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Say Here Why Sklyarov Should Go Free
Skylarov's fate has significance far beyond encryption programs. It goes directly to the very idea of security online, of hacker exploration, the open sharing of software processes, and to the creativity and challenge that is at the heart of the Net. This process of sharing, exploring and challenging is one of the primary reasons for the Net's growth, from gaming to messaging to system software to open source. This case also involves the future of copyright and intellectual property. Sklyarov is in jail because of a poorly-conceived provision of the DMCA written by entertainment company lobbyists that goes far beyond existing copyright law.
Sklyarov violated no aspect of traditional copyright law -- only the outlandish provisions of the DMCA. His behavior is similiar to that of many journalists and critics who, over the years, have obtained secret, classified or copyrighted corporate or governmental information to expose flaws, weaknesses or more serious forms of wrongdoing. Few have been arrested and thrown in jail. The federal courts have always taken the view that the greatest threat to freedom is the unchecked power of large institutions, from governments to auto manufacturers. In a sense, the future of Net security depends on people like Skylarov probing for weaknesses and flaws. Whatever his motives, Sklyarov's behavior was in this protected tradition.
Even if Skylarov is freed tomorrow, his arrest and persecution will chill criticism of corporate products and power, and threatens the survival of individualism online. This is a major escalation for increasingly aggressive and monopolistic tech and media corporations, some of which are aggressively moving to control content and communications. Copyright is their new wedge. This criminal case should be dropped, and Sklyarov freed.
My opinion is that the case should go to trial. I'm not for the DMCA, but this would give it a test case in court, and if the ruling goes against the DMCA (and it should by all rights) then that would help to get it changed or revoked. Eric Gearman
Atomic batteries to power! Turbines to speed!
Copyright laws were introduced to make sure that people did not sell items with copied material in them, originating from someone else. However, if someone publishes a book on how something works, based on their research and their disassembly and their reverse engineering, they should be free to do so. Copyright is the idea protecting ideas from illict reproduction, not from informative deconstruction.
The equivalent is Chilton's Car Maintience guide company being sued because they explain how a GM 305 engine works.
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
A court case like this over the DMCA would almost certainly get overturned (of course, IANAL, but this is IMO). However, a Russian would have to wait in our federal jails until the whole process is complete. We could be talking years. I would be more inclined to want the case to go to trial if an American were in jail. And no, it's not so an American can be the hero, but because he/she will be closer to home and would most certainly be treated better.
FBI web readers take note: I am almost inclined to heavily study encryption, reverse engineer some stuff, and publish it on the web just to say, "Come and get me, let's go to trial and get this sh*t over with." I have no immediate family, so I'm almost tempted to do it.
Developers: We can use your help.
Unfortuneately, he who can afford the biggest lawyer generally wins. Money is known as the universal lubricant for good reason. The war between legality and "basic human rights" (or what keeps the most people from living like slaves), has been historically lost with phrases like "for the good of the people". That said, the main reason that this should be thrown out BEFORE it gets to the criminal trial stage is that having the trial in the first place would lend legitimacy to the charges. The laws of ANY country are supposed to reflect the will of its citizens. Individual citizens (in this and other countries) are being sidelined in favor of corporate citizens (not people, but legel entities). Remember that our legel system can bring justice just as easily as it can fortify oppression. My two centi-Euro's(TM)...
I agree that Skylerov is not being served justice, but perhaps his sacrifice can bring about change to the ill-devised DMCA.
This needs to go to a court where technolegy isn't veiwed as a yoke to assist in our daily lives. My hope is that the lawyers and judges on this case can see technolegy as the last great American Freedom. Skylerov's actions were to free restrictive and narrowminded technolegy to empower people to use the product in question, not to promote pirecy or theft of a product.
I can only hope that thi is the death knel for the DMCA I hear on the horizon and not the sound of the big business gestapo making sure that their power isn't lost.
Case 1: Sklyarov writes a program which demonstrates the lack of security in a programs piece of software. This shows that the developers of the software have to rewrite their code to fix this problem, this also prevents consumers from buying faulty software which could leak important information.
Case 2: Consumer Reports buys a car, test drives the car and tips it over. They publish a report showing that the car is defective. The cars engineers have to redesign the car and this also prevents consumers from buying a defective car and injuring themselves.
So when Consumer Reports announces that a car is defective, how come they don't get arrested and jailed? They are releasing information against the companies interests in order to protect consumers, damaging the companies reputation and sales of the car. I'm sure any company would want to prevent this information from being released. Sylyrov was not arrested for reasons of immoral acts or destructive behavior. Sklyrov was arrested because he released information that was against a companies interest in order to protect consumers, and the company used a new law which applied to this type of information to prevent it.
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Sklyarov did nothing beneficial for society
Tell that to the blind kids who couldn't read/hear Adobe's books.
Nice troll.
Adobe's implementation of the EBook standard allowed publishers to prohibit the printing of validly purchased EBooks. Obviously printing a lawful copy of an EBook for reading while in the bath or on the patio is a Fair Use. Adobe's scheme prohibited that fair use. The Advanced EBook Processor broke Adobe's encryption scheme and allowed lawful owners of EBooks to print them for reading someplace else other than at the computer.
Reason: Skylarov works for a /company/, right?
/employee/ of a /company/ that produces the the code that is under question. Apart from the obvious that Elcomsoft is a Russian company, since when are employees of a company criminally liable for what their company does? Since he's been arrested does this create a precendent that programmers working for a company could be jailed if their /company/ products "violate" the DMCA?
If I understand correctly, Sklyarov is an
If he can be jailed for writing an E-book format reader, can programmers at Corel, Sun, etc be jailed for writing an MSWord reader? (If modified rot13 can be called encryption, one would certainly imagine that a binary format like msWord would fall under the "encryption" category - how is "encryption" defined in the DMCA?)
This could set some scary precendents.
Is the only response I can think of. My understanding is that he was arrested for actually selling the software at defcon. If so, that is a violation of the DMCA. Like it or not I think we would all agree on that.
It's a bad law. What can you do about a bad law? Since it's an unconstitutional law what we can do is put forth a test case that gets to the high court where it gets thrown out. that requires someone to be arrested, charged and supported all the way to the supreme court. We could also get it repealed by congress, but I don't think that is likely. Congress no longer represents US citizens and and has already showed their distain for the constitution.
Dimitri is a cruel test case. He's a foriegn national. He wrote a program that not only is legal where he lives, but without which the Adobe software is itself illegal in Russia. Most important, this is not his fight - it's ours. Send him home. This behaviour makes many of us ashamed to be Americans. Send him home. Use any excuse you have to to cover your collective asses. Say you are releasing him as a gesture of goodwill to Russia for releaseing that drug dealer they sent back to the US this morning. Just let him go.
You can take me instead. I don't think I've violated the DCMA recently but I'm willing to. Get me a copy of this software and I'll happily sell it to an FBI agent. I'm a US citizen, even when you make me ashamed to be. It *is* my fight, for good or ill. I've got a wife and kids that depend on me, just like Dimitri, but that's the way it shakes out sometimes.
Who's with me? The Ghost of Henry Thoreau is calling.
garyr
-- your Web browser is Ronald Reagan
I have a suspicion about why Dmitri was kidnapped by Adobe's fbi thugs. A FulBright scholar from Connecticut (US) named Jack Tobin has been sitting in a Russian prison, held on charges that seem equally suspect. It may be that Sklyarov is simply being held hostage in order to secure Tobin's release. If that is the case, The US (in)justice system is conducting a hostage for ransom scheme.
It looks like Tobin will be released soon. If Dmitri is released soon after, then there could be a connection between the two kidnappings.