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'Free Sklyarov' Protests Scheduled
After the arrest of Dmitri Sklyarov, the EFF has been busy organizing protests for next Monday - check to see if there's one near you. A Las Vegas TV station apparently managed to interview him, though I can't get their video feed to work for me. The free-sklyarov mailing list has been set up to, well, you can probably guess. Read their archives before jumping in. And website BoycottAdobe.org is an easy URL to remember. Alan Cox has resigned from the Usenix committee which organizes the annual Linux Showcase, citing concerns about DMCA enforcement in the United States. And finally, Professor Touretzky has built on his DeCSS Gallery with a Gallery of Adobe Remedies for showcasing methods to remove restrictions on PDF files.
Consider the civil-rights movement of the 1950s. Yes, the town fathers, the foreparents of the Liberal Establishment and the Right Wing nuts who run everything now, were embarrased; but the movement finally allowed Negros to vote and get real jobs. The Anti-War protests of the 1960s forced the goverment to abandon drafting 18 year olds and sending them to the jungle to fight VietCongs. The IMF/WB/WTO/G8 demonstrations are focusing on the government's willingness to violate the 1st Amendment and "crack down" on intellectual property violations but won't do a damn thing to promote child labor laws worldwide. Well, somebody people have to got to feel a little uneasy for there to be change. If it means screaming at a some tassle-loafered lawyer from the Department of Justice, so be it. To the streets!
In the 20th century, governments used the law to lock up people they didn't like. In the 21st century, corporations use the law to lock up people they don't like.
It is truly disheartening to see such mistrust and mental bluntness in your post. Those in the media (e.g. the Brokaws, Jennings, and Rathers) are not the ones who drafted the DMCA, but they are the ones who would be sympathetic to the miscarriage of justice being meted out to Mr. Sklyarov. As difficult as it may be to believe, inside the walls of the media houses are human beings who are sensitive to the suffering of other human beings. To say "fuck 'em all" and toss out any opportunity to use them to spread the message is dumb.
How do you think the public will understand your points? How do you think the public will see your protests? Who is going to explain it to them? These are the things you need to think about before you go off half-cocked.
Just take a deep breath and relax, try to think clearly about solutions, not about obstacles.
... try and keep is civil. Here is basically what I am writing to the powers that be at Adobe:
"To whom it may concern,
While I greatly understand the need to protect intellectual property, your persecution and the incarceration of Dmitry Sklyarov is beneath contempt and completely unjust. I also understand that the way the law is set up you have "legal" grounds to have him thrown in jail. BUT, should you have? All he has done is shown a hole in your ROT13 encryption (which, I have to say, is such a pitiful and painfully deprecated encryption method that I am aghast you employ it) and rather than acknowledging this, you've chosen to attack him.
Deplorable.
Please accept this as my own, not my employers, objection to your persecution of this individual and your draconian methods employed not only to him but others of late (yes, I use KDE and open source products for my own needs). While I certainly appreciate all your companies software offerings, your business practices leave little to be desired. Future software purchases will now be much more thoroughly considered when it comes to graphics manipulation and design within my organization."
Here is my take on the current Genoa protests. I believe the same outcome (aside from deaths) came of the WTO protests as well i.e. a blip on the radar screen of something that looked like anti-capitalism, soon forgotten. More than anything else that came out of the WTO riots was a deep mistrust of protesters. That's pretty counter-productive, if you ask me.
As for the planned protest, what will a bunch of geeks marching down the sidewalk symbolize? A grand unification of support for a fellow hacker? People have a mistrust of hackers and crackers and "security experts" as it is. How are you going to overcome that?
Besides, you can't tell the whole story of DMCA and Sklyarov and Adobe in the 6.8 seconds they interview you for the local evening news, can you? What are you going to say if they ask you questions? Hopefully everyone present will have something memorized.
People barely have an inkling of who Mumia is. Barely anyone knows or cares who Kevin is. It's almost certain that no one knows who Dmitri is. Unfortunately, taking a walk won't change that.
I'm not saying don't go walking. Protest if you think it will help. Just don't be surprised when your issue is turned into no more than a 15 second spot on the local evening news.
"From "the Snake" we will walk the two blocks to Adobe together."
Two blocks. I'm going to have to bring my rolling office chair, or I won't make it!
-BlueMoo
Protests are ineffective, if not counter-productive, in most cases. The thing to do is not shout and wave banners for a one time shot on TV, but to seek out mainstream journalists and get them to relay the Sklyarov story to a larger, more receptive audience. Here's the first mainstream opinion piece that I've seen so far. Get more attention paid to the issue this way and you won't need to dress up like turtles and attack police in riot gear.
...that thousands of Florida voters were turned away from the polls because their names closely matched convicted felons due to a "fuzzy database search?" You also realize that this technology was applied mostly in counties where the average income was low?
You should try to understand more yourself.
Well, the CIA hasn't butchered American civilians.
Remembering Waco, that's the job of the ATF.
Objectively, there was a tremendous conflict of interest in Florida that went entirely unaddressed. The world is still laughing at us. There are lots of issues behind the Florida election that the American press refuses to cover - the Brittish press is the place to start on the Bush/Gore election scandal.
Personally, I do consider myself a conservative, but let's face it, Bush is a troll. He is not concillatory in the slightest, even though his mandate was not as strong as his opponent in the context of the popular vote. Vindictive revenge is all that he shows to those who stand against him; he takes no prisoners. And yes, I voted for the bastard.
I am well aware of the definition of Banana Republic. With Bush's ties to oil, the similarities grow disturbing indeed.
Scopes remains a great example of what this culture ultimately thinks of science and reason: they are great things unless they interfere with our inhibitions. I guess that I am an addict of reason in most ways, and I don't like to see it abused.
For some, America used to be a great place to live. The rise of the special interests and their power to pervert the law of the land pretty much took care of that. DMCA is just the beginning...
And no, I don't think people should be so vicious with one another in the context of political dialog such as this conversation...
