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Sklyarov Case Exposes DMCA Contradictions
aePrime writes: "This article on the New York Times describes how the case against Dmitri Sklyarov is bringing up some contridictions within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. One is allowed to bypass security measures to backup data, but one is not allowed to write the software to bypass the security. It mentions how this first case to be prosecuted under the law may indeed cause changes to the law." A lot of bad laws have stuck around for longer than the DMCA has yet, but the more this kind of analysis is seen, the sooner sanity can be restored.
Of course, the NYT isn't going to mention that he rotted for two weeks without bail. The FBI and it's corprate backers know they may not win the legal battle, so they gotta try to scare the hell out of the tech crowd too...
This law has been around for three years now, and I don't think it's likely to dissappear in any shorter time than that. The Skylarov case is certainly going to be a landmark one, which means that it will almost certainly see the Federal Appeals Courts, and, if they grant it considerations, the supreme court. Boucher ammendment aside, I know that there are those among us who will continue to argue that outlawing the writing of code is a violation of the first amendment to the U.S. Consitution ("The Congress shall make no law . . . . abridging the freedom of Speech or of the Press . . .").
At least they finally let him out on bail. My lord he looks tired in that picture.
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Of course most people would not be using the Linux client to crack unauthorized emails but to access ones addressed to them. And of course the Linux client is not really the crucial part here, since Bob could conceivably have used the MS program -- it was the interception that was wrong. But the RIAA, MPAA, and other evil acroynyms have been arguing that a single infringing use -- even one entirely hypothetical -- is enough to open the developer to charges or suit under the DMCA.
The DMCA is a bad law because of its creeping featurism. In the 21st century, copyright law will become one of the major areas of law at all.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
a couple of Americans have been arrested in recent history for being there at the invite of Russia, and doing something that the local officials weren't informed of or just plain didn't like.
Of course, the two that come to my mind have been cellular phone techs spotting sites for cell phone towers, somehow being arrested by the local mafioso^h^h^h^h^h6h^hmilitary commanders for "spying", and essentially being held hostage for "bail"^h^h^h^hransom.
While sort of a big stink was made about one of these incidents in San Diego, because it was a Qualcomm engineer, I think it eventually played out when QUalcomm paid the bribe, the engineer returned to the US to face charges "later", which were probably quietly dropped some time later.
You can go through the same thing yourself if you want, too! Just go to any country other than the US. Do something silly, like try to sneak a handgun across the border into Canada or Mexico will do. If you get across, then sort of publicly display it on yourself, and then whine incessently that "I'm and American!" and "I won't pay their illegal bribes!" after you get arrested and thrown into jail, where at least in Mexico, you have to prove your innocence.
At least don't be so stupid as to try it with heroin in the Phillipines or Singapore or any other Islamic-ruled nation...
While reading over the stories surrounding this case for the past few days, I am reminded of the situation with the US Spy Plane earlier this year. Americans were being held in a foregin state, against their will, and for reasons which were debatable. Isn't the United States being the pot that calls the kettle black, here? Come on, what's the deal? I live in and love most things about this country, but when something like this crops up, it makes me sick to think of the people who drempt up such a convoluted thing as arresting a foreign national on disputable grounds... especially (and this is probably the biggest reason) because a large corporation is wetting its corporate pants. The hypocricy in this country, and around the world, needs to stop.
Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.
What international law is the USA violating? Please tell me, I'll add it to the next letter I send a politician about this. And I realize the DMCA may be an unconstitutional law, but unfortunately the system is built to allow such laws to pass and requires that court cases be tried in order for the judicial branch to find otherwise. Generally laws are only subject to judicial review after such time as they have been enforced. If not, they should be, since issuing injunctions against the enforcement of laws until such time as they have undergone judicial review is in itself a subversion of the Constitution (as it essentially adds another layer to the veto process).
Given the enormous attention given the civil case of the MPAA vs. 2600, and the civil case of the RIAA vs. Napster, one would have to assume that at some point the criminal portions of the DMCA would be enforced as well. I'm guessing that Adobe, as part of their discussions with the FBI, made it clear that they were having a hard time suing a Russian company for violating the non-Russian DMCA by doing something that is entirely legal in Russia, but here was an opportunity to hold the perpetrator accountable by the only means pragmatically available according to the DMCA. Obviously the Feds bought it, since Dmitry is still in jail. Or maybe the FBI was just frustrated that it couldn't find anyone else to arrest at Def Con. In which case, you're probably right. It was completely arbitrary.
