[free-sklyarov] technically inaccurate news reports

[Rebecca J. Hill]

This is nit-picking, I know.  The first two news reports I heard/read this
morning reported that Dmitry had been arrested on charges of copyright
infringement.  While I am glad that this case is getting some coverage, I am
tired of hearing Dmitry referred to as a Russian HACKER and this whole
infringement bit.  Below is the nice response I received from one of the
folks I tried to gently correct.  I will continue to "assist" the media in
getting it right. . . and I hope others do the same.

Rebecca

-----Original Message-----
From: Paczkowski, John [mailto:JPaczkowski at knightridder.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 10:07 AM
To: 'Rebecca J. Hill'
Subject: RE: Sklyarov


Point taken, Rebecca. I really should know better.
I've updated my column to further clarify my original phrasing.

For what it's worth, the original text of my column also included this
phrase which addresses the true nature of the alleged violation:

"Sklyarov stands accused of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
by developing and distributing a program that decrypts and converts eBook
files to PDF."

Best,

John

__________________________________________________
John Paczkowski
Good Morning Silicon Valley | http://www.gmsv.com
SiliconValley.com | http://www.siliconvalley.com
-----
Knight Ridder Digital
35 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113

-----Original Message-----
From: Rebecca J. Hill
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 9:43 AM
To: jpaczkowski at knightridder.com
Subject: Sklyarov


Hello,

While I am very pleased that you are providing some coverage of Dmitry
Sklyarov's case, I am disappointed that you mistakenly report that Sklyarov
was arrested for copyright infringement.  This is NOT TRUE.  In fact, this
is part of what makes the allegedly violated provision of the DMCA
controversial--that no copyright infringement need occur to get ensnared by
the "anti-circumvention" provisions.  Instead of going into more detail
here, I simply encourage you (and other media folks) to read the criminal
complaint, the portions of the copyright code involved, and the
comprehensive FAQ about the case provided by the Electronic Frontier
Foundation--all can be found through www.eff.org.

Thanks,
Rebecca