As I am not a US citizen, I do not have any rights to change anything in your country, although your power and attitude does influence what I can do. So I'm asking you guys to not sit back and relax reading your bill of rights but to stand up and try to do something with your alleged freedoms. If you think that such a thing cannot be done, please stop ranting about your freedoms as with that attitude you show that you do not have the freedom you think you enjoy.
I guess that I believe that you have a right to do anything that you have the ability to do - if you have the ability to bring my country to its knees, then you have a right to it. Of course, we then have the right to hunt you down and dismember you... (not that I personally would ever think of such a dark purpose for such an enlightened scholar as yourself)
I think this attitude is common to many US citizens, and is a particular facet of the "American Dream." Violence has always been part of this dream - we still idolize Andrew Jackson, for example, even though he brought calamity upon native americans. We hold reverence for a lot of butchers. We're admired simply because we've been on the winning side in a few major conflicts, among some other reasons.
Justifyable moral violence in the US is a delicate balance between butchery and good PR spin control within the confines of the nation. This doesn't make us good or bad; it just gives us a particular place and role to play for world events.
It's bad for tourism, though.
My government's unconstitutional enforcement of the DMCA is only one example of the blatant disregard for the rights and liberties of both US Citizens and foreign nationals.
We are no longer the land of the free. For your own safety, stay out.
Say, Russia, where a former KGB thug became president and is trying to suppress independent media (makes W. look stellar).
And this is different from ex-CIA director George Bush Sr. or his thug son in what way?
Oh, yes, GW Bush used his connections to steal the national election, then watched California plunge into the worst energy crisis of the decade while doing nothing because they didn't vote for him?
And we haven't degenerated into a banana republic? Hello?!
Or the Third World, where US companies- freed from our watchful government and Constitution- have dissidents murdered (Nigeria) or ethnic minorities massacred (Myanmar) by the local despots to pave the way for new pipelines.
Ever heard of Jimmy Hoffa?
I'll admit the US record on civil rights and liberties is spotty at best. In few cases, however, has the moral high ground failed to win.
Scopes monkey trial?
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Someone here obviously hasn't been paying attention.
Every country has its faults.
Is it illegal to break the encryption or to talk about how you did it? If it's former, he did this outside of the US.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
jcristof@adobe.com,
dstyerwa@adobe.com,
lvacante@adobe.com,
ablatchf@adobe.com,
skrueger@adobe.com,
gbabbit@adobe.com,
wsaso@adobe.com,
jwarnock@adobe.com,
cgeschke@adobe.com,
bchizen@adobe.com,
snarayen@adobe.com,
mdemo@adobe.com,
gfreeman@adobe.com,
cpouliot@adobe.com,
jstephens@adobe.com,
mdyrdahl@adobe.com,
lepstein@adobe.com,
lsellers@adobe.com,
blamkin@adobe.com
As well as the phone number (408) 536-6000
Your dad is probably not well informed on the subject -- on what Sklyarov actually did, and how that was illegal. If he was actually well informed, and the thinks that it was right that Sklyarov's actions were illegal then, quite simply, your dad is a fascist.
Because, if he thinks criticizing a product is itself wrong, and thus justly illegal -- well, that's just plain fascist. Or, even worse, if he thinks that it's simply wrong to do something illegal -- that the law defines morality -- than he is even more fundamentally fascist. To think that authority creates morality is... well, if that doesn't seem wrong to you already it doesn't much matter what I say about it.
And I'll clearly respond:
No problem.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
Who is responsible? If you asked Adobe's CEO, he would say: "I'm just doing what the shareholders want me to do; I have to maximize the return on their investment. DMCA may be ugly, but it sure is good for the profit prospects of us IP companies. My owners tell me to maximize profit, that's what I'm being paid for, and that's what I do."
And he's right: the ultimate culpability lies with the owners. The buck stops with the shareholders, nowhere else. Ultimately, owners are responsible for what is perpetrated in their names and with their money.
Do you own Adobe stock? Have you checked the holdings of the fonds in your retirement accounts lately? Before you go out and protest, shouldn't you maybe make sure that you are not protesting against yourself?
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i mean i know their money must come from somewhere, but i was under the impression that nobody actually buys photoshop. every computer guy i knew in college had a pirated copy of photoshop. it was even more common than ms office....
If I don't put anything here, will anyone recognize me anymore?
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"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Now, I'm not proud of the fact that the US is one of the most violent nations in the world -- I'm just pointing out that there's more to raw numbers of prison population than meets the eye. You can't simply conclude from the numbers that America is less free. I'd rather be in downtown Tokyo at 3am than downtown New York. Hell, I'd rather be in downtown Tokyo at 3am than downtown New York any time of day -- it's safer. There are more lawless nations in the world -- but not many industrialized ones...
Dealing with crime levels as high as the US has will naturally inflate these numbers...
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
I think it is a foregone conclusion that ElcomSoft will be releasing the source code to this program in any case. That is what they indicated they would do if Adobe were to try to make things more difficult for ElcomSoft. Unlocking a binary may be the least of the damage. With the source code it will be possible to produce versions for several other platforms.
This article is not yet in their top 10 list - only you can make it so :-)
Know why Adobe doesn't sell the eBook software in Russia (and several other similar countries)? Because Russian law requires that if they were to sell this software that utilizes encryption to "protect" the eBooks, they must make available a tool which allows the legal licensees of the software to make unencrypted backups of the eBooks. And because Adodbe does not sell the software in Russia but it is still possible for a Russian citizen to purchase the software, Elcomsoft is perfectly within their rights in Russia to sell a product that allows someone that owns the eBook software to make unencrypted backups.
While this might be a little immoral if used by the nefarious eBook warez kiddies out there, it is a precedent in the US to not deny legitimate access to a technology simply because it has a possible illegitimate use. Regardless, the creation and distribution of this software happened entirely in Russia and the US is way out of line on this one.
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
WTF does Linux have to do with this? There aren't any Adobe products for Linux. Be pretty damn difficult to impact Adobe sales on Linux products.
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
JAWS PDF Creator, which is every bit as good -- and in some ways better -- than Distiller.
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Besides, I think more conferences should be in Rio de Janiero, don't you?
