https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCAL_YgYiP0

There is a lot about the history of digital piracy in there. Its a Defcon talk by Jason Scott who calls himself an archivist and historian of technology. Really funny talk as well, generally recommended :)

Edit: Maybe you meant his project textfiles.com? There is a big section about piracy as well: http://textfiles.com/piracy/

More like Russia probably. Oligarchic capitalism + christian fundamentalist values.