[free-sklyarov] AAP at it again - "DMCA essential to the future of E-Commerce"

[Alex Katalov]

Vladimir,

After reading articles like this I begin seriously thinking about
publishing full sources of Advanced eBook Processor on our website!

Alex


>>   The AAP has put up another press release regarding the DMCA
>> at http://www.publishers.org/home/press/index.htm.  Same old
>> tactics.  Paint those who oppose the DMCA in broad strokes
>> -- "an Internet culture which opposes the idea of ownership".
>> Use inept and false analogies -- "hacking through encryption ...
>> is analogous to making keys to a bookstore or library and selling
>> them to others so that they can go in after hours and help
>> themselves". 

VK> Even more here:

VK> http://www.publishers.org/home/press/092001speech.htm

VK> Some excerpts:

>> We were very surprised when Adobe decided to withdraw their
>> complaint against the Russian. However, the Justice Department is
>> proceeding anyway, and AAP has become "the bad guy" and a prime
>> target for everyone on the Internet who thinks the DMCA is wrong. I
>> could fill this room with printed out angry e-mails we've received.
>> 
>> The Russian hacker was arrested under the anti-circumvention
>> provision of the DMCA. This provision is one of the keys to being
>> able to protect copyright ownership on the Internet. No reasonable
>> person on the planet believes that a totally secure encryption
>> system can be developed. Any encryption can be cracked, just as with
>> patience and determination, any lock can be picked. The law permits
>> an exemption for research, so that if you discover a weakness in my
>> encryption system and inform me, that's legal. The problem arises if
>> you hack away until you crack my encryption and then sell your
>> discovery to allow others to do the same. That's illegal.

>> In the Adobe case, AAP saluted the government for taking their
>> enforcement duties under the DMCA seriously.

>> Other intellectual property associations joined us in backing the
>> Justice Department's action against the Russian hacker. We will see
>> what happens with the case. We are also working together to get more
>> funding the enable the Justice Department to continue enforcing the
>> DMCA in the future.

VK> And I was very surprised by the following:

>> Consider the case of a New York company that no longer exists.
>> FileOpen Systems was a firm that sold extra e-book security for
>> scientific journals and financial newsletters that publishers could
>> use for their paying customers. ElcomSoft (the same Russian
>> operation that broke the Adobe e-book code and was profiting from
>> the sale of hacking software) produced a piece of software that
>> cracked FileOpen Systems' code, and drove them out of business.

VK> As far as I know, that company still exists (www.fileopen.com);
VK> moreover, they became "Acrobat 5 Security Partner", and released new
VK> version in August.

VK> Btw, our software doesn't support FileOpen since late July.

VK> /Vladimir
VK> vkatalov at elcomsoft.com


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-- 
Best regards,
 Alex                            mailto:akatalov at elcomsoft.com