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Sklyarov Indicted
Nutcase was the first to write with news from the AP that "Dmitry Sklyarov, 27 and ElComSoft Co. Ltd. of Moscow were charged with five counts of copyright violations for writing a program that lets users of Adobe Systems' eBook Reader get around copyright protections imposed by electronic-book publishers." Here's a link to the AP story at the Washington Post. Here is the story at Salon as well. Update: 08/29 01:57 AM GMT by T : Here's the EFF's release on the indictment, too -- including information about where to go if you'd like to demonstrate your reaction publicly.
Wouldn't it have been nice if ebook technology had been around when Ben Franklin instituted the first Libraries in the U.S.? Franklin could have been indited too!
Now let's all concentrate on getting the guy home to his wife and kids, and not use him to further our political ends. If someone volunteers to be a test case for the FSF or others, that's fine; he did not, and is a unwitting victim of our police state.
Peace, or Not?
Why, in this country of supposed freedom, do we allow companies to control not only specific markets, (in the case of Micro$oft monopoly) but also allow them to lobby towards laws that take away freedoms, such as freedom of speech.
I know that ElComSoft Co. Ltd made mistakes when they started selling a program designed to defeat a specific type of encryption. I feel that this is wrong. Unfortunately, arresting a programer for giving a speech about how he broke the encryption is hogwash as well. (did I really say hogwash...)
This country (the USA) was founded upon ideals that one man can speak his mind, and express himself in whatever way that he chooses, as so long as it doesn't detriment others. (thus, yelling "fire" in a theater is wrong) I see no reason why showing an encryption to be faulty and how to circumvent it AS A ACADEMIC STUDY wrong. As I said before, I think that the company was at fault, but can the "oh so mighty" hand of the US touch a company in Russia? Nope, we can't, at least legally anyway. So the goverment uses a poorly worded law to push the corporate views on American people. What will be next? Will I be arrested because I point out a security hole in Microsoft's hotmail site? No, but if I start selling a product that will allow it's user's to read other's email, I can and I should be arrested. I don't believe that Sklyarov ownes this company, he is just a programmer.
This person has been arrested for violation of the DMCA. I don't believe in the DMCA, and unfortunately, I cannot make my congressman or senator understand why. (The breaking of encryption is over their heads, and copyrights and patents lasting forever is very vague to them as well.) They are too pressured my lobbyists throwing bags of money at them to listen to something that would blackball them in the lobbyists eyes. So what happens? More rights are taken away from all Americans, and 85% or more of Americans don't know of don't care.
It is a sad state.
Ben Franklin ( I think ) said that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." But Americans have become to apathetic to even care about there government, much less the actions that the government has been taking. And because of this more and more skewed laws have worked there way in the the US Code. Sadly, today, they could arrest almost anyone with the inordinate amount of laws on the books. They chose here and now to arrest Mr. Sklyarov. I hope that he wins, and I hope that the court system invalidates this very askew law. It would help put more freedom back into the individuals hand, and away from the greedy corporate entity.
Blah Blah Blah.
The software doesn't "get around copyright protections." Copyright is a legal protection, the software merely allows you to get around copy protections. Does anyone else think the difference is important?
Young man,
there's no need to feel down
Because your plane
back home can't get off the ground
I said young man,
Get comfy in your new town
There's no need to be unhappy.
Young man,
There's no place you can go
I said young man,
Until you cough up some dough
You will stay here
until you've served all your time
For your insignificant crime.
It's fun to stay in the U S of A,
Because of that old grand D M C A
For cracking DVD's,
Or an e-book or three,
You'll get jailed for eterniteeeee...
It's fun to stay in the U S of A
Because of that old grand D M C A
For proving to the world
That our encryption's a toy
You'll get jailed with all the boyyyyyyys...
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
I have never seen anything to date that said Sklyarov himself was involved with the Ebook decoder project. Just being with a company that did illegal things is not illegal in itself; otherwise we would arrest all their janitors and secretaries.
Even if he did work on the Ebook project, he could claim that he did not knowingly do anything wrong since (1) it was not illegal work in Russia and (2) it work done solely for a Russian company. While claiming ignorance of the law is no excuse, I don't see how a jury could convict him directly given these facts.
That being said, shouldn't the United States be going after the company's officers (CEO, etc.), and not Sklyarov?
Consider too that many of the best minds are not from America, and this sort of bullshit will easily dissuade them from ever touching on American soil.
The DCMA and disgustingly similar concepts are going to box the United States in, and slowly but utterly stagnate it.
Summary:
Prosecution for Speaking (thought police) =
Fewer bright citizens immigrating (or just plain aiding) for fear of prosecution =
Fewer innovations in the USA =
The eventual demise of an empire.
Quite the leap, but you know... I ain't the only one saying it.
