NYC LOCAL: Free Dmitry Sklyarov Rally to be held Monday 23 July 2001 in New York City
secr...@lxny.org
Demonstrations to be held Monday in over 20 cities worldwide
against the arrest of Russian programer by FBI
New York Protest will be in front of the New York Public Library
on Monday, 23 July, on 5th Avenue between 41st and 42nd, at 12 noon.
====================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT INFORMATION:
LEONID GORKIN
509 E 78TH STREET, APT 6D
NEW YORK, NY 10021
212 794 1565
LGO...@EXCITE.COM OR LGOR...@NYC.RR.COM
TELL THE TRUTH, GO TO JAIL
RALLY FOR DMITRY SKLYAROV
(NEW YORK CITY, 22 July 2001) Last week, at the request of The
Adobe Corporation, Dmitry Sklyarov, a cryptographer, was arrested
and handed over to the federal prison system. The alleged crime:
He presented his research at an information technology industry
conference in Las Vegas. Mr. Sklyarov's analysis revealed that
Adobe uses a weak security architecture in its e-book product.
This sort of independent critical review is a normal and
necessary part of establishing the credibility of claims made
about a security enabled product. This act of revealing flaws
in a product was once legal in the US, but now, thanks to the
controversial 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) it
is a federal offense.
Citing the DMCA, the Department of Justice charges Mr. Sklyarov
with trafficking in a "circumvention" device. In other words,
software that makes it possible for people who have paid for
a book to then read that book: Another thing that was once
legal in the US.
The DMCA is a fatally flawed piece of legislation. It is
tailor-made law, bought and paid for by the publishing industry.
It was sold as a measure to 'protect copyright holders' but as
implemented it will destroy libraries and remove the written
record from the public domain.
The fight to transform the DMCA into a law that balances
the needs of society with the privileges granted to copyright
holders is being led by the the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In a July 20, 2001 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft
the Executive Director of the EFF, Shari Steele, wrote:
When the DMCA was passing through Congress in 1998, the
copyright industry promised it was needed as a shield
for protection. Now as law, it's used as a powerful
sword to squelch speech and competition and kill fair
use. Congress never intended for the DMCA to destroy
fair use, in fact it expressly tried to protect it.
But there was no protection for Mr. Sklyarov. Unable to
strike at Elcomsoft, a Russian company that sells a decoder
for e-books, Adobe Corporation convinced the FBI to attack
Elcomsoft's employee, Mr. Sklyarov. In response to the outrage
sparked by the arrest, Adobe Corporation has offered to meet
with the EFF on Monday, presumably to find a way to free
Mr. Sklyarov. However, the government is not obliged to
dismiss the case should Adobe ask it to do so.
New Yorkers (no affiliation with EFF) will demonstrate their
support for Mr. Dmitry Sklyarov in front of the New York Public
Library on Monday, 23 July, on 5th Avenue between 41st and 42nd,
at 12 noon. The message is simple: Free Dmitry!
More information can be found at:
1. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/
2. http://www.freesklyarov.org/toadobe.html
3. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45298,00.html
4. http://lwn.net/daily/alan-quits-als.php3
5. http://www.freesklyarov.org/
6. http://www.boycottadobe.com/
7. http://www.shrouded.net/nmdmitry.htm
8. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/reuters-sklyarov.txt
9. http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sklyarov.htm
10. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/chicago-protest-information.txt
11. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/sklyarov-chi-press-release.txt
12. http://www.elcomsoft.com/aebpr.html
13. http://www.elcomsoft.com/AEBPR/PDFSecurity.pdf
14. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/
15. http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/0034.html
16. http://www.ala.org/
17. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html
18. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/index.html
19. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/faq.html
20. http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2c/20010314_b2c.html
21. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ds-defcon2/ds-defcon.html
22. http://www.visi.com/~tneu/voidwhereprohibited.html
23. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
24. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/Graphics/
------------------------
Here is the same list with some small comments to
introduce each URI:
Another day on the job
1. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/
Letter from an Adobe fan
2. http://www.freesklyarov.org/toadobe.html
That chilling effect...
3. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45298,00.html
This one's already chilled
4. http://lwn.net/daily/alan-quits-als.php3
"This is America?"