And after that remark your dad proceeded to turn you in to the local police for owning an illegal copy of Photoshop?
You must have very silly discussions with your dad if "he did commit an illegal act" is about as deep as they go...
Erwin
The key is to include your full address, including zip code, and your full name. Then they can verify that you are a constituent.
However, I agree that snail mail is more effective, as are faxes, if only because it makes a hell of a lot more of an impression when your fax machine gets jammed with "FREE DIMITRY".
You can also call the US Attorney General at 202-353-1555 and demand that he end the prosecution of Dmitry Sklyarov.
Finding God in a Dog
Having just gotten through Amnesty International's rather scathing 2000 report on the US, I'd have to agree with you there. It's scary enough what happens to actual citizens, if you come here from another country you have even fewer rights. I'm not going to argue that the US isn't a safer place than say, Chechnya, but safety's relative. If you're going to be detained in a prison for several years while the INS determines whether you're a valid refugee, for example, you might be a lot better off somewhere else.
~ Leilah
Specifically, the part of the DMCA he's charged with violating 17 USC s1201(b), states,
(1) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that -
(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof;
The FBI saw Sklyarov's notice on the program that he was the author, and corroborated this with his presentation and actions at DEFCON. Essentially, by selling/offering the eBook processor, he's allegedly guilty of offering, providing, and trafficking in a circumvention device on U.S. territory. He was in the U.S., and was thus arrested.
This has been said in many other /. threads relating to political activism, but here goes:
Generally, email is an ineffective way of contacting many, if not most, Congressmen. For better or for worse, Congressmen attach less of a value to email than they do to regular postal snail mail.
Whenever you write your representative or senator, make sure you include your postal return address in their district. If you don't show that you're one of their constituents, your message will not be seen by anyone besides a low-level staffer or intern (who will summarily discard it).
Some good magic words to use (which are not always effective) are, "I am one of your voting constituents", and "I would appreciate the courtesy of a written response."
Also, form letters will get form responses. Brief, polite, but personal/unique letters get noticed (slightly) more.
I'll say it again: It's better to send snail mail. If you must send email, state that you're one of Congressman ____'s voting constituents right off the bat, and provide your snail mail address in the first paragraph.
It seems that whenever a company takes legal action against one person who cracks their lame "encryption", it backfires on them.
Ok true, it may backfire on them, but companies cannot simply let themselves be rolled over. It is hard to say what the appropriate action is in a case like this, but if they do not do anything about it, it is similar to not defending a challenge to a trademark. Maybe Adobe is doing the wrong thing by going after Skylarov... but they need to at least take some action, a more useful approach in this sense would be to improve the encryption perhaps?
prosebeforehos.com
Are you kidding? Violent protesters of Usenix? They probably couldn't get out of their chairs.
LaTeX? Lyx ? I can't think of any real direct clones of FrameMaker.
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Preventive War is like committing suicide for fear of death. - Otto Von Bismarck
I AM, therefore I THINK!
Maybe they just have something against you or your organization, Hilary :)
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
The fact that the Constitution itself does not grant copyright, but rather allows Congress to do so is beside the point.
The Constitution allows Congress to grant exclusive rights to authors and inventors for limited times to promote the useful arts and sciences. How long can long be and still be limited? Many people think that the current law is too long. What exclusive rights? The right to copy, derive, use, and distribute the author's/inventor's work. What if it actually harms the useful arts and sciences? That is the subject of two and a quarter centuries of debate (see also: Liberal vs. Constructionist).
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
Anyway, isn't this all unconstitutional? Maybe not. The constitution (Article I, section 8) grants authors and inventors "exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Seems like this could conceptually include access restrictions.
Remember that this bit of the Constitution that we're talking about is also the basis of patent law. The fact that this particular right has never been part of copyright law before now is irrelevant to the Constitutionality of the DMCA. It has been a part of patent law, meaning that Congress does have power over this right, and it is granted by the clause in question. They've just decided that copyright law needs it, too.
I think the first amendment issue is the direction to attack the DMCA. That and a demostrative example or logical argument of how the DMCA actually harms society. Here is one (taken from the Chicago Protest Information Packet, which I co-wrote):
"...the DMCA is materially harmful to society. Under the DMCA it is criminal to discover and openly discuss a flaw in a security system which is designed to control access to information. The net effect of this provision is that flaws in such systems are 'protected' from ever being fixed. The result is an accumulation of security systems which don't secure anything, due to their flaws, placing people at risk of such treacherous acts as identity theft and fraud."
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
..if a boycott of international conferences held in the US can be organised, this will certainly attract political notice that the DMCA is asinine.
Ensuring that all conferences are held in some other country outside the "land of free speech" would certainly highlight that free speech is not so free anymore.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Simply explain to your father that he is wrong, at least on the evidence so far.
Skylarov wrote and broke Adobe's encryption in Russia, where it is legal to make personal backup copies of everything. In fact I believe it may even be illegal to prevent such copies being made, in which case Adobe may be breaking Russian law, where I presume they have registered offices and thus can be charged and their company directors arrested.
Unless Skylarov wrote his program in the US he has committed no US crime. US laws should not be be enforced on citizens of other countries unless such crimes are committed on US territory. [there are exceptions to this, but copyright laws shouldn't be one of them].
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Hacker missing
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Poliglut
Here's a disturbing thought. Apparently, the feds wanted to make an example of someone to cow everyone into obeying the DMCA. They could have busted Professor Turensky(sp?) for his DeCSS gallery, or dozens of other people for making PlayStation mod chips, game copy protection cracks, Macrovision filters for VCRs, etc. But they picked Dmitry while he was attending and speaking at DefCon. I think this is because they could easily vilify him as an "EVIL RUSSIAN HACKER" to the press and to the courts, while they would have had a harder time vilifying a university professor. This smells like anti-Russian bigotry.
