Lake Baikal

Post date: Sep 15, 2010 5:3:51 PM

Russia Uses Microsoft to Suppress Dissent

The group, Baikal Environmental Wave, was organizing protests against Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s decision to reopen a paper factory that had polluted nearby Lake Baikal, a natural wonder that by some estimates holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh water.

Instead, the group fell victim to one of the authorities’ newest tactics for quelling dissent: confiscating computers under the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software.

Link to New York Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/world/europe/12raids.html?ref=russia

Valeri Nistratov for The New York Times

Microsoft Changes Policy Over Russian Crackdown

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY

Published: September 13, 2010

MOSCOW — Microsoft announced sweeping changes on Monday to ensure that the authorities in Russia and elsewhere do not use crackdowns on software piracy as an excuse to suppress advocacy or opposition groups, effectively prohibiting its lawyers from taking part in such cases.

Link to New York Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/world/europe/14raid.html?ref=russia

Life in a Siberian Factory Town

Published: September 12, 2010

Over the centuries Lake Baikal has inspired wonder and, more recently, impassioned activism.

Link to slideshow

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/09/12/world/0912IMPUNITY.html