Court Orders New Trial of Perm Territory Teacher

PERM. March 27 (Interfax) – A court in Perm territory has annulled a lower court’s ruling against school director Alexander Ponosov, who is accused of using counterfeit computer software.

The territorial court ordered the case be returned to the Vereshchaginsky district court for new hearings by another set of judges, Ponosov’s lawyer Vladimir Bobrovsky told Interfax.

The prosecutor’s office had demanded the invalidation of the Vereshchaginsky court’s ruling and new hearings by another set of judges.

On February 15, the Vereshchaginsky court decided to close the case of Ponosov, who was charged with using unlicensed computer software, due to the insignificance of the offense.

The verdict was appealed by both sides. Ponosov’s lawyers insist on their client’s full acquittal due to the absence of any crime. The prosecutor, for his part, demands a guilty verdict for the school teacher and a fine of 3,000 rubles.

An inspection by the prosecutor’s office revealed that unlicensed copies of the Windows program had been installed on all computers at a school in the village of Sepych. According to experts’ estimates, the use of the counterfeit software cost the producer more than 250,000 rubles.

A criminal case was opened based on charges of a large-scale violation of copyright and associated rights.

School director Ponosov has pleaded not guilty and insists that the prosecutor’s office has interpreted the Criminal Code’s article on violations of copyright and associated rights incorrectly.

The computers already had the software when they arrived at the school, he said.

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