Wired.com: Hacker Arrest Stirs Protest

Jul 19, 2001, 16:48 (98 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Declan McCullagh)

The DMCA is to thank for the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian programmer who violated its provisions by developing software that decodes e-books. According to this article, community protest is well underway, specifically targeted at Adobe, which has a history with Mr. Skylarov where his software is concerned:

"Dmitry Sklyarov, a lead programmer for Russian software company ElcomSoft, was arrested Monday morning for distributing the company's Advanced eBook Processor.

This high-visibility prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act seems to have focused the kind of anger not seen since the days of the 1996 Communications Decency Act or the Secret Service raid of Steve Jackson Games -- two defining moments in the development of civil liberties online.

From the federal government's point of view, it's merely enforcing a law enacted by Congress in October 1998 that punishes anyone who distributes "any technology, product, service, device, component or part" that, like Sklyarov's software, bypasses copy-protection mechanisms. Sklyarov is facing a five-year prison term and a fine of $500,000."

Complete Story

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• WIRED: U.S.: DVD Decoder is Terrorware (May 03, 2001)
• TechLaw Journal: Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia on the DMCA and Fair Use Doctrine(Mar 09, 2001)
• Andre Hedrick: "I want [to] make it REAL-CLEAR, to the CPRM bone-heads!"(Mar 04, 2001)