Meldroc, Waster of Electrons
This demonstrates yet again how political activism is the slave of the irrationalities of human nature: thousands of people knew this time last week, and last year, that the DMCA could and would be used for precisely this purpose (among others), yet waited until after it had happened to take up arms. It also demonstrates how badly the people who profess to lead the anti-DMCA camp need to learn the moves necessary to campaign successfully in the real, irrational world of politics. They should have been actively trying to force the DMCA's supporters into having people arrested. They should also have been trying to drill their lackadasical supporters into a properly effective grass-roots lobby group.
... that in the Gallery linked above, the key to unlock a $99 piece of software had been posted? Doesn't that strike anyone as being a bit ironic?
if( read(this) ) { you = programmer; }
"Hackers are bad. They are the cause of the high prices on CDs, videos, DVDs, books, tapes, etc. Poor starving artists. Evil hackers."
Adobe's insistance on the arrest has presented the opportunity to push our views of the DMCA into the more general public via the news media. What was an obscure little argument all of a sudden becomes cause celebre that needs to be exploited.
The MSNBC article makes the wonderful point that it is not the application on the law that is the problem, but the law itself.
America has advanced further into the realm of a corporate state than most people realized. What big business wants, big business gets.
This opportunity shouldn't be wasted with irrational rhetoric and ranting. If the spotlight of the mainstream media continues to shine on this issue, it should be used to show the DMCA for what it is -- a frontal assault by Corporate America on the Constitution and the Freedoms of our Citizens.
--
Charles E. Hill
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Several years ago? Didn't DeCSS come out around October, 1999, not even two years ago?
It does include the word adobe in the URL.
Plus Adobe's lawyers need something to do.
Yes, the new new economy: Why earn your money when you can sue someone for theirs.
Don't write in this space.
OK
And although this is not perhaps set out plain and simple in the constitution, DMCA is a redundant law (prior copyright statutes fully protect copyrighted material from unlawful reproduction and distribution, and anyone who is willing to create/distribute/consume bootleg whatever is also going to be willing to use illegal circumvention to serve their cause)
Note also that the application of the DMCA appears to be "corporate centric". Otherwise with both this and the DeCSS case the software authors would be perfectly justified persuing their own actions for "copyright infringement".
Believe it or not but Canada is the new land of the free. Canada has no DMCA or UCITA. Canada has no silly laws which allow people to be imprisoned for protesting against a cult such as Scientology.
It's even been known there for judges to tell the police off for arresting people who have comitted no crime...
They also appear to have a plan to deal with the WTO, move them to an island. Though it's not clear in the the warships would be to keep protesters out or keep the delegates in.
"Yes, speaking about security in broad terms should most certainly be protected. But specific discussions on how to break specific security measures ("she hides a key under the third garden rock." "his locker combination is 12345" "the bank's website can be hacked into just by XXXX...") is a grey area that is hard to say if it should be protected or prohibited."
Your example is more akin to someone giving out the registration keys to a program or handing out Quark dongles. Dmitry's case is more akin to creating a wire coat hanger. It can be used to hang clothes (although my mom didn't allow them) or they can be used to unlock your car door in emergencies (or someone elses).
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
I've volunteered to be the Minneapolis/St. Paul contact for the Adobe/DOJ protests this Monday.
Please send an email to freedima@underwhelm.org, or my qwest email listed above, if you are in the area and would like to help coordinate or provide services. The protest will be at the Federal Courthouse at 301 Robert Street in downtown St. Paul from 11am - 1pm.
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
The Minneapolis/Saint Paul protest will take place from 11-1 at the Saint Paul Federal Courthouse at 316 N Robert Street downtown.
Please contact me at freedima@underwhelm.org or at my qwest address above if you want to help coordinate or provide services, or have questions about the location.
Free Dmitry!
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
"Land of the fee, Home of the slave"
In reality, he (or any other European programmer) is no safer at home than they are traveling to the U.S., although I do suppose that being in jail closer to your home is somewhat comforting...
in the city he got arrested? Argh, I want to protest, but no protest is scheduled in vegas. Sigh. I was at defcon and watchched his speach about ebook stuff. Die Adobe Die.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
Didn't see this article mentioned. It cites an interview with Alexander Katalov, president of Elcomsoft and former KGB operative(!). Apparently, Elcomsoft has done quite a bit of work for the FBI itself, selling them, you guessed it, password-cracking programs. Now FBI is running around arresting its business partners. Sheesh...
Basically, what it does is add a provision to the US Code title 17 (the copyright section) which additionally makes it illegal to gain unauthorized access to a copyrighted work. Well, technically, it makes it illegal to "circumvent" a technological access control measure, but that's basically the same thing.
The thing is, there is an exception that makes it legal to breach COPY protection to excersize fair use right. But you still can't breach ACCESS protection, since, get this, there's no "access" provisions in the fair use section of title 17.
Basically what the DMCA does is convert copyright law into "accessright" law, or "controlright." Accordingly, we need additional provisions in the fair use sections to allow access for all the purposes for which we are currently allowed to make copies. After all, legal copies don't mean anything if they're still illegal to access.
Anyway, isn't this all unconstitutional? Maybe not. The constitution (Article I, section 8) grants authors and inventors "exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Seems like this could conceptually include access restrictions.
The only real argument I see is the "limited times" provision in that same section of Article I. As currently implemented, access control is permanent and irrevocable - there's no conceivable way to call this "securing [the rights] for a limited time." Maybe a judge could force them to insert an expiration date on their encryption, after which it would let anyone in. But other than that, the DMCA looks constitutionally defensible.
Counterarguments?
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The Boston protest will happen at high noon, downtown Boston. We're still working on the exact place. There's a mailing list set up for all those interested: send mail to dmitry-boston-subscribe@lm.lcs.mit.edu with the word "subscribe" in the subject or body to join. Archives are at http://lm.lcs.mit.edu/~cananian/hypermail/dmitry-b oston/. See http://freesklyarov.org/boston for latest news.
[
I cannot seem to reach the site. Has Adobe pulled the plug on them for trademark infringement?
It depends on what you are doing.
If you are using FrameMaker simply as a word processor, then replace it with a generic word processor -- I suggest abiword, but some people might go for OpenOffice. It doesn't matter as long as you can move documents from one to the other. Since most of the word processors are getting functions to import and export html, or rtf, for simple stuff everything pretty much works nicely.