5. http://www.freesklyarov.org/
Hit 'em where it hurts
6. http://www.boycottadobe.com/
New Mexicans act up
7. http://www.shrouded.net/nmdmitry.htm
The news wire
8. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/reuters-sklyarov.txt
The charges
9. http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sklyarov.htm
These guys are better organized then we are
10. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/chicago-protest-information.txt
And their press release is better, too
11. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/sklyarov-chi-press-release.txt
That pesky Russian company. In addition to the uses cited in the
complaint there are a number of uses mentioned that call into
question the "primary purpose" of the "circumvention device"
as claimed by the FBI. It looks to me like the primary purpose
is to enable all the traditional fair use activities for e-book
content.
12. http://www.elcomsoft.com/aebpr.html
Ooops, looks like someone comitted a thought crime!
13. http://www.elcomsoft.com/AEBPR/PDFSecurity.pdf
If Touretzky can publish with impunity why persecute Dmitry?
Is it a case of "programming while Russian?"
Note that Touretzky gives it all away: Both the decoder
and the full-function key. Note also that this does
nothing for you unless you have paid for the e-book.
14. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/
Professor Bryan Pfaffenberger's excellent article:
"In this essay, I'll argue that Sklyarov's case proves beyond any
doubt that the DMCA should be overturned by a high court action."
15. http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/0034.html
The librarians
16. http://www.ala.org/
Fear of librarians
17. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html
"Participation will be mandatory"
18. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/index.html
"We don't believe you won't like it"
19. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/faq.html
"In fact, two-thirds of all respondents were 'not at all likely'
to purchase an e-book"
20. http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2c/20010314_b2c.html
More thought crime
21. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ds-defcon2/ds-defcon.html
"What if..."
22. http://www.visi.com/~tneu/voidwhereprohibited.html
Stallman saw it coming
23. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Dmitry Sklyarov's family
24. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/Graphics/
--- END ---
<credits>
The New York City press release was written by Vagn Scott, with free
advice offered by me, Leonid, lo, four Joes, Jan, jk, Ruben, and some folk
whose names are now lost to me in the echoes of howls and yowls on the
nylug-talk list.
Thanks, Vagn!
</credits>
Gandalf Parker
> Adobe Corporation, Dmitry Sklyarov, a cryptographer, was arrested
> and handed over to the federal prison system. The alleged crime:
> He presented his research at an information technology industry
> conference in Las Vegas.
Damn these things are getting worse and worse. First they just leave out things
like selling the software from a US site, then they blatantly try to say that his
crime was speaking at DefCon.
That law sucks but this feeding the fire with misdleading crap doesnt look good
for any of us.
Gandalf Parker
Isaac
>secr...@lxny.org wrote:
>
>> Adobe Corporation, Dmitry Sklyarov, a cryptographer, was arrested
>> and handed over to the federal prison system. The alleged crime:
>> He presented his research at an information technology industry
>> conference in Las Vegas.
>
>Damn these things are getting worse and worse. First they just leave out things
>like selling the software from a US site, then they blatantly try to say
>that his crime was speaking at DefCon.
>
That's all true, but apparently he's the copyright holder of the program
which he wrote in Russia, and which the company he works for sells. Is
this enough to make him a criminal in the US?
Isaac
John Hasler
> That's all true, but apparently he's the copyright holder of the program
> which he wrote in Russia, and which the company he works for sells. Is
> this enough to make him a criminal in the US?
No. Only a criminal conviction can make him a criminal in the US.
However, being listed as a copyright holder plus his public statements and
the fact that he is an employee of the company that sold the software was
evidently sufficient to convince a judge that the government should be
given a chance to prove that he was involved in the sale of the program in
the US.
--
John Hasler
jo...@dhh.gt.org (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI
Isaac
>Isaac writes:
>> That's all true, but apparently he's the copyright holder of the program
>> which he wrote in Russia, and which the company he works for sells. Is
>> this enough to make him a criminal in the US?
>
>No. Only a criminal conviction can make him a criminal in the US.
Fair enough.
In the US in a similar situation, I guess an employee wouldn't be
the copyright holder, but I don't know that "work for hire" doctrine
is a typical part of copyright law elsewhere. Other countries include
moral rights that might include the right to be named as the author
even if you wrote things for your employer.
>However, being listed as a copyright holder plus his public statements and
>the fact that he is an employee of the company that sold the software was
I'm not sure what public statements you are refering to, but arresting
him as an employee of a company pretty is fairly mind boggling even
if his statements were in support of what his company did. All of
Dmitry's documented actions would have occured in Russia right?
It does of course matter what he did say. Are there statements
indicating he was the cause of his employer's actions? Is he an
officer in the company?
>evidently sufficient to convince a judge that the government should be
>given a chance to prove that he was involved in the sale of the program in
>the US.
I think that's a fair conclusion.
Isaac