[free-sklyarov] O'Reilly's stance on the DMCA...

[free-sklyarov at effector.xenoclast.org]

I have posted a question on the 'Ask Tim' section of O'Reilly's
website.  Text reproduced below:

Subject: What is O'Reilly's stance on the DMCA?

Following the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov for offences under the DMCA 
after the company he works for published code that decrypt's Adobe 
eBooks, the AAP (Association of American Publishers) have come out in 
support of the DMCA. 
 
I would be very interested to hear what O'Reilly's position is on 
those parts of the DMCA which seek to make a crime of the act of 
circumventing a copyright protection mechanism (or even discssing the 
circumvention of a copyright protection mechanism). 
 
As someone considering writing a book, it is in my best interests, if 
I choose to distribute my book electronically, for electronic book 
formats and readers to be subjected to the same peer review and 
scrutiny that encryption algorithms routinely undergo.  Without such 
an inspection, I have no guarantee that the technology I choose is not 
easily broken.  Such scrutiny is manifestly impossible if the DMCA can 
be employed by companies who sell poorly secured products to prosecute 
anyone attempting to engage in such discussion. 
 
I was disappointed by the AAP's decision to support the DMCA, and am 
keen to hear your own views on the subject. 
 
Julian Midgley 

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Julian T. J. Midgley                    http://www.xenoclast.org
Cambridge, England.                       PGP Key ID: 0xBCC7863F