But many of the people who use FrameMaker are using it in highly sophisticated ways. The data sheets that you see for electrical components might be partly automatically generated from test results. I once worked on a project which had a command set of data structures for interfaces between people's code; the integrator had a "Data Dictionary" document with tabels for each object, with the name and type and meta-data such as use, meaning, version introduced, etc. We could just edit this document, and then the integrator would use another tool to automatically process that document into the header files for the interface library. I complained about the system at the time, but it was actually pretty cool.
If you are doing that kind of sophisticated stuff, I suggest going with LaTeX, and scripts to create and parse it. But it is not going to be cheap switch. First of all, for standard monthly reports and stuff like that, you have to make templates for people to work from, which have any funky company mastheads or logos or whatever already in there. For linking the documentation and code, I suggest going the other way, and generating the documents from the code with doxygen or something similar. Automatic generation of graphs in a electrical spec sheet, for example, is going to require setting things up a bit.
It's unlikely you can dictate the switch. The first move on your part would be to install the alternatives on all the machines, to convince people that LaTeX and emacs or abiword can work on windows/mac/unix or whatever your machines are. Then you have to start using it yourself and make template documents so the switch will be easier for everyone else. Getting them involved in testing out stuff is good.
Make a big list on a whiteboard in your office, "Stuff I can't do without Frame:" Leave it up for a few weeks without saying anything then start crossing something off every couple of days and scribling a little note about how to do it in the replacement system. It's a lot of work if Frame is embedded into the normal flow of office work.
Like switching people away from windows to Linux, it takes two years or so, and often the best you can hope for is to get a subset of people using it for a subset of tasks, and by reducing the dependancy on a single package make you less prone to being screwed by a licensing or upgrade move.
But it's easier than convincing the people whom you buy parts from to starting using html instead of pdf for their datasheets.
Good luck.
Good question. Number one reason is that he's well known. It sounds impressive to say that the renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick could not crack your box, and says it's safe. Another is that he is a smart creative guy, I believe that breaking into a box is more about creativity then technical knowledge.
-Jon
this is my sig.
I met kevin in LA about a year ago, at the time he was very bitter about the whole ordeal, it's true, he can't use a computer. however he has his hands in anything with a IC that isn't a "computer". his car (a toyota mr2) is filled with gizmos, id like to tell you what but i'm not a ham radio buff, all i can say is lots of stuff with knobes and flashy lights.
Once he found out i worked at microsoft he started asking me all kinds of questions: what kind of security do that have?, how often do they change passwords, whats NT like? (seriously)
he's never heard of slashdot, he's never used NT, so yes, he is WAY out of the loop. however he is making a decent penny whoring his celibraty, he does talk at conferences, he does consult on security, this is actually how he makes his money.
-Jon
this is my sig.
That isn't to say I don't use their products, I just refuse to *PAY* for them :)
Free Techno/Jazz/DNB/MI Music by guys obsessed with monkeys!
The linked story above, From MSNBC is one of the better pieces I've seen. It rips on the DMCA as well as having all the facts together. Please go there and at the bottom is a spot where you can vote for how important this story was so that other people can see it. I think it's pretty important. Here's the info about the author: Siva Vaidhyanathan, a cultural historian and media scholar, is the author of "Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity." He teaches information studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
I don't mean to sound like I think his freedom should be taken away arbitrarily. To add to Jefferson's "Tree of Liberty" statement, the tree needs to be watered from time to time by individuals whose circumstances allow them (willingly or unwillingly) to test laws that our legislators pass. Especially asinine, corporate fear and greed driven ones such as the DMCA.
You're using her as bait, Master!
The people who wish to use and own a copy of his converter had to cough up money for the functionality. Just like the people who wished to do wordprovcessing had to cough up money for MS Word.
If I distribnuted the program for free, then his motivations need to be examined. What does this guy gain by breaking Adobe's encryption?
DMCA passed the Senate with a vote of 99-0. Meaning, with the exception of one guy on vaction, everyone voted for it. Including flaming liberals such as Paul Wellstone (D-MN).
I would suggest asking your rep exactly what they were thinking when they passed this law. Orin Hatch, who sponcered the freak'n bill in the Senate puts on a nice dog and pony show about how he "never intended for the law to be used in the way it's being used." However, for all the smiles for PR, our legistrators don't actually seem to be doing anything to correct the situation. Instead, I've got a lousy $300 check that will come to me in about three months. Keep the money and fix the problems.
Let's stipulate a couple things: 1) DMCA is the law of the land, like it or not; 2) There was sufficient probable cause that Sklyarov violated DMCA to warrant his arrest. If you agree to those two points, then his arrest was not unfair.
What is irrefutably unfair is his detention without bail. So what if there's a threat of flight? He's still getting worse treatment than many violent criminals, and that's what's inexcusable.
Then again, maybe it'll speed up the process of getting this to Rehnquist and the gang.
It seems that whenever a company takes legal action against one person who cracks their lame "encryption", it backfires on them. How many people have now copied Skylarov's work simply because of the action taken against him? How does this help Adobe? Lawyers...sheesh.
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
Anyone interested in organizing one in Toronto, Ontario, Canada? I'd make an effort to show up...
Quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Anything said in Latin, sounds profound.
Welcome to Canada, the new land of the free.
Quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Anything said in Latin, sounds profound.
This has to stop. Corporations are behaving like kindergardeners. As Americans, we pride ourselves saying that whoever is more creative, or is the hardest worker, gets ahead. But more and more it appears that whoever is the biggest bully in a meeting, or whoever pushes others around the most, gets what they want, even if it's not what the company or the customer needs. And now, at the very height of hubris, companies are having people arrested because we don't like them pointing out the flaws in our products...
