Court History
Ponosov pleaded not guilty in his first hearing.
On 9 January 2007, a second hearing was conducted in the town of Vereshchagino, Perm Krai before Judge Vera Barakina. The prosecution presented a bill of particulars as well as witnesses. Official representatives of the injured party, Microsoft Corporation, did not appear.
A third hearing was held on 29 January 2007. Official representatives of Microsoft regional dealer stated that the employee who had sold the computers with pirated copies of Windows was imposed a fine of 10,000 rubles (about 380 US dollars).
During the fourth hearing on 12 February 2007 Ponosov refused to apologize to Microsoft in order to settle the case. The prosecution demanded that Ponosov be fined 3,000 rubles (about $115). Surprisingly, Judge Barakina closed the case on February 15 "for insignificance"; this left both parties unsatisfied with prosecutors deciding to appeal, on the basis that the decision was "unlawful", while Ponosov filed an appeal, demanding a not guilty verdict.
On 27 March 2007 Perm Krai court set aside the decision of the court of first instance and remitted the case for reconsideration.
On 7 May 2007 the trial court found that Ponosov had caused Microsoft damages of 266,000 roubles and ruled that Ponosov was guilty while fining him 5,000 roubles ($194.4).
On 19 December 2008 Perm Krai court repealed the sentence of Vereshchagino's court and found Ponosov not guilty.
Read more about this topic: Ponosov's Case
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