Slashdotters are talking about SirCam – bottom line: if you’re using Windows, don’t open any email attachments, no matter how tempting. Or get Linux.

ABCNews: “Microsoft desperately wants to get its new flagship product, Windows XP, into the stores and on to the nation’s computers, and is pursuing a legal strategy to delay enforcement of anti-monopoly penalties, analysts say.”

CNET: “AOL Time Warner on Monday must give federal regulators a progress report detailing efforts to open its instant messaging networks to rivals, the first such filing required as a condition of the company’s January merger. “

Henri Bergius writes: “Nemein Solutions, the leading Nordic provider of Midgard solutions
arranges a free Midgard installfest on August 14th, starting at 17:00.”
Midgard is a freely-available solution for managing content on web and
WAP services. It is also a toolkit for building dynamic applications
to power eBusiness and Information Management processes. Midgard has
been built and is actively maintained a global group of software
professionals working together in this Open Source project.

The event enables people interested in the project to get installation
help from Nemein’s consultants. It is also a good opportunity to get
more information on and discuss the usage of the Midgard application
server, and applications available for it.

Participants needing help with their Midgard installations should
either bring their computers to the location, or provide SSH
connectivity to the systems.

Location:

Nemein Solutions
Ukkohauentie 11-13 B
02170 Espoo
Finland

Driving instructions from Helsinki:

• Take road 51 (Länsiväylä) to west
• Take exit to Haukilahti (next exit after Tapiola)
• Drive Haukilahdenkatu to south
• Turn left to Kiiskitie
• In the end of Kiiskitie, turn right to Ukkohauentie
• Nemein is on the 2nd floor of Ukkohauentie 11-13 B

Free parking space is available under the building

Public transport:

Buses 111 and 112 from Helsinki bus station to
Haukilahdenkeskus.

More information:

Henri Bergius, Director, R
henri.bergius@nemein.com
+358-20-198 6032

http://www.nemein.com/midgard

“

Upside: “In what Cold War veterans can’t help but recognize as a stunning reversal of roles, federal agents last week arrested a 27-year old Russian computer scientist, Ph.D. candidate and father after the man presented a dissertation on the security of electronic book software.

And who was leading the charge? A pillar of Silicon Valley, Adobe Systems.”

The Register: “Microsoft has made a portion of the Windows CE 3.0 available as ‘shared source’, as promised. Friday’s announcement sees a new licence which has at the very least the virtue of simplicity.

As we pointed out in May when Craig Mundie made this pledge, CE hardware manufacturers already have access to this code; so it’s a deal with no net downside for Microsoft and it’s bound to garner publicity. “

CNET: “The software maker will announce Monday that it invested an undisclosed sum in Sendo, a U.K.-based handset maker that is one of the four companies developing prototypes for a combination cell phone and personal digital assistant that will run on Microsoft software, company executives said.”

CNET: “Hewlett-Packard will release several components of its “Cooltown” software project as open source Monday, hoping to spur interest in the company’s vision for a world filled with interconnected computing gadgets. “

“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.”

====================================
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 Sulzberger 
Corresponding Secretary LXNY
LXNY is New York's Free Computing Organization.
http://www.lxny.org

Morris writes: “For everybody interested in the (too much) silent Mandrakesoft IPO,
there is an interesting article on how to buy shares of Mandrakesoft this week. There are also other extremely interesting details. Read the article here.”