[free-sklyarov] NC Call to Protest

[Rob McGee]

On Tue, Jul 31, 2001 at 07:15:58AM -0700, Adrian Dunston wrote:
> authors, and local publishers.  If you have a chance, please tell me if
> there's anything unfavorable or inaccurate in the letter:

Sure!

> --------------------------------------------
>              THE SHORT VERSION
> 
> According to a law that took effect last year, while Americans have specific
> rights to copy and use media they've legally bought (like books and movies),
> they cannot exercise those rights if the media has been encoded in any way.
> Dmitry Skylarov is the first man ever to be jailed for telling people how to
> decode and read a book.
> --------------------------------------------

A typo -- the letters transliterate as s-k-l-(soft sign, no translitera-
tion)-ya-r-o-v. I notice you have it typed correctly in other instances,
but maybe this will help with your pronunciation. BTW, the first name
"Dmitri" or "Dmitry" is equally correct. "Dimitry" is not as correct;
the short "i" has been added in to make it feel less awkward for English
speakers to pronounce it.

Also, I doubt that's really true. A lot of people have been jailed and
even murdered by gov'ts for a lot of crazy reasons. Yes, even the great
USA does stuff like that all the time, past and present.

> 4. On his way home after the conference, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested by
> the FBI and charged apparantly with working for a foreign company that
> violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.  Sklyarov does not head the
> company.  He does not sell their products.  He is merely a single worker
> within the company who does the same kind of work I do at mine.  Dmitry is
> presently being held without bail in a foreign country on the other side of
> the world from his wife and two young daughters.

I've read that the older child is a son. But I can't say definitively.
(I've also seen reports that he is 26 and 27; don't know which is true.)

> --------------------------------------------
>              ACT QUICKLY
> 
> Please act quickly to help free an innocent man, and save the US Government
> time, money, and embarrasment.  Here is what you can do:

Why would we want to save time, money, and embarrassment for the US
gov't? This DMCA crap is not an aberration of an otherwise good and just
system. It is the typical behavior of a tyranny.

I recognize that few of you will agree with me, but perhaps over time,
as you see things like this and have some similar experiences of your
own, you will learn what I have learned. I have no more allegiance to
the USA than Anne Frank had to the Nazis (and I know firsthand what her
life under Hitler was like. The boot prints on my door remind me daily.)

> * Read and donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  They foot the bill
> for Dmitry's and other lawsuits (http://www.eff.org)
              ^defense
Dmitri is not yet a party to a lawsuit AFAIK, and he may never be.

> Thank you for your time.  I realize there are more important problems with
> the world today, but with protests in 21 cities and widespread media
> coverage, this is one difference you and I can make right now to an innocent
> student and his family, and to the United States of America.

Actually this issue is integral to what I see as the most important
problems in the world, but that is wholly subjective, of course. Also, I
am not so optimistic about the likelihood of this movement being able to
achieve its goal of setting Dmitri free, but you *definitely* would not
want to talk like that in an organizing solicitation. :)

HTH and good luck with your protest.

    Rob - /dev/rob0