A Russian schoolteacher who became a popular hero after he was put on trial for using pirated Microsoft programmes has launched a campaign against the software giant's global domination.

During his trial, Russian media portrayed Alexander Ponosov as a hero in a David-and-Goliath battle against big corporations. Russian President Vladimir Putin and ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke out in his support.

Ponosov announced on Tuesday he is founding a lobby group whose aim is to reduce Russia's dependence on software produced by firms like Microsoft and instead promote so-called open-source software.