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'Free Sklyarov' Protests Scheduled
Posted by
michael
on Fri Jul 20, 2001 10:15 AM
from the kick-it-up-a-notch dept.
from the kick-it-up-a-notch dept.
After the arrest of Dmitri Sklyarov, the EFF has been busy organizing protests for next Monday - check to see if there's one near you. A Las Vegas TV station apparently managed to interview him, though I can't get their video feed to work for me. The free-sklyarov mailing list has been set up to, well, you can probably guess. Read their archives before jumping in. And website BoycottAdobe.org is an easy URL to remember. Alan Cox has resigned from the Usenix committee which organizes the annual Linux Showcase, citing concerns about DMCA enforcement in the United States. And finally, Professor Touretzky has built on his DeCSS Gallery with a Gallery of Adobe Remedies for showcasing methods to remove restrictions on PDF files.
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The event organizers are GOOD... (Score:3)
"From "the Snake" we will walk the two blocks to Adobe together."
Two blocks. I'm going to have to bring my rolling office chair, or I won't make it!
-BlueMoo
Protests? (Score:5)
you do realize... (Score:2)
...that thousands of Florida voters were turned away from the polls because their names closely matched convicted felons due to a "fuzzy database search?" You also realize that this technology was applied mostly in counties where the average income was low?
You should try to understand more yourself.
Re:slight problem with your arguments... (Score:2)
Well, the CIA hasn't butchered American civilians.
Remembering Waco, that's the job of the ATF.
Objectively, there was a tremendous conflict of interest in Florida that went entirely unaddressed. The world is still laughing at us. There are lots of issues behind the Florida election that the American press refuses to cover - the Brittish press is the place to start on the Bush/Gore election scandal.
Personally, I do consider myself a conservative, but let's face it, Bush is a troll. He is not concillatory in the slightest, even though his mandate was not as strong as his opponent in the context of the popular vote. Vindictive revenge is all that he shows to those who stand against him; he takes no prisoners. And yes, I voted for the bastard.
I am well aware of the definition of Banana Republic. With Bush's ties to oil, the similarities grow disturbing indeed.
Scopes remains a great example of what this culture ultimately thinks of science and reason: they are great things unless they interfere with our inhibitions. I guess that I am an addict of reason in most ways, and I don't like to see it abused.
For some, America used to be a great place to live. The rise of the special interests and their power to pervert the law of the land pretty much took care of that. DMCA is just the beginning...
And no, I don't think people should be so vicious with one another in the context of political dialog such as this conversation...
The American Dream (Score:2)
As I am not a US citizen, I do not have any rights to change anything in your country, although your power and attitude does influence what I can do. So I'm asking you guys to not sit back and relax reading your bill of rights but to stand up and try to do something with your alleged freedoms. If you think that such a thing cannot be done, please stop ranting about your freedoms as with that attitude you show that you do not have the freedom you think you enjoy.
I guess that I believe that you have a right to do anything that you have the ability to do - if you have the ability to bring my country to its knees, then you have a right to it. Of course, we then have the right to hunt you down and dismember you... (not that I personally would ever think of such a dark purpose for such an enlightened scholar as yourself)
I think this attitude is common to many US citizens, and is a particular facet of the "American Dream." Violence has always been part of this dream - we still idolize Andrew Jackson, for example, even though he brought calamity upon native americans. We hold reverence for a lot of butchers. We're admired simply because we've been on the winning side in a few major conflicts, among some other reasons.
Justifyable moral violence in the US is a delicate balance between butchery and good PR spin control within the confines of the nation. This doesn't make us good or bad; it just gives us a particular place and role to play for world events.
It's bad for tourism, though.
As a US Citizen, do not come to my country! (Score:3)
My government's unconstitutional enforcement of the DMCA is only one example of the blatant disregard for the rights and liberties of both US Citizens and foreign nationals.
We are no longer the land of the free. For your own safety, stay out.
slight problem with your arguments... (Score:3)
Say, Russia, where a former KGB thug became president and is trying to suppress independent media (makes W. look stellar).
And this is different from ex-CIA director George Bush Sr. or his thug son in what way?
