Undercut by Microsoft, Russia Drops Piracy Case

The authorities have dismissed software piracy charges against one of Russia’s most well-known environmental groups after Microsoft indicated that it would no longer support the case.

The police in the Siberian city of Irkutsk raided the offices of the group, Baikal Environmental Wave, in January and confiscated 12 computers, all but paralyzing its operations. Investigators said they believed that Baikal Wave had unlicensed Microsoft software on its computers, but the environmentalists said the motivation was entirely political. The authorities dropped the charges after The New York Times published an extensive account of the case on Sept. 12 that prompted Microsoft to overhaul its policies in Russia.