[free-sklyarov] Computer Book Publisher Says "Free Dmitry" (fwd)

[alfee cube]

congrat:)
--- Len Sassaman <rabbi at quickie.net> wrote:
> [No Starch is publishing my upcoming book on email
> security. Just
> got this announcement. --Len.]
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:11:28 -0700
> From: Amanda Staab <amanda at nostarch.com>
> To: No Starch News <amanda at nostarch.com>
> Subject: Computer Book Publisher Says "Free Dmitry"
> 
> *********************
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> *********************
> 
> SAN FRANCISCO, CA - No Starch Press, Inc.'s
> publisher William Pollock calls
> for publishers to cast aside proprietary electronic
> book formats. The letter
> follows:
> 
> I am the publisher and owner of No Starch Press,
> Inc., a book publishing
> company. No Starch Press has published several
> best-selling books, including
> STEAL THIS COMPUTER BOOK, THE BOOK OF JAVASCRIPT,
> and the ASTRONOMER'S
> COMPUTER COMPANION.
> 
> As a publisher, I believe that readers have certain
> important fair-use
> rights that pertain to both electronic and printed
> books that they should be
> able to exercise without asking our permission. We
> control certain rights to
> our books that are protected by law, and we
> encourage our customers' control
> of certain rights as readers.
> 
> Readers of electronic books should be able to read
> their electronic books
> just as they read their printed books - wherever and
> whenever they please -
> and they should be able to share their electronic
> books with others. They
> should also have the right to read their electronic
> books with a Braille
> terminal or text-to-speech device, and to read them
> on more than one
> computer.
> 
> The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was
> designed to protect our
> rights as publishers in the electronic arena, but it
> fails to preserve
> copyright law's historic ability to balance the
> interests of publishers with
> those of readers. The FBI's arrest of Dmitry
> Sklyarov, a Russian citizen who
> helped to create the Advanced eBook Processor for
> his company, Elcomsoft,
> was an overblown and misguided test of the DMCA.
> While I am certainly
> opposed to the illegal copying and sale of books, I
> think the government
> should spend more time prosecuting the real
> offenders: The people and
> companies who make and sell illegal copies of books,
> not the software tool
> developers.
> 
> We do not publish our books in proprietary eBook
> formats because these
> formats limit the reader's experience and put
> unnecessary restraints on
> information. We have, however, released several of
> our titles under various
> copyleft-type licenses, and will continue to do so.
> The eBook format is
> flawed because it denies some basic rights to
> readers that they
> automatically have when they buy a printed book.
> 
> As an industry we have a problem to solve regarding
> the electronic delivery
> of books, and I am eager to find a solution that
> works for everyone
> involved, including publishers, authors, and
> readers. By punishing Dmitry,
> our government is making it clear that they are not
> interested in readers'
> rights.
> 
> I encourage publishers not to use proprietary
> electronic book formats. We
> have a responsibility as publishers to continue to
> maintain and defend the
> rights of readers to read and enjoy their books
> whenever and wherever they
> choose, and that responsibility must not be taken
> lightly.
> 
> William Pollock, Publisher
> No Starch Press, Inc.
> 
> ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS
> Founded in San Francisco in 1994, No Starch Press
> (www.nostarch.com)
> publishes computer books that make a difference on
> topics like Open Source,
> Web development, robotics, and computer security.
> 
> Media Contact: Amanda Staab, 415/863-9900,
> amanda at nostarch.com, 555 De Haro
> Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA 94107
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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