[free-sklyarov] Re: Arrest of Dimitri Sklyarov

[Andrew Lawrence]

I send the floowing response to AAP this evening...

On July 24, 2001 02:32 pm, you wrote:
> Dear Mr. Lawrence:
>
> 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.

I am sorry Ms Gwiazdowski, but in my mind the Justice Department did not act 
responsibly in this matter.  They did NOT arrest the the owners or officers 
of the company that had been selling the program in question, even though the 
owner and president of the company was present in Las Vegas with Mr. Sklyarov.

Your press release, and your response, seem to indicate that you believe this 
to be a case of the government prosecuting a "hacker" for distributing 
"pirated" (and I use those terms loosely) copies of a copyrighted work. 
Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The person they arrested was an academic who had performed the cryptoanalysis 
that revealed the weaikness of Adobe's so called "protection" scheme. He was 
present in Las Vegas to present a paper on his research.  The message is 
clear.  If you do academic research that threatens the business interests of 
a large American concern you will be charged as a criminal.  This is the same 
message that prevented Professor Edward Felton of Princeton from publishing 
the result of his research  

Considering that Princeton Univeristy Press is a member of your organization, 
it seems to me that your organization should seriously consider opposing the 
DMCA.  The law as it stands today is being used to suppress the publication 
of academic research.  It is quite possible, even probable, that some of your 
members will  be prosecuted, criminally or civilly, under Title 17 United 
States Code, Section 1201 for publishing research in the areas of encryption 
and Digital Rights Management.

I urge you to investigate this situation.  Please contact the EFF, Professor 
Felton, the executive of the ACM and others.  I am certain you will see that 
your first impressions on this issue were mistaken. Please also consider the 
following:

- Alan Cox, a key developer of the Linux Operating System, has publicly 
announced his resignation from the Usenix ALS committe because, "it is not 
safe for non US software engineers to vist the United States."  

- The Boston Globe is reporting that U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, a Democrat from 
Virginia, is again questioning the DMCA after Sklyarov's arrest. From the 
article: "He says there are legitimate reasons why an electronic book owner 
might wish to copy all or part of the text -- to make a backup copy, or to 
include an excerpt in some other document. This concept, called 'fair use,' 
is well established in copyright law."

- Many well known names and authors in the computer field have signed a 
"Declaration of Support" for Mr. Sklyarov, as well as 4705 others at the time 
this email was written.

- Adobe has publically withdrawn their complaint after meeting with the EFF.

As the someone who has worked for many years in the publishing industries, 
and as the publisher of a "hobby" e-zine, I understand and believe in the 
importance of copyrights. However, I also do not believe that as a consumer I 
should be required to give up the rights of first sale and fair use that 
balance the monopoly of copyright.

I hope you can see that the issues here have nothing to do with someone 
making and creating unauthorized copies of a protected work, but are much 
more concerned with how an individual may access and used a work they have 
legitimately acquired.

I look foreward to your response to my comments and sincerely hope your 
association modifies its public stance.

In the meantime I will continue with my efforts free Mr Sklyarov and to 
correct the wrongs of the DMCA.

Sincerely,

-- 
Andrew Lawrence         <ausage at smoke-and-mirrors.net>
Smoke & Mirrors         http://www.smoke-and-mirrors.net
134A Leslie Street, Toronto, Ont CANADA M4M 3C7
Tel: +1 416 461 8708	Fax: +1 416 461 1758