First off, he isn't a US citizen. He is a visitor from a foreign country. This leaves him with fewer resources, fewer rights, and little understanding of the rights he does have.
IANAL, and I don't know exactly what rights an accused foreigner has in the USA, but I'm sure that the feds are less inclined to play by the rules they have to when dealing with a citizen.
Secondly, he isn't just any foreigner, he's Russian. If the general public is going to take notice of the DMCA, the feds want a good impression. Lots of people (sadly and surprisingly) still view the Russians as "the enemy" and will view Dmitry as an "evil communist." Thus they might see the DMCA as something that fights the evil commies.
This also might strike fear into citizens of other nations, and convey the message that no country is as powerful as the US, which will FIND a way to subject everyone world wide to its laws.
As a Citizen of the US, I am very angry about this. Dmitry should be freed and sent home immediately, and then the White House should send an apology to the Russians for this behavior.
I know that they'd demand the same for one of our citizens cought up in a BS situation like this in another country.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I questioned early on whether the ACLU would risk their hollywood gravy train by coming out in support of Sklyarov. Several Slashdot posters indicated they would use the feedback page to see why the ACLU was totally silent (try searching for "Sklyarov" -- absolutely nothing). Still nothing, though.
Those of you who are ACLU supporters should take careful note of this.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Well, how about:
Every one of these includes a line like "first prosecution under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act". So I guess the mainstream media is noticing the case and they're even using the name of the "said act".
Those are just the ones I pulled off the page I'm keeping following the case. It's hardly an exhaustive list, either.
My point is, all this bellyaching -- "No one is paying attention" -- is simply not true. It's just an excuse to sit on one's behind and do nothing, because "the System" is allegedly ignoring the issue and "the people" allegedly don't care.
Fact is, people do care. Copyright law is arcane and obscure, so perhaps it's understandable that there aren't mass protests in the streets. Yet. But the allegation that the mainstream media is completely ignoring this is hooey.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
You are seeing the creation of the new drug war. You can expect to see the following features of DW-I in instant replay
- criminalization of perfectly ethical behavior that powerful segments of society happen not to approve of,
- draconian penalties for these supposed crimes,
- justification of this nonsense on the basis of huge ass-pulled numbers purporting to show how much damage the "crime" is doing to the economy,
- legislators and public prosecutors fanning the fire to further their careers,
- courts that will set aside your traditional freedoms because the wankers in the FBI can't get their convictions in a free society,
- ultimately, absolutely no impact on the behavior that Drug War II was supposed to control, and
- a new eco-niche for genuine crime, created by the new legal system and exploited by punks who will ultimately be the next generation's Organized Crime (cf. prohibition, Drug War I).
Fear for your freedoms.Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
The news.com site also covered the story.
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
Lewinsky scandal. DMCA isn't the only shady thing that got through during that period.
The lesson here is that the media is easily distracted, and the Bad Guys know how to use it.
I wonder what kinds of things have been happening in Washington over the summer while the spotlight has been focused on Condit, giving the other cockroaches a convenient cloak of darkness. I guess we'll find out next year.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
[Ignoring the fact that you're just trooling...]
I'm curious why you call me "criminal". Is it because I disagree with something the government is doing? Is it because I disagree with you?
It certainly isn't because I'm a drug user, because I'm not, and never have been, and wouldn't become one if they legalized it tomorrow.
However, the fact that I'm not a droogie doesn't mean I don't live in fear that the FBI will read my post on Slashdot, take Rob to court and make him give them my meatspace name, kick my door down, throw a baggie on my couch, and haul me off to prison for 30 years. I wouldn't stand the slightest chance of proving my innocence.
The Soviet Union had its gulags; the USA has its drug war.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
> Would Adobe even have grounds for a civil lawsuit against Dmitry? The software facilitated infringing the rights of the copyright holder of the book(s), not the rights of Adobe.
Which points out the real "crime" in this scenario. The "crime" wasn't theft; it was pointing out that Adobe's crapware doesn't prevent theft. And since Adobe's crapware doesn't prevent theft (as advertised), they can't sell it. And since they can't sell it, they take a hit on their bottom line. And since they take a hit on their bottom line, their share prices aren't what they could be.
And that is the one unforgivable sin in the U$A.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Like, yeah drugs are bad and I don't ever plan to use them but you gotta think, if you're killing all the drug users, what's the whole point of making the stuff illegal?
Guess the best way to make any drug dangerous, prohibition. If you want something to be safe you don't hand over the entire production and distribution to criminals.
Isn't it to keep harmful substances from killing people?
If that were the case you'd think they'd be coming down hard on paracetamol...
I guess I'll take this opportunity to link to this entry in my Smokedot diary. I encourage webmasters to read it, because I'd like some assistance.
