[free-sklyarov] FW> 'COMMENTARY: STEALING IS STEALING'

[alfee cube]

well i can see parts of an "opening statement" in this
letter!:)


--- Victor Piterbarg <free-sklyarov at happycool.com>
wrote:
> sent this to him:
> 
> Dear Mr. Gable,
> 
> I read your article at
>
http://www.seyboldreports.com/ebooks/010816-gene.html.
> I would like to point
> out that your commentary seems misinformed on
> several key points.
> 
> First of all, Mr. Sklyarov is not accused of
> "stealing." He was arrested
> under the anti-trafficking provision of the DMCA,
> which prohibits the
> distribution of "circumvention devices." He has done
> no such distribution.
> Mr. Sklyarov's efforts were academic in nature. The
> research he presented at
> the Defcon conference was the basis of his Master
> thesis.
> 
> Hence, your burglary anaolgy is flawed. A more
> fitting analogy would present
> the following scenario. You are walking out of the
> house, and fumbling with
> your keys while locking the door. Mr. Sklyarov walks
> up behind you and says,
> "I couldn't help but notice that a window on the
> other side of your house is
> wide open!" Now you probably would walk back into
> the house, and close the
> window, rather than calling the police and having
> Mr. Sklyarov arrested for
> burglarizing your house. In any case, you must
> understand that creating any
> parallels between intellectual propery in the
> digital format and physical
> property is rather dangerous.
> 
> You also say, "...we all know that the majority of
> people downloading and
> using Mr. Sklyarov's program expect to get something
> for nothing." That is
> just not true, the program was sold by Elcomsoft for
> $99, compared to an
> average cost of an e-book of about $5. That is
> hardly getting something for
> nothing. The only thing that I expect to get for
> nothing is my fair use
> rights, which are unfortunately not included in an
> e-book download.
> 
> Nobody is arguing that intellectual property has no
> value. Indeed, it may
> have great value. This case is about the DMCA
> awarding UNLIMITED copyright
> protection to the publishers, while chilling
> research efforts and trampling
> free speech.
> 
> If you would like more information, please visit
> www.anti-dmca.org.
> Additionally, you may consider joining the
> free-sklyarov mailing list at
> http://www.zork.net/mailman/listinfo/free-sklyarov.
> I hope that you alter
> your stance on this issue.
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Victor Piterbarg
> Senior VP, Programming
> 
> Black Sheep, Inc.
> 1660 Ocean Ave.
> Santa Monica, CA
> 310-395-9215 (tel)
> 310-395-9275 (fax)
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> free-sklyarov mailing list
> free-sklyarov at zork.net
> http://zork.net/mailman/listinfo/free-sklyarov


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