Sklyarov Bail Hearing Monday

mr_don't writes: "I just saw that the Electronic Frontier Foundation has just posted an Action Alert entitled "What YOU Can Do To Help Set Dmitry Sklyarov Free" ... Around 11am on August 6, 2001, at the San Jose Federal Building, Dmitry is set to have another bail hearing in front of Magistrate Judge Edward A. Infante. Protests are planned to coincide with the hearing. I hope as many people as possible can come to the demonstration... Help the EFF pack the courtroom during the hearing." A short article in the Mercury News mentions the hearing too, as well as the half-million dollar, five-year penalty that could be imposed.

Comments

The point

[4n0nym0u53 C0w4rd]

I think it'll take a good deal of work to get the media (and thus, the public) to understand that this case is different from the typical "evil hacker" story. In general, when somebody gets arrested for some type of computer crime, we hear stories about how they "broke in" to top secret systems, intent on destroying or stealing valuable data and wreaking havoc on the poor victim. In this case, it has to be made very clear that this guy did something that was legal where he lived, then came to the US to do something legal, and was arrested. (An excellent example of both time-shifting and space-shifting if I ever saw one).

Second, it should be made very clear that the original complainant, Adobe, has stated that they don't feel he should be charged.

The third point that should be made is that this tool only works for people who have purchased the book, and it allows them to remove certain restrictions, e.g., reading their book on a different computer.

Perhaps what this movement needs is a blind person who uses the tool to enable the read-aloud function of adobe reader to work...

I wish the best, and if you go...

[eXtro]

I wish the best for Dmitry, unfortunately he's learned first hand that the United States government has become nothing more than the enforcement arm of the largest U.S. corporations.

As angry as people may be, understand that while showing up and showing support is great, doing so improperly will only hurt Dmitry, the EFF and the cause you may be trying to support. Don't provide ammunition for companies like Adobe, no matter how tempting it is. Be civil, be courteous and be well spoken if given the opportunity to speak on television, radio or even to the public. Don't alienate the public. Most of them couldn't care less about this case. If people can appear as reasonable citizens then the publics support has a better chance of swinging our way.

Ultimately this is a case for the courts I suppose, but public opinion is important.

Skylarov being used

[tbo]

Skylarov has become an unwilling pawn in a political game. In two earlier posts, I talked about why Skylarov shouldn't be made into a posterboy for the anti-DMCA lobby. A bunch of people replied, saying that no such thing was happening, and that the protestors were just trying to get him free.

Then I see this post, moderated up to 5, Insightful, saying that we shouldn't free Skylarov early, because he's more valuable as a weapon against the DMCA if he's in jail. Don't you just love all these people are willing to sacrifice an individual in the name of "individual rights"? What a bunch of fucking hypocrites.

DMCA isn't (or shouldn't be) Skylarov's problem. He's Russian, not American, and he didn't vote for the politicians who passed DMCA. Sacrificing him to fight it is just plain wrong. Maybe, if he was American, we could justify such a sacrifice as "his duty to the country" or some such other nonsense, but this is just sickening.

To all those fighting to free Skylarov, keep up the good work. To the rest of you, maybe it's time you gave things a good long thinking over.

Re:Cut the bullshit

[Anonymous Coward]

Dimitri broke no law, American, Russian or otherwise. One simple reason: the DMCA is not a law.

The U.S. Constitution lays out clearly the process for something to become law. It also gives a specific set of powers and a specific set of limits to what things can become law by proclamation of the U.S. congress.

Some of the things in the DMCA are outside of what the U.S. congress has the power to declare law.

Talking to Congress about repealing the DMCA is nonsense; they have no such jurisdiction either to declare the DMCA void or true. It is outside of the scope of their powers.

The judiciary branch is what should be concentrated on right now, because they are the ones charged with interpreting what is and what is not law. Clearly, several segments of the DMCA (either through vagueness or malice) go outside of the bounds of what the U.S. congress has the powers to do, and it is thus the jurisdiction and the obligation of the U.S. courts to strike the bill down.

Congress should be talked to, but mainly for the purpose of ensuring that they do not attempt to pass such non-legally-valid bills in the future. Not to undo the damage caused by the DMCA, because there is no damage. That isn't their business. There is no law.

And if the courts and the american people decide to lie to themselves and say that the DMCA is a law, then we are all doomed.

Oh well.