[free-sklyarov] Re: Publishers Hail Government Action Against Russian Ebook Hackers

[Tim Sweeney]

Thank you for the response, but by drawing a loose analogy to privacy, you are ignoring the key issues of freedom and consumer rights at stake here.

Software used for circumventing copy-protection has many legitimate uses, such as allowing users to excercise their fair-use rights to a work.  For example, my company develops computer games.  We copy-protect our games using the SafeDisc copy-protection scheme.  Many of our honest customers use a utility which breaks the copy-protection scheme as a convenience and so that they can make the one backup copy they are legally entitled to make under the fair use doctrine.

The DMCA deprives Americans of these fair-use rights, and is being used aggressively by corporate interests to suppress academic research and development of useful software.  It is extremely ironic that an association of publishers -- who have traditionally been such strong supporters of freedom -- could be so ANTI-freedom on an issue like this.  Perhaps the AAP only supports freedom when your members stand to immediately gain from it financially?

Many of your member organizations, such as the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) have come out publically against the DMCA precisely because it deprives Americans of important freedoms.  Why did the AAP not consult its membership before issuing this press release?

I beg you please to reconsider the AAP's stance on this oppressive law.

-Tim
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Amy Gwiazdowski 
  To: 'Tim Sweeney' 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 2:34 PM
  Subject: RE: Publishers Hail Government Action Against Russian Ebook Hackers


  Dear Tim:

  AAP stands by its press release of July 22 supporting the anticircumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and commending the Department of Justice for acting on its responsibility to enforce the DMCA in the matter of Dmitry Sklyarov. 
  In response to those who attempt to justify circumventing, or trafficking in devices that circumvent, encryption and other technological measures that protect copyright in the digital environment,  AAP urges them to carefully consider how their arguments would apply to precisely the same activities in connection with encryption and other technological measures used to protect privacy in that same environment. 

  Amy Gwiazdowski
  AAP
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Tim Sweeney [mailto:tim at epicgames.com]
    Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2001 6:26 PM
    To: amyg at publishers.org
    Subject: Publishers Hail Government Action Against Russian Ebook Hackers


    Hi Amy,

    Do you really want your children grow up in a world where academic researchers live in fear of having their research -- and their freedom -- suppressed by corporate interests?

    When they ask you, "Mommy, tell us about the days when people were allowed to program computers!", remember the role your organization played here.

    -Tim
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