[Free-sklyarov-uk] [free-sklyarov-announce] ALA statement (fwd)

[Julian T. J. Midgley]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 14:03:27 -0700
From: Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>
To: free-sklyarov-announce at lists.xcf.berkeley.edu
Subject: [free-sklyarov-announce] ALA statement

Yet another voice in support of Dmitry Sklyarov.

[Note incorrect statement that EFF represents Sklyarov; EFF has
advised ALA that this is not the case.]

----- Forwarded message from Robin Gross <robin at eff.org> -----

From: Robin Gross <robin at eff.org>
Subject: ALA statement on Skylarov arrest

  August 7, 2001

The American Library Association today applauded the release from jail of
Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian computer programmer who was arrested several
weeks ago by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Mr. Sklyarov allegedly
violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by writing a software
program that enables a purchaser of an electronic book to disable
technological restrictions placed on the book by the publisher.  Mr.
Sklyarov had come to the United States to deliver an academic presentation
on his technological innovations.

John W. Berry, ALA's President, stated that, "From the days when the DMCA
was first being considered in Congress, ALA has warned that the provisions
intended to protect technological measures could and would be stretched far
beyond simple enforcement of existing copyright law.  We were right.  This
case illustrates the way in which those provisions are being used to create
and enforce wholly new rights that have never existed before in copyright
law, and to undermine the careful constitutional balances and protections
that have been part of copyright law since its beginnings."

After Mr. Sklyarov delivered his lecture at a computer hacker convention,
he was arrested under provisions of the DMCA, which became part of the U.S.
copyright law in 1998.  That new law includes criminal penalties against a
person who provides technology allowing circumvention of a technological
measure placed on a copyrighted work by its owner to control access to the
work.  In this case, Mr. Sklyarov wrote a computer program for his employer
company in Russia.  The program he wrote, which is legal in Russia, would
enable a reader of an Adobe eBook Reader to disable restrictions that the
publisher of a particular book formatted for Adobe's reader might have
imposed.

"It is most unfortunate that Mr. Sklyarov was jailed and that he is still
threatened with criminal prosecution for actions that we believe to be
protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution and under fair use
and other user protections of the Copyright Act," said Mr. Berry.  "The
content industry is not protecting the emerging marketplace for digital
works.  Rather, it is alienating its natural customer base by employing
overly restrictive technological protections and supporting overzealous
prosecution under dubious interpretations of copyright law."

The Adobe corporation, the original complainant against Mr. Sklyarov,
agreed to drop the charges against Mr. Sklyarov.  However, the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, which has
jurisdiction of the federal case, has not yet backed off from its potential
prosecution.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represents Mr. Sklyarov and has
been trying to negotiate his release through discussions with the U.S.
Attorney in San Francisco.  More information on this matter can be found at
the EFF's web site, http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/US_v_Sklyarov.

[...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robin D. Gross - Cyberspace Attorney @ Law
Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
e: robin at eff.org w: http://www.eff.org
p: 415.863.5459 f: 415.436.9993
http://www.eff.org/cafe
http://www.eff.org/Intellectual_property/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org> | Its really terrible when FBI arrested
Temp.  http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/ | hacker, who visited USA with peacefull
down:  http://www.loyalty.org/   (CAF) | mission -- to share his knowledge with
     http://www.freesklyarov.org/      | american nation.  (Ilya V. Vasilyev)
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