Sure the job market sucks, but Engineers should simply walk out of these companies, en masse. I guess I'm just too proud to work for a company that follows these tactics. Maybe the company will say "sure, leave, we'll just hire new programmers," but we all know the learning curve cost of new employees - they'd be screwed. Clearly engineers are not the only important human assets that a company has, but it's just as clear that bull headed managers who lie, cheat, bully, and pad their golden parachutes so that they always get their way are indicative of the worst of short sighted American attitudes. If this country ever wants to truly be respected on a global scale, and once achieve feats of artistic and scientific greatness that are not simply fueled by the bottom line, someone needs to start setting an example.
To paraphrase Tyler Durden, "We enable your e-commerce, we set up your Stock Exchange Network, we build your military weapons. We are your engineers, your scientists, your software developers. Don't fuck with us."
tune
skkkoooonnnggggkkk ptui
"If their encryption is shit, you must acquit"
:)
Who's gonna start collecting for this?
We need one in Washington, DC!
The FBI's ugly headquarters building (often shown on the X-files) is located on Pennsylvania Ave., nine blocks from the Capitol building, and would make an excellent, very hi-visibility location! (Perhaps even the very best?)
Wasn't it the FBI that decided to act upon Adobe's complaint?
While I check on legalities (such as if permits are necessary), is anyone interested in attending there?
Whoohoo, I was just watch Tech TV and they flashed a screenshot of this very slashdot article while talking about the case. Too bad half of the colors are feces brown.
...with 500 proof-of-purchases from any ADOBE product.
:)
For the first 100 people we'll throw in 2 FREE MUMIA's and a FREE KEVIN
[Connection closed by foreign host]
I hear if you call Adobe they'll exchange that FREE KEVIN for an older FREE JAMES BROWN.
But the FREE JAMES BROWN is no longer supported, and only runs on Win95/98. There are no plans to cross-platform to Linux, either.
[Connection closed by foreign host]
How about in Russia?
It is ironic that the US fought the Cold War against Russia in the name of freedom.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Well, the boycott site got slashdotted but good... and it looks like the webmaster is currently on a plane. That being the case, I have mirrored it at www.viciousbastard.com until the tide has passed.
+++++++++++++++++++++
The Digital Sorceress
That the BoycottAdobe site is Made With Adobe GoLive (has button at the bottom as well). I mean:
<meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 5">
<title>Boycott Adobe</title>
If you're going to boycott Adobe, why support their software in this manner? Using it would be okay, but remove the Generator tag and take that button off the site at least.
Dragon Magic
Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different. -- Earl of Chesterfield
I question whether or not the arrest should have been allowed. I'm having trouble reading through the media spin, but it looks to me like he was arrested because he wrote a program to circumvent copy protection. Something the DMCA criminalizes in the U.S.. However, since he is a student at a Moscow university, it does not look to me like the crime occurred in the U.S..
More to the point, he was paid by his employer to do exactly what he did which is completely legal in his country. Not only that, but in his country allowing someone who made a legitimate purchase of a copyright work to make a backup is a requirement.
I'm afraid Alan Cox had it right. And I'm an embarrassed American right now. I urge every other embarassed American to sit down with a Pen and Paper and write their congressional representatives. Don't use email folks, too many zealots spamming hate have ruined that as a way to effectively communicate with congress.
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)
Yes, and that emphasizes Alan Cox' point: Anybody involved in making sure the protocols we use to communicate aren't owned by major corporations must stay away from the U.S.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
> Let's stipulate a couple things: 1) DMCA is the
> law of the land, like it or not; 2) There was
> sufficient probable cause that Sklyarov
> violated DMCA to warrant his arrest. If you
> agree to those two points, then his arrest was
> not unfair.
No; agreeing to those two points means agreeing
that his arrent not *illegal*. Not the same
thing.
Chris Mattern
check it out here. Keep rating it 7 to keep it at the top!
sulli
RTFJ.
www.BoycottAdobe.com is made with GoLive!
I agree.
No matter what political leanings, a spanish boy was shot today at the Genoa G8 summit, see CNN.
(oh, and your Score:0 == underrated).
...a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore ~H2G2
Not spanish but italian.
...a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore ~H2G2
..."free speech" or "free beer"?
The the opinion piece that the AC above linked to recieved- a beneficial slashdotting- a high rating. At the bottom of every article, MSNBC offers a chance to rate the article, and then view the top ten articles- by this system, the highest rated articles are read EVEN MORE.
I gave it a 7 out of 7, then went to the top ten page- and the piece was at the top, with a 6.64 rating.
This is the highest rating I've ever seen on that list, and it will make even more people, the non- slashdotters, read it- and It's a very good anti-DMCA piece, and we need more.
So keep going there, and keep 'modding' his piece up!
Incidentally, this guy is my new fucking hero, after the copyrights and copy wrongs piece, and this piece is even better.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
Well, surprise surprise, the video clip works on windows when viewed through IE (it tanked Netscape).
As to the content of the video, it appears to have been highly edited (there are several abrupt cuts). The interviewer seems to not be too well informed about the issues surrounding the case.
At one point she asks why he did it, since it's hurting another company and he knew it was illegal. He has to correct her and point out that in Russia (where he did what he's accused of), it's not illegal to do what he did.
She then implies that he must have known it was illegal in the US, to which he points out again that he didn't do this in the US, and, more to the point, it's not entirely clear that it is illegal in the US.
Then she basically asks him whether he thinks the law is constitutional and whether he'll get off (implying that his innocence would be a loophole rather than true innocence). All he can say is he hopes he gets off.
I've left out some details, but all in all it was about what you would expect. The interviewer seems to assume he's a shady character, and even seems to get annoyed at one point that he has a hard time following her questions. Hopefully some real news station can get an interview that shows both sides of the issue better.
You know, the one phrase I find absolutely jaw-dropping (literally) is "unauthorized reading". Top-secret, classified documents aside, what the heck is that?!!
~kSure, they're being correlated.
With security from something other than a lock, the lock becomes less important. Just like the modern man's skill in killing bears is much less than it was a hundred years ago--because there are other measure to protect him and his kind from bears.
*OF COURSE* a law like the DMCA causes security to be less; when done properly, it makes it irrelveant. The 'net would be a wonderful place if encryption wasn't needed--all of the resources devoted to encryption could be used on something else, and getting at your personal information would be much easier. (Of course, a world where everyone is beautiful and lives forever would be a wonderful place too, and just as likely to come about.)
