When
the independent television outlet Stan TV was raided
by Kyrgyz financial police on April 1, authorities claimed they were
investigating the use of unlicensed software. The timing of the raid implied a
different motivation. As CPJ reported at the time, the
day before, the Kyrgyz courts had shut down the pro-opposition newspaper Forum.
In the previous month, two other newspapers, Achyk Sayasat (Open Politics) and Nazar (Viewpoint), were suspended for allegedly insulting the now-ousted
president, Kurmanbek
Bakiyev. The regional news Web sites Ferghana
and Centrasia were blocked as well. Stan
TV was in the midst of covering the growing opposition in the country, and the
raid effectively silenced the station.
Selective
enforcement of alleged software infringement is being used with some frequency in
the former Soviet republics as cover to harass independent media. Local law
enforcement officials have been given broad powers, in the name of fighting
piracy, to raid premises and seize hardware. For the most part, Western
companies and governments have encouraged this broadening of powers—but they
have not insisted on checks to ensure such powers are not misused. As a result,
abuses of power are being committed in the names of those companies.
Stan
TV employees told CPJ that police were accompanied by a technical expert, Sergey Pavlovsky, who claimed
to be a representative of Microsoft’s Bishkek office. According to the
journalists, Pavlovsky said he had authorization papers from Microsoft but was
unwilling to show them. After a cursory inspection of the computers, they said,
Pavlovsky declared all of the equipment to be using pirated software. Stan TV’s
work computers, as well as the personal laptops of journalists, were seized; the
offices were also sealed, interrupting the station’s work.
As Jeffrey
Carr reported on his Forbes’ blog
today, Microsoft later said that “the raid
against Stan Media was initiated by the Kyrgyz police without any involvement
from any Microsoft employees or anyone working on Microsoft’s behalf.” The
company acknowledged that personnel involved in the Stan TV raid had
represented Microsoft in previous “enforcement actions.”
As president
of the Kyrgyz Association of Rights Holders of Intellectual Property
Protection, Pavlovsky has frequently spoken in the region on behalf of
companies like Microsoft. In 2007, he spoke of his work detecting and pursuing the
users of pirated Windows software. Kyrgyz law requires that a copyright holder
initiate a complaint before financial police will investigate.
CPJ
has documented previous occasions in the former Soviet republics in which authorities
used Microsoft’s name in pursuing independent media. In November 2007, the Samara
edition of award-winning Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta was effectively shut down due to
accusations that the company was using unlicensed Microsoft software. And in
February 2008, two Russian newspapers, Tolyatinskoye
Obozreniye and the
St. Petersburg weekly Minuty Veka, had their computers seized on
suspicion of infringing on Microsoft products. The editor of Tolyatinskoye
Obozreniye said she showed police the licenses for her computers, but she was
ignored.
The
close cooperation between law enforcement and multinational companies gives
prosecutors valuable cover for politically motivated seizures. It also has
damaging consequences for the software and media companies who are being used
as an excuse.
While
Microsoft officials were not explicitly consulted in connection with the raid
of Stan TV, the company cannot be surprised when the president of an
organization ostensibly protecting the company’s interests in the region—someone
with whom they have worked in the past—claims that he is acting on their
behalf.
At a
time when other rights holders are lobbying for stronger international
copyright enforcement provisions, notably through the current negotiations over
the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement,
they should also understand the damage such broad powers can have in the wrong
hands.
Software
piracy is a legitimate and widespread problem in many parts of the world,
including the former Soviet states. But rights holders like Microsoft need to
actively condemn the selective use of their name, and work to prevent their
local representatives from being used in politically motivated attacks.
The
political balance has shifted in Kyrgyzstan over the past week. After the
ousting of President Bakiyev, Stan TV told CPJ that its computers were returned
without explanation and that no charges were filed. The channel has resumed
broadcasting. Whoever finally takes the reins of the Kyrgyz government,
however, will still retain extraordinary capabilities to disrupt the media—and
the temptation to use them in the name of protecting well known companies and
brands.
