[free-sklyarov] impressions

[Nick Moffitt]

Here is a list of some impressions I've had while trying to follow and
help with this incicdent.

Many people are mad at Adobe.  Many people don't like the DMCA, but
are specifically mad at Adobe for bringing the FBI in to act on it.

Many people find great irony or revelation in the fact that the US, a
country that boasts great freedom, arrested a citizen of Russia, which
has long been painted by the US as a totalitarian state with few
freedoms.  

	This reminds me of when the head of the FreeS/wan project was
	grumbling about the US laws on cryptography at a LISA
	conference in Seattle a couple of years ago.  He said "I can't
	actually write any code, and I can't discuss it with people
	outside the US over the phone, so I actually have to travel to
	countries that have freedom, like, oh, say, the PEOPLE'S
	REPUBLIC OF CHINA!"

Lots of people are mad that the EFF chose to call off the protests.
Some suspect foul play; others suspect diplomacy; still others suspect
legal details got in the way.

Regardless of what the EFF says or does, the protests and
demonstrations will take place.  They may not be protesting Adobe, but
the protests will go on.  Journalists would do well to contact the
organizers of the local events.

This incident has sparked a lot of international press, and given many
people a kernel of a cause to rally around.  Even if everything else
goes wrong, this incident has given the press a good opportunity to
discuss the civil liberties aspects of the DMCA.

There have been many good strong gestures that have likely transmitted
a message to the right people:  Alan Cox resigning from ALS as a
non-US programmer fearing for his freedom, a prospective Adobe
employee turning down a job offer with a lengthy explanation of the
Sklyarov case, etc.  

Finally, poor Dmitry is in a cell in a foreign country with family
back home and little contact with the outside world.  He technically
poses a strong "flight risk" and is likely to be held without bail
pending trial.  This will all make him yet more susceptible to a
dangerous precedent-setting plea-bargain.

The DMCA is a Bad Law.  This above all things has proven true.

-- 
"The only thing is certain: Russian petty computer hooligans are very
slovenly, while FBI agents are very persistent in hunting them." --Pravda
	01234567 <- The amazing* indent-o-meter! 
        ^	    (*: Indent-o-meter may not actually amaze.)