[free-sklyarov] My reply to the awful Seybold article on Dmitry

[Joshua Jore]

My general impression of Indymedia is that it really helps if you've
written the article and can just give it to them. It saves them time and
makes it oh,so more likely to get posted.

Josh

On Sat, 28 Jul 2001, Richard M. Smith wrote:

> FYI:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard M. Smith [mailto:rms at privacyfoundation.org]
> Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 2:19 PM
> To: pdyson at seyboldreports.com; pevans at seyboldreports.com;
> mike at seyboldreports.com
> Cc: Richard M. Smith
> Subject: Re: ElcomSoft supporters miss the point
>
> Hello,
>
> I just finished reading the unsigned Seybold article "Elcomsoft
> supporters miss the point" at Planet eBook.  How depressing.  I can't
> believe intelligent people are out advocating throwing software authors
> in jail for writing "dangerous" software that they don't approve of. The
> last time I checked, the First Amendment has not been repealed.  The
> Adobe/Elcomsoft business dispute should be dealt as a civil issue, not
> by throwing people in jail.
>
> This is actual an old story.  Content suppliers and their supporters
> have always attempted to demonize copying technology as "burglary tools"
> and the private use of them as "theft".  It's interesting to compare the
> Seybold article to earlier articles about content providers vs. copying
> technology makers.  The rhetoric and the flawed analogies haven't seem
> to change much in 20 years.  Unfortunately, unlike earlier fights, a
> person sits in jail without bail in this latest battle.
>
> Here's the sorry track record:
>
>  Elcomsoft supporters miss the point
>  http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=196
>
>    "Put simply, the DMCA outlaws the creation of burglary
>    tools-which ElcomSoft makes-but it does not redefine fair
>    use for the digital domain."
>
>    "A security company, noting that the locks on a Main Street
>    bookstore are relatively weak, decides to create a mechanism
>    that will pick the lock rather than alert the bookstore owner
>    or his distributors that the shop is susceptible to a break-in."
>
>  The Copyright Grab
>  http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/white.paper_pr.html
>
>    "Universal and Disney once sued Sony to stop distribution
>    of its videotape machines, arguing that private noncommercial
>    copying of their motion pictures by purchasers of Betamax
>    machines was no more excusable than the theft of a necklace
>    because the thief intended to wear it only at home for
>    noncommercial purposes."
>
>  Is Copying CDs a Crime?
>  http://alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=9426
>
>    "No. While the courts consistently support the RIAA against
>    criminal activity, they also prevent the RIAA from branding
>    consumers who make copies as criminals."
>
>    "In the late '80s and early '90s, the RIAA
>    threatened to send police into homes, arresting people in possession
>    of copied music and the new Sony DAT recorders. Congress passed
>    the Audio Home Recording Act to keep the RIAA out of our homes."
>
> Richard M. Smith
> CTO, Privacy Foundation
> http://www.privacyfoundation.org
>
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