Russian headmaster Aleksandr Ponosov, who was found guilty of pirating Microsoft products, has escaped a five-year jail term and been freed by a Russian court. 

The case came to international prominence after Mikhail Gorbachev, former head of the Soviet Union and Noble Peace Prize winner, asked Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to intervene personally.

Subsequently Vladimir Putin, the current Russian President, said that the prosecution should not go ahead.

Microsoft had stated that it could not get involved as it was a case for the Russian legal system.

Vera Barakina, a judge in a regional court in Vereshagino, found Ponosov guilty of having 12 computers that contained pirated Microsoft software worth $9,700.

But in a surprise ruling she described sum as "insignificant" compared with Microsoft's revenues, and freed the defendant.

The prosecution has said that it will appeal against the decision, claiming that Microsoft's revenues and profits had no bearing on the case. This is an argument often used by pirates, but which has had little judicial support so far.

The case was seen as an important test of Russia's commitment to intellectual property rights in light of its wish to join the World Trade Organisation.

The country's authorities have already agreed to go after pirate download site AllofMP3.com.