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You know, it occured to me over the weekend that the present spate of bad laws are based on the assumption that corporations have an entitlement to make a profit on distributing things digitally. And it's that sense of entitlement that results in laws that violate our constitutional rights.
Why don't we chuck out the sense of entitlement, and the laws trying to enforce it, and just tell businesses that if they want to be profitable in the cyberage, they need to come up with a business plan that actually works in the cyberage.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
"Ms. Samole said she ended up downloading a pirated version of "Fight Club," which is how she intends to obtain her movies in the future. "I'm completely alienated," she said. "I'm never going to rent a DVD again." Hmmm... thats what people will start doing.. something akin to civil dis-obedience. Nothing would be more frustrating than not able to watch the DVD you bought.. and only a fool will make the same mistake again... Those morons are going to dig their own grave... meanwhile i am going to shrug the atlas and sit back and watch them die.
Well yes it does, but it wouldn't be right now would it? Regardless of whether or not you agree that the NYT should be requiring a registration, if the NYT wants to make sure people register to read their article then linking to the article that requires registration is just the polite thing to do.
Sigs are awesome huh?
What I'm wondering is, what exactly do they want with Sklyarov?
I mean, he broke *US LAW* whilst IN RUSSIA... and now they're prosecuting him in the US.
After taking that into account... what do they hope to achieve? Its unlikely that he has much money that anyone can sue him for... so they just want to keep a prisoner, basically?
What if Russia arrested and held an American for breaking a Russian law whilst in America?!? I bet there'd be a helluva lot of demands going on by the US.
The US seems to have a lot of double standards in terms of what it expects from other countries contrasted with what it allows other countries.
The DMCA is only part of the deal.
While I agree with you, I also want to remind that Dmitry did not have any choice as far as I know, which pretty much does not make him a hero
While it does not make him a hero, it does make him a Martyr, which I am sure means nothing to him, but to us it is everything. Every oppressive government fears is a Martyr, because they can be a powerful figure to rally around, and this is what turns a few peasents into a fanatic army.
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power - Benito Mussoli
Most interestingly, manufacturing a circumvention device for use in your own home is still illegal under the DMCA. It allows their use for security research and backup purposes, but not their manufacture. Similarly, it's legal for a child to smoke a cigarette in most places -- but it's not legal to give him one or leave one where he could get it.
-- Brian T. Sniffen
I know that this seems far fetched because ebooks have not become popular. But, if in the future they did become the only way publishers released books libraries would not be able to lend them.
The DMCA seems to criminalize the library that might someday exist.
Dmitry's company made an extremely smart move in hiring Joe Burton for their lawyer here. He's the same one who represented Kelly Goen and Phil Zimmerman when they were being investigated by the Grand Jury for PGP.
Joe Burton is arguably the best lawyer in the world for this case. Not only is he experienced in this area, he's an ex-Fed prosecutor (IIRC) and knows all the people involved on the Government side of things. He also believed strongly in the rights of people to use strong cryptography, and represented Kelly and Phil for free.
IMHO he's a rare bird; and I wish we had more like him.
Here's another extremely little known fact about the PGP case. Joe wouldn't touch handling suing the Feds involved with a ten-foot pole for violating Phil and Kelly's constitutional rights on Freedom of Speech with PGP. Apparantly he's still a little too close to some of the Feds to do this.
But I still think he's the best person for handling the criminal case. I would personally choose another for handling the civil-rights violation countersuit against Adobe and the Feds though. It will be interesting to see who's the best lawyer for this one.
Dmitry must have had some clue he was in something of a grey area when he decided to come to America to present his work at a hacker convention (I mean, it's Def Con, not the O'Reilly Open Source convention, after all). If he was so completely unaware of the potential for his situation to go this way, then I'd have to ask who invited him here without giving him some background and pointing out some potential risks. He's Russian, he should have an understanding of what it means to go against the political will of the local secret police (in our case, the FBI). That the Russian secret police don't give a damn about copyrights (in part because their laws are different) doesn't mitigate the fact that the secret police in the USA do-- and are not known for how they treat Russian computer experts.
But he is a hero either way, because the definition of "hero" does not always require the subject to have high-minded, lofty goals at the outset. He is quite possibly going to be central in overturning this law, or he will be one of the most obvious victims of it-- in a way that Eric Corley can never be. I fully expect "Free Dmitry" to replace Mitnick references... at least the new rallying cry will have a more ethical foundation.
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