The short version: if you're a webmaster, and have pages on your site related to digital copyright issues - especially Sklyarov's case - check your logs for hits from the 198.25.0.0 - 198.26.255.255 netblock, which is controlled by NIPR (DoD Network Operations - a quick whois of 198.25.0.0@whois.arin.net will confirm this) containing a user agent of "Inktomi Search". A pair of machines at Kelly AFB in Texas with that user-agent have been the source of regular hits to my page on Sklyarov, about once a day. The hits are regular and targeted enough to convince me it's not a case of kiddiez spoofing, and I've had at least one report of very similar behaviour toward another site; targeted hits from a couple DoD boxen using a web spider. I'm doing some light investigation of the activity, and would be very interested in any logs documenting this type of behaviour.
If nothing else, I'd love to know why DoD machines are being used to search for copyright-related pages.
Side-note: some of the information I've gathered on NIPR implies that the group has constructed a firewall around the DoD workstations and servers; hence, any hits from NIPR.mil addresses may be the firewall/border routers and not the actual boxes performing the searches. However, at some point, DoD boxes are involved, and I'd like to know just what they're up to.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
IANAL
Someone may have mentioned this before, but after reading the charges in the indictment, and referencing the applicable law (Title 17, Section(b)(1)(A)), it appears that inumerable people are guilty of this crime.
"No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof 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..."
To me there are a coupe details that leap out at me here. First the use of the words component and part. Software design is filled with reused parts and components. Does this mean the author of Tree.h commited a crime when his component object was used in the decryption software?
Secondly, the phrase "effectively protects a right of a copyright owner" is unclear. If a person like Dmitri breaks an encryption scheme then that encryption scheme did not effectively protect the rights of the copy right owner.
Finally, Fair Use (Title 17 Section 107) allows for the copy of copyrighted works for specific purposes. Since the Exclusive Rights (Title 17, Section 106) are "subject to Subject to section(s) 107", I don't see how his software violates any right. Under Fair Use Copyright owners do not have the right to prevent their work from being copied.
Am I making some colossal error in my interpretation of these laws?
Indictment: PDF
Copy Right Law: Cornel / US Code
Okay, we've got protests getting organized left and right. I've received fundraising requests in my email. I see people up in arms and outraged with righteous indignation.
Good for you.
But where the hell were you guys for all the other crap going on in this country and all the rest? From the looks of things, you all act as if this were the first injustice ever perpetrated in history.
In California our prisons are overflowing with those who got arrested, indicted, convicted and sentenced for nothing more than ingesting chemical substances. Unwittingly violating the DMCA is just one of hundreds of nonviolent acts that can land you in jail. Why do we only care about one of them?
Let's free Sklyarov, but at the same time lets get all the other people convicted of nonviolent activities freed as well.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Why isn't the reverse happening now? My girlfriends (who speaks Russian) tells me that the case is being covered in the Russian press, but its very much a 1/4 column on page 6 type of story. Perhaps Russia wants the big US corporations to invest in their country and doesn't want to upset them?
Anybody seen any comment from the Russian government?
It'd be cool if this tirade actually focused enough media attention on this situation to effect a repeal of this law. It's possible. The law is wrong and there are many in the /. community who are vocal; sometimes get noticed; and, don't have a hobby besides technology.
/. are your silent friend while you're off painting.
You might be off doing art, but you'll probably continue geeking out your machines to those graphic ends regardless.
The "minions" you appear to refer to on
Acknowledge that and don't alienate those who'll rabidly be defending your interests while you're painting your ideas.
If you can help them, you should. If you're part geek/part artist, you shouldn't criticize those who are just geek. They might be helpful to you when you're more focused on your art.
Artists tend not be judgemental. I am one. I'm also a geek, but respect the diverse opinions this forum depicts and don't make judgements. I couldn't since I'm an artist.
www.dedserius.com
VB != VisualBasic
But he's arrested because the USA government says he committed a crime based on USA laws, but USA laws are not valid in Russia. So technically, he's not a criminal, but because some government abroad cooked up some laws (DMCA) suddenly he is. Odd. That's like arresting all Americans who are owner of a handgun, when they visit a western european country, allthough they don't carry the gun with them.
Also, he's not charged with the crime 'selling illegal software'.
Never underestimate the relief of true separation of Religion and State.
Developing the alternative ebook reader is not a crime in the country in which it was developed. He should be freed because of lack of juristiction.
Trafficking in the reader, is a crime in the US, and the effects are felt in the US (until the govt. firewalls us like China). However, it was Elcomsoft (codefendants) who were doing this, and not Sklyarov.
What Sklyarov is guilty of is the long-abhorred practice of being $NATIONALITY in vicinity of $CRIME. He's going to get nailed to the wall.
Yes, the nick is flamebait