On a final note, if you don't like what I say just skip it. People can and will say things that you disagree with, and even that you find quite offensive. But the appropriate response is to simply ignore them, or to correct them in a polite fashion. Not to call them names.
...your dad is lame.
"And like that
Differences in crime rates themselves can be indicative of some problems, though granted, not neccessarily to do with (lack of) freedom. I don't believe that the soil of North America makes otherwise non-violant people violent, so it must be something in the society that creates the monsters.
One of the possibilities is the socialistic perspective that the incredibly difference in wealth between the highest incomes and the lowest in the US (which is an order of magnitude larger then western european societies and again in the same league as third world dicatorships) is cause for violent reactions. But I don't think so.
The main reason is of course your war on drugs, which you incidentelly have enforced on the world. It is well known that drug-traffic and drug-use, once made illegal, is a very violent occupation (prohibition, anyone?). I think (but can't find a link) that this is the main reason you lock up up to 5% of your population (look around you, for every 19 people you see, one is rotting away in a prison somewhere). This *is* a freedom related issue, as you do not allow people to use substances that they obviously want. This is also related to a main point in my previous message, that your bill of rights does not neccesserily help in keeping free. You might be able to speak up, but there are consequences.
Suppose for instance that you want to lobby against the war on drugs. Would you do that with a few hemp plants in your basement or would you destroy those first?
You are now in the process of adding so-called Intellectual Property to the list of controlled substances. So next to the murderers, rapist and the recreational drug users you are going to add programmers, readers and music lovers to your prison population. If you want to speak up about this, do make sure that you wipe all illegal substances from your harddrive!
In any case, I do think that the percentage of imprisoned people is indicative of large problems in your society, but granted, not all of them directly related to freedom. It is however an interesting paradox that the US has a top-position in rankings designed to measure the wealth of industrial nations and at the same time has a top-position in many rankings designed to measure the the lack of rights and lack of development in third-world countries.
But that might just be coincidental.
So Russia has a former KGB thug as president and Berlusconi controls the Italian telecracy. Big deal, they still don't lock up and kill their population in the same numbers as you do. Think about it: three strikes and you are out! No judgement, automatic punishment. This is about the worst travesty of judgement that's currently in place. Most absolute dictatorships have more consideration about individual cases than you guys have.
I'm sorry to attack your country in this way, but you do have some serious problems that you people don't seem to be taken seriously. You contain 25% of the global prison population in your country, yet you dare to claim that your rights are stronger than in most countries. It might be such on paper, and you might be more free to speak up, but this kind of freedom seems to be used more as a way to shut you up (!) than as a way to influence how your country is run. You've got freedom of speech, but you don't have a right to be heard.
Anyway, this became more of a rant then I intended. It is just that I am really upset about this case. I just returned from a trip to the US, and as usual I'm happy that I returned in one piece. I need to go to the US from time to time for research purposes, but I am always rather frightened that some stuff I did that was totally legal in the countries where I live would be held against me in the US. This case again proves that this paranoia is quite rational.
As I am not a US citizen, I do not have any rights to change anything in your country, although your power and attitude does influence what I can do. So I'm asking you guys to not sit back and relax reading your bill of rights but to stand up and try to do something with your alleged freedoms. If you think that such a thing cannot be done, please stop ranting about your freedoms as with that attitude you show that you do not have the freedom you think you enjoy.
I'm a foreigner (an alien as your government likes to call me) and all I can do is to try and prevent some of the US laws to become law in my part of the world; this because corporate America is backed by the US government to make the rest of the world more like the 'land of the free'. I'm trying to prevent this at my end, I hope you guys will try to make your corner of the world a better place.
we shouldnt have to beg corps for justice
the people to contact are your lawmakers
the animal doesnt even have opposable thumbs, focker!
True, but it's not like it is a major difficulty in and of itself to find the DeCSS code somewhere out there. If nothing else, someone must have bought one of those 2600 DeCSS t-shirts.
Do you suppose, assuming Dmitri goes to trial, that they will make the same mistake and post the exact method of decryption in this case? Or can lawyers learn too?
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Actually, according to the DMCA, whether he gave it away for free or sold it, he was in violation.
.pdf files so you could copy them. He was charging for the converter. Although, if the encryption scheme really is as crappy as has been said, it's almost certainly overpriced. (But overpriced software is nothing new.)
And he wasn't charging for access to the e-Book reader. His program allowed you (as I understand it) to convert Adobe e-Book files to
However, in Russia, it is Adobe who is breaking the law with their e-Book reader because you cannot make a backup copy, which Russian law requires on any software.
Personally, I'm waiting for the Russian gov't to start the civil suit against Adobe for that, and then start another civil suit for all the crap that the Feds have been pulling on this one (Christ, the FBI has already screwed up so many times in the recent past, do you suppose it's on purpose?), and there's probably also going to be some interesting conversations in and around the White House about this before it's over.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
There isn't a general feedback option, but pick something.
Probably isn't the most constructive protest, but it sure is fun. Sorta like writing your congressman, you know he doesn't care what you say (unless you include a few hunderds, or maybe a couple thousand $100 bills), but you get to say something to his staff.
room101 -- how much can you stand before they break you?
(they always break you eventually)
I think your dad is right, even though his reasons for his stance may be wrong. The DMCA needs this kind of publicity and public outcry if it's going to be changed. Just getting the issue to the Supreme Court won't be enough - we need enough people outraged by it to keep Congress from passing another one.
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
..."free" Kevin Mitnick.
It's a curious point to see that, with the DMCA in place, large corporations are ready to threaten hackers/coders into submission in regards to the strength of their security rather than actually securing their products.
Adobe's format is extremely easy to crack. But the DMCA allows this, because you're not supposed to actually see how its security works. This isn't an open-source vs. closed-source argument, but security-through-obscurity falls especially flat if laws like the DMCA promote the use of bad security technology.
