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That is all good advice, but we should remember that Baikal Environmental Wave, which is the main focus of the article, did have genuine Microsoft software, inc

That is all good advice, but we should remember that Baikal Environmental Wave, which is the main focus of the article, did have genuine Microsoft software, including receipts, boxes, and stickers on their computers. Yet their computers were seized for five months and meanwhile Microsoft denied to help them prove that the software was genuine. What is upsetting is that Microsoft is helping the authorities when the targets of these anti-piracy raids clearly is on organizations and journalists that peacefully oppose the Russian authorities in some way. They may run only legitimate software but still a raid is carried out. 'Mr. Kurt-Adzhiyev said he now realized that the authorities were not so much interested in convictions as in harassing opponents.'

motters 16y ago
Yes, which means that the raid and confiscation of computers, etc, isn't really about copyright enforcement but about grabbing data, making data unavailable for use, or otherwise as the article suggests causing general hindrance. Verifying the legitimacy of Microsoft software, as far as I'm aware, is a fairly trivial matter of checking serial numbers, so this isn't something which would require computers to be seized for significant periods of time, or necessarily even moved from their desks. That Microsoft declined to facilitate the checking of serial numbers after claims of piracy is reprehensible, and all the more reason not to use their software in the first place.