Background on the case of Dmitry Sklyarov and the DMCA
The case of Dmitry Sklyarov,
a 26-year-old Russian citizen, Ph.D. student who studies cryptography,
and father of two small children (2 1/2 year old son, 3 month old daughter),
involves Advanced eBook Processor (AEBPR), software developed by Sklyarov's
Russian employer Elcomsoft.
According to the company's website, the software permits eBook owners
to translate from Adobe's secure eBook format into the more common Portable
Document Format (PDF). The software only works on legitimately purchased
eBooks and has been used, for example, by blind people to read otherwise-inaccessible
PDF user's manuals, and by people who want to move an eBook from one computer
to another (just like anyone can move a music CD from the home player
to a portable or car).
Sklyarov was arrested July 17 in Las Vegas, NV, apparently at the behest of Adobe Systems, according to the DOJ complaint (link at right). He was charged with distributing a product designed to circumvent copyright protection measures. He is being held without bail at an undisclosed location, and has allegedly been denied access to Russian consular officials.
Dmitry's colleagues and other reports have said that neither they nor his family have talked to him since his arrest, do not know where he is being held, and do not know where he'll turn up next.
Dmitry and his family in Russia
Sklyarov, who was in Las Vegas to deliver a lecture on electronic book security, allegedly authored a program which permits editing, copying, and printing of electronic books by unlocking a proprietary Adobe electronic book format.
Adobe's eBook format restricts the manner in which a legitimate eBook buyer may read, print, back up, and store electronic books. The Advanced eBook Processor appears to remove these usage restrictions, permitting an eBook consumer to enjoy the ability to move the electronic book between computers, make backup copies, and print. Many of these personal, non-commercial activities may constitute fair use under U.S. copyright law. Of course, the Advanced eBook Processor software may also make it easier to infringe copyrights, since eBooks, once translated into open formats like PDF, may be distributed in illegitimate ways.
Robin Gross, attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), explained, "The U.S. government for the first time is prosecuting a programmer for building a tool that may be used for many purposes, including those that legitimate purchasers need in order to exercise their fair use rights."
Jennifer Granick, Clinical Director at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, commented that "the DMCA says that companies can use technology to take away fair use, but programmers can't use technology to take fair use back. Now the government is spending taxpayer money putting people from other countries in jail to protect multinational corporate profits at the expense of free speech."
ADDITIONAL READING
DOJ Criminal Complaint against Dmitry
Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Consumer rights under RUSSIAN law