Author: JT Smith
“Demonstrations to be held Monday in over 20 cities worldwide
against the arrest of Russian programer by FBI
against the arrest of Russian programer by FBI
New York Protest will be in front of the New York Public Library
on Monday, 23 July, on 5th Avenue between 41st and 42nd, at 12 noon.”
==================================== Demonstrations to be held Monday in over 20 cities worldwide against the arrest of Russian programer by FBI New York Protest will be in front of the New York Public Library on Monday, 23 July, on 5th Avenue between 41st and 42nd, at 12 noon. ==================================== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT INFORMATION: LEONID GORKIN 509 E 78TH STREET, APT 6D NEW YORK, NY 10021 212 794 1565 LGORKIN@EXCITE.COM OR LGORKIN1@NYC.RR.COM TELL THE TRUTH, GO TO JAIL RALLY FOR DMITRY SKLYAROV (NEW YORK CITY, 22 July 2001) Last week, at the request of The Adobe Corporation, Dmitry Sklyarov, a cryptographer, was arrested and handed over to the federal prison system. The alleged crime: He presented his research at an information technology industry conference in Las Vegas. Mr. Sklyarov's analysis revealed that Adobe uses a weak security architecture in its e-book product. This sort of independent critical review is a normal and necessary part of establishing the credibility of claims made about a security enabled product. This act of revealing flaws in a product was once legal in the US, but now, thanks to the controversial 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) it is a federal offense. Citing the DMCA, the Department of Justice charges Mr. Sklyarov with trafficking in a "circumvention" device. In other words, software that makes it possible for people who have paid for a book to then read that book: Another thing that was once legal in the US. The DMCA is a fatally flawed piece of legislation. It is tailor-made law, bought and paid for by the publishing industry. It was sold as a measure to 'protect copyright holders' but as implemented it will destroy libraries and remove the written record from the public domain. The fight to transform the DMCA into a law that balances the needs of society with the privileges granted to copyright holders is being led by the the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In a July 20, 2001 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft the Executive Director of the EFF, Shari Steele, wrote: When the DMCA was passing through Congress in 1998, the copyright industry promised it was needed as a shield for protection. Now as law, it's used as a powerful sword to squelch speech and competition and kill fair use. Congress never intended for the DMCA to destroy fair use, in fact it expressly tried to protect it. But there was no protection for Mr. Sklyarov. Unable to strike at Elcomsoft, a Russian company that sells a decoder for e-books, Adobe Corporation convinced the FBI to attack Elcomsoft's employee, Mr. Sklyarov. In response to the outrage sparked by the arrest, Adobe Corporation has offered to meet with the EFF on Monday, presumably to find a way to free Mr. Sklyarov. However, the government is not obliged to dismiss the case should Adobe ask it to do so. New Yorkers (no affiliation with EFF) will demonstrate their support for Mr. Dmitry Sklyarov in front of the New York Public Library on Monday, 23 July, on 5th Avenue between 41st and 42nd, at 12 noon. The message is simple: Free Dmitry! More information can be found at: 1. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/ 2. http://www.freesklyarov.org/toadobe.html 3. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45298,00.html 4. http://lwn.net/daily/alan-quits-als.php3 5. http://www.freesklyarov.org/ 6. http://www.boycottadobe.com/ 7. http://www.shrouded.net/nmdmitry.htm 8. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/reuters-sklyarov.txt 9. http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sklyarov.htm 10. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/chicago-protest-information.txt 11. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/sklyarov-chi-press-release.txt 12. http://www.elcomsoft.com/aebpr.html 13. http://www.elcomsoft.com/AEBPR/PDFSecurity.pdf 14. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ 15. http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/0034.html 16. http://www.ala.org/ 17. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html 18. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/index.html 19. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/faq.html 20. http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2c/20010314_b2c.html 21. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ds-defcon2/ds-defcon.html 22. http://www.visi.com/~tneu/voidwhereprohibited.html 23. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html 24. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/Graphics/ ------------------------ Here is the same list with some small comments to introduce each URI: Another day on the job 1. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/ Letter from an Adobe fan 2. http://www.freesklyarov.org/toadobe.html That chilling effect... 3. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45298,00.html This one's already chilled 4. http://lwn.net/daily/alan-quits-als.php3 "This is America?" 5. http://www.freesklyarov.org/ Hit 'em where it hurts 6. http://www.boycottadobe.com/ New Mexicans act up 7. http://www.shrouded.net/nmdmitry.htm The news wire 8. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/reuters-sklyarov.txt The charges 9. http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sklyarov.htm These guys are better organized then we are 10. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/chicago-protest-information.txt And their press release is better, too 11. http://two-bit.northpark.edu/free-sklyarov/sklyarov-chi-press-release.txt That pesky Russian company. In addition to the uses cited in the complaint there are a number of uses mentioned that call into question the "primary purpose" of the "circumvention device" as claimed by the FBI. It looks to me like the primary purpose is to enable all the traditional fair use activities for e-book content. 12. http://www.elcomsoft.com/aebpr.html Ooops, looks like someone comitted a thought crime! 13. http://www.elcomsoft.com/AEBPR/PDFSecurity.pdf If Touretzky can publish with impunity why persecute Dmitry? Is it a case of "programming while Russian?" Note that Touretzky gives it all away: Both the decoder and the full-function key. Note also that this does nothing for you unless you have paid for the e-book. 14. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ Professor Bryan Pfaffenberger's excellent article: "In this essay, I'll argue that Sklyarov's case proves beyond any doubt that the DMCA should be overturned by a high court action." 15. http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/0034.html The librarians 16. http://www.ala.org/ Fear of librarians 17. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html "Participation will be mandatory" 18. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/index.html "We don't believe you won't like it" 19. http://www.nyu.edu/dental/vitalbook/faq.html "In fact, two-thirds of all respondents were 'not at all likely' to purchase an e-book" 20. http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2c/20010314_b2c.html More thought crime 21. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/ds-defcon2/ds-defcon.html "What if..." 22. http://www.visi.com/~tneu/voidwhereprohibited.html Stallman saw it coming 23. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html Dmitry Sklyarov's family 24. http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/Graphics/ --- END ---The New York City press release was written by Vagn Scott, with free advice offered by me, Leonid, lo, four Joes, Jan, jk, Ruben, and some folk whose names are now lost to me in the echoes of howls and yowls on the nylug-talk list. Thanks, Vagn! Distributed poC TINC: Jay SulzbergerCorresponding Secretary LXNY LXNY is New York's Free Computing Organization. http://www.lxny.org