[free-sklyarov] What else could Adobe do? and the next round of protests

[adam at deprince.net]

On Wed, 25 Jul 2001, Victor Piterbarg wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Now that Adobe has allegedly reversed it's stance, it became pretty obvious
> to me that there's nothing else that they could do. They essentially got the
> best of both worlds. The public outrage against them has been calmed, and
> Dmitry is still in jail. Have they done anything to actually help Dmitry? I
> don't think so. It seems that "withdrawing the complaint" has rather dubious
> benefits.

#include<stddisclaimer.h>

Adobe still needs to be a target of protests.  While it would seem that
they had a change of heart, I suspect that the motivation might be, at
least unconsciously, far more insidious.

Adobe benefits little by Dmitry's incarceration, they are really only
interested in a test case of the DMCA.  By "backing down" they get to "eat
their cake and have it too".  They get their test case at Dmitri's expense,
and they get to shed the public criticism.

Contributing to his defense would be the morally correct thing to do.
Unfortunately, corporations are fictional entities owned by collections of
entities for profit.  Their charters and organization makes any thought
beyond "the cash grab" next to impossible.

So, to get Adobe to change its stance on the DMCA and contribute to
Dmitri's defense, one needs to put pressure on them via the only route
that matters to them.  Their customers and investors.

How to put pressure on their customers?   The boycott is a good start.  It
is a bit limited however as many art professionals perceive that their
software is the "industry standard" and no alternative exists.  So
alternatives need to be created for operating systems that artists use
(Mac, mac and mac).  Apple's Darwin will likely make this easy.

Don't encourage their formats.  Don't use pdf's, put a png or jpg of the
page on your site instead, if you must.  I'm currently looking into
reviving the development of idvi (a java applet based dvi viewer).

How to put pressure on their investors?

Don't call up enmass and threaten to sell your shares, the PR department
will only perceive that as a good opportunity to buy.

Ownership = power.  Look into how many shares you need to vote.
Depending on the charter, a single share may be sufficient.  It is better
to own part of the company and vote than it is to sell and help enrich a
bargain hunter.

There are several "socially conscientious" mutual funds.  Write to them.
They probably won't sell their holdings (won't do much good except enrich
bargain hunters).  But they will vote their shares.

Find out the rules for revoking a corporate charter.  A long time ago in
US history people were skeptical about corporations.  Charters were hard
to come by and easy to revoke if the corporation didn't serve the public
interest.  Attitudes have changed since then, but it won't hurt to get a
lawyer and find out how to go about tring to get their charter revoked.
Likely to fail, but good pucker factor for their officers and lawyers.  I
think charter revocation has become popular in Pennsylvania again.  But
then, who actually incorporates there :-)

Take this advice with a grain of salt, I really don't know what I'm
talking about.  These efforts should be collective and with the
help/advice of an attorney.

Cheers - Adam

 >
> If Adobe really reversed it's stance they could have shown it by
> contributing something to Dmitry's legal fund. Obviously to demand that from
> Adobe would border on extortion, but if they truly wanted to make amends,
> they could have done something to that effect.
>
> We need to organize the next round of protests that will target the
> organizations that can actually give orders to release Dmitry. And we need
> to do it as soon as possible. I am afraid that the "victory" against Adobe
> might reduce the momentum that we've gained up to this point. I hope that
> will not be the case. The sooner we organize the second round of nationwide
> protests, the better. We need to show that we are not going to go away until
> we get what we want. Most importantly we need to show that we will not be
> placated by impotent gestures.
>
> -Victor
>
>
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