Mind you, the security technology that they're providing that is so poor is designed, in reality, to protect the company itself. So the companies are shooting themselves in the foot as well.
It's an interesting situation. This law not only provides a way to prosecute for something that should, arguably, not be illegal, but it promotes lousy security because we're all supposed to expect that nobody messes with it anyway.
Ok, realize that what you're saying doesn't really correlate. I'm not going to waste my time nitpicking, but I'll point out the biggest issue: Locks are not being made weaker. Software security is. There are examples. While you wish that your sarcastic little blurb would satisfy an argument as instantaneous proof, it's simply not correct. Right now, we have the DMCA. With the DMCA, we see weaker security in software with the idea that they'll just prosecute anybody distributing tools to break their encryption straight out of existence. Your argument doesn't hold water. You act as though I'm promoting not using locks because breaking in is against the law. It's not the case. I'm observing that people are not locking up their software, and inferring that it just might be because people who crack their software are being jailed and looked at as criminals. Please, if you're going to waste time here, just become a crapflooder or an obvious troll. It saves time on moderation and provides the ability to ignore you more quickly.
I've already emailed my congressman about this. The link to find your congressman is on the BoycottAdobe website listed in the above posting. I urge everyone to do the same. Let's get out of our cube's and get proactive about something for once. Change won't occur if no one goes ballistic on this one.
Music companies have begun secretly shipping compact discs with copy protection systems on them, preventing consumers from making legal MP3 copies. We can't tell which CDs will have the onerous code until we try to exercise out rights.
I think they are on to something...
--
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
You know... I think that you're a bloody fucking moron. But that's just me.... I don't know you personally or anything.....
I don't like your jerk-off name,
I don't like your jerf-off face,
And I don't like you, jerk-off!
Bloody 'ell. I'd be boycotting Adobe left right and centre if Photoshop wasn't the best image-editing program available on a WinXX platform. . . .Oh, wait. . . . Never mind. It seems I'm pirating it anyway.
/.-inclined person, really, who sees this as an unfair arrest. To the vast majority of the population this is either not news or just another person being arrested for something that he did that was illegal. It's going to take a lot of protesting and explanation before the non-/. audience truly believes that this is an unjust arrest.
But this is the thing. Whilst talking with my Dad about this, he made a few very valid points about the arrest. In his opinion, he should have been arrested since he did commit an illegal act. I personally don't agree, but I do see his point and can see how people can agree. It's only the
The scary thing is, Dad is not one of the average people who's of the opinion that the 'net is "scary" and that people who break even the smallest online law are "dangers to society and will be causing anarchy in a week". He does understand the web and I imagine he'd be more inclined to look at it differently than the common denominator.
- Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
What if your congressman is Gary Condit? We all know how useful HE is. ;)
Article:
Alan Cox says it's not safe to come to the US.
My post:
Where should we go?
Two crack-head moderators:
Offtopic!
Some days it's harder to karma whore than others.
--
Yes, the nick is flamebait
Of course, this raises the issue of where Usenix should be holding its conferences. I don't think Sealand is big enough. Besides, you pretty much have to go through the UK ("please hand your crypto keys to the immigration officer") to get there.
--
Yes, the nick is flamebait
I think Adobe should be aware of the number of concerned individuals. Some contacts at Adobe (listed on http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/prcontac ts.html) include:
Adobe Community Relations Ginny Babbit gbabbit@adobe.com
Adobe Public Policy Autumn Blatchford ablatchf@adobe.com
Adobe Investor Relations ir@adobe.com
Adobe User Forums (located on adobe.com) may be found here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?.ee6b30e
Any other contacts at Adobe I missed?
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
to the United States of Attorneys,
the land of the free*
----
* if you are a lawyer
I just ordered that my group no longer use FrameMaker. We generate the basic R&D that drive the company, so everyone expands our specs. What is the bet alterative to FrameMaker?
OnOn
Gotta love it when the MPAA lawyers admitted DeCSS into the proceedings without marking it sealed so as to keep it out of the public eye. So now thanks to the MPAA their quest to make it illegal to post links to DeCSS was made moot by their idiot lawyers who just stuck it in the public record instead. Tho, I'm not sure if it is still so. They may have finally sealed it, but by now it is surely waaaaay too late.
It sure seemed like "Several years ago", by the way media keeps making it a bigger deal than it is.
I remember when DeCSS first came out I never heard about it. I learned of it, in an MSNBC article several years back. They were talking about how "evil" it was, how it would be used for piracy etc etc. I can't remember exactly, but I could've sworn they even posted a link in their article?!! They said it was a "mirror" that was disconnected by the authorities. Much to my chagrin, it was actually a working link, so I hurried and got it :)
;) Same shpeal about it being used for piracy etc etc. Again, I never heard of it at the time, and this time they didn't have a link, but it took all but 2 seconds to find it on the net.
:) I would say the same about MP3, but I guess I was so removed from society, I actually knew about it before the media did. But then again, thats what being a college student strapped for $$$ will do to you ;)
Then a year later they had an article on DiVX
So if it wasn't for the media hooplah, I never would've found these great technologies
Anyways, getting back to my point, you would think that the media would figure out that whenever the media talks about something that we shouldn't have, the masses are going to try to get it before the media can finish their sentences. Then again, some media corps are so far out of the loop, they are just now talking about DiVX and such, as if it came out yesterday or something. It also cracks me up when yet other media corps are so into getting a news story, they don't bother to do any research, and they report half truths and sometimes don't even get the facts straight, and just plain spread lies/rumors.
Isn't his company charging money for the ebook decryption tool. So if this is not ok with adobe doesn't this seem wrong. If he was giving it away that would be fine. If he was providing information or instructions on how to do it, it would be fine. Isn't charging for access to someone else's product kinda uncool?
...Slashdot effect...
An optimist believes we live in the best world possible; a pessimist fears this is true.
Christ, at the inintial EFF meeting the other night in SF there were 'Free Dmitri' signs out front, I think that's much catchier than 'Free Sklyarov', don't you? At least 'Free Dmitri' is pronounceable by Westerners....think like marketing people for JUST a second, please.