[Free-sklyarov-uk] Reality

[Julian T. J. Midgley]

On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, Arthur Meyer wrote:

> I have read all of the current information.
> My conclusion is to fry his ass.

Ah, the reasoned logic of intelligent debate.  I'm assuming you're a
troll, but it's good practice to rehearse some of the arguments we may
want to explain to interested parties tomorrow, so you'll get an answer
anyway.

There are a number of issues here:

1. Dmitry is charged with 'trafficking in a cirumvention device', yet he
never made the decision to sell the offending software in the United
States - this was done by officers of his company.  If the US must
prosecute someone over this, they should be pursuing the company, not the
individual.

2. Until the DMCA, copyrighted works could be used according to the
principles of fair use- allowing for example, me to copy a CD on to a
cassette to listen to it in the car, or to read a book aloud to a blind
relation.  The DMCA prevents fair use by allowing companies to distribute
their works with copyright protection mechanisms that don't permit fair
use.  The software sold by Elcomsoft gave back the ability to make fair
use of their eBooks to those who had bought them.  It is true, that in so
doing it made it easier for people to illegally copy eBooks, but this was
not its purpose.  If you make illegal copies, you can be prosecuted for so
doing under standard copyright law - there's no need for the DMCA to make
it illegal to write a program which allows you to make legitimate copies.
Similarly, if I wish to burgle a house, I can use a crowbar to assist me,
but it's not illegal for the local hardware shop to sell me one.
Likewise, I can use a photocopier or scanner to make illegal copies of
documents, but neither of these devices are illegal, nor are Minidisc
recorders, video recorders and tape recorders.

For this reasons we believe that Dmitry is unjustly imprisoned, and should
be released as soon as possible.

Julian Midgley

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