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Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 15:34:22
-0500 Frederick Gray, Jr. July 21, 2001 Honorable Timothy V. Johnson Dear Representative Johnson, First of all, thank you for
your prompt and well-considered reply to my recent letter concerning the
need for adequate funding for basic research in the physical sciences. I am writing today to bring
to your attention the first arrest made under the criminal provisions
of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). This law makes it illegal to
create or distribute any tool that "is primarily designed or produced
for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological
measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner."
In doing so, it tramples on the public's traditional fair use rights and
on On July 16, 2001, the FBI arrested
Dmitry Sklyarov following a complaint by Adobe Systems, Inc. Mr. Sklyarov
is a graduate student in computer science at the Moscow State Technical
University and an employee of Elcomsoft, a small Russian software company.
He was visiting the U.S. for a computer security conference in Las Vegas
where he presented a paper titled "eBook Security: Theory and Practice."
This presentation explained serious security flaws in Adobe Systems' eBook
Reader software, which is designed to control access to downloadable electronic
texts. Elcomsoft sells a program,
written in part by Mr. Sklyarov, which allows a legitimate purchaser of
an eBook to convert it into the more readily useful PDF file format. In
this format, it is possible for the customer to move the file from one
computer to another, to make backup copies, to print it, and to copy short
excerpts from it. These operations all constitute non-infringing fair
use of the copyrighted work, and there is nothing illegal about them.
The fair use doctrine strikes a reasonable balance between the interests
of copyright holders and the public, and it has stood the test of time.
However, the DMCA criminalizes the software tool itself as a "circumvention
device." This is true even though there is no evidence that the program
has ever been used to
The arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov
is a tragedy for many reasons; there are also serious problems with the
charges that go beyond the defective law on which they are based. The
program in question was written in Russia, so the DMCA can only apply
to the process of importing the software into the U.S. This import was
not done by Mr. Sklyarov personally but rather by Elcomsoft, a twenty-person
software firm of which he is only an employee and not an officer or director.
Hopefully these issues can
be straightened out promptly so that he can return to his wife and two
small children. Representative Rick Boucher
of Virginia is leading an initiative to review the DMCA to ensure that
fair use rights are protected. I hope that you will contact him and work
to create appropriate reform legislation that can draw broad bipartisan
support. Thank you very much for your
consideration, and please let me know if I can supply any additional information
that would help to clarify this issue for you. Sincerely,
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