the installation of open source software, which offers such an organization undisputable advantages,” said Kirill Stepanov, technical director at Novell company. However Stepanov doubted that open source software would become a mass product in the foreseeable future. “Both types of product could coexist,” he said, noting that Novell distributes Microsoft as well as Linux and other open source systems. Vitaly Kuzmichev, development director at Lynx BCC, spoke out against making a fuss about open source software. “You can either use it or not. I personally do not think that Linux is user-friendly or convenient,” he said. “As for safety, obviously, we should create our own infrastructure. We could build it from scratch or use available open source software and improve it,” Kuzmichev said. Kuzmichev forecast that in the future IT services would become more important than software infrastructure. “Just as when some cellular operators grant you a handset when you get a subscription, software service providers will be interested in universal hardware and software,” he said.
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