Oh, yes, GW Bush used his connections to steal the national election, then watched California plunge into the worst energy crisis of the decade while doing nothing because they didn't vote for him?
And we haven't degenerated into a banana republic? Hello?!
Or the Third World, where US companies- freed from our watchful government and Constitution- have dissidents murdered (Nigeria) or ethnic minorities massacred (Myanmar) by the local despots to pave the way for new pipelines.
Ever heard of Jimmy Hoffa?
I'll admit the US record on civil rights and liberties is spotty at best. In few cases, however, has the moral high ground failed to win.
Scopes monkey trial?
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Someone here obviously hasn't been paying attention.
Re:Where to hold conferences... (Score:2)
Every country has its faults.
Did he actually commit a crime in the US (Score:2)
Re:Contact Adobe (Score:2)
jcristof@adobe.com,
dstyerwa@adobe.com,
lvacante@adobe.com,
ablatchf@adobe.com,
skrueger@adobe.com,
gbabbit@adobe.com,
wsaso@adobe.com,
jwarnock@adobe.com,
cgeschke@adobe.com,
bchizen@adobe.com,
snarayen@adobe.com,
mdemo@adobe.com,
gfreeman@adobe.com,
cpouliot@adobe.com,
jstephens@adobe.com,
mdyrdahl@adobe.com,
lepstein@adobe.com,
lsellers@adobe.com,
blamkin@adobe.com
As well as the phone number (408) 536-6000
Re:Have to break some serious stereotypes: (Score:2)
Your dad is probably not well informed on the subject -- on what Sklyarov actually did, and how that was illegal. If he was actually well informed, and the thinks that it was right that Sklyarov's actions were illegal then, quite simply, your dad is a fascist.
Because, if he thinks criticizing a product is itself wrong, and thus justly illegal -- well, that's just plain fascist. Or, even worse, if he thinks that it's simply wrong to do something illegal -- that the law defines morality -- than he is even more fundamentally fascist. To think that authority creates morality is... well, if that doesn't seem wrong to you already it doesn't much matter what I say about it.
Do you own Adobe? (Score:2)
Who is responsible? If you asked Adobe's CEO, he would say: "I'm just doing what the shareholders want me to do; I have to maximize the return on their investment. DMCA may be ugly, but it sure is good for the profit prospects of us IP companies. My owners tell me to maximize profit, that's what I'm being paid for, and that's what I do."
And he's right: the ultimate culpability lies with the owners. The buck stops with the shareholders, nowhere else. Ultimately, owners are responsible for what is perpetrated in their names and with their money.
Do you own Adobe stock? Have you checked the holdings of the fonds in your retirement accounts lately? Before you go out and protest, shouldn't you maybe make sure that you are not protesting against yourself?
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Hit them where it hurts (Score:2)
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Don't forget to vote! (Score:5)
This article is not yet in their top 10 list - only you can make it so :-)
It doesn't matter, Russian law REQUIRES it (Score:2)
While this might be a little immoral if used by the nefarious eBook warez kiddies out there, it is a precedent in the US to not deny legitimate access to a technology simply because it has a possible illegitimate use. Regardless, the creation and distribution of this software happened entirely in Russia and the US is way out of line on this one.
Alternative to ACROBAT DISTILLER (Score:4)
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Re:Alan Cox has it right.... (Score:3)
Besides, I think more conferences should be in Rio de Janiero, don't you?
Re:Free Skylarov (Score:2)
The key is to include your full address, including zip code, and your full name. Then they can verify that you are a constituent.
However, I agree that snail mail is more effective, as are faxes, if only because it makes a hell of a lot more of an impression when your fax machine gets jammed with "FREE DIMITRY".
You can also call the US Attorney General at 202-353-1555 and demand that he end the prosecution of Dmitry Sklyarov.
I'll second... (Score:2)
Re:Have to break some serious stereotypes: (Score:2)
Specifically, the part of the DMCA he's charged with violating 17 USC s1201(b), states,
(1) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that -
(A) 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 under this title in a work or a portion thereof;
The FBI saw Sklyarov's notice on the program that he was the author, and corroborated this with his presentation and actions at DEFCON. Essentially, by selling/offering the eBook processor, he's allegedly guilty of offering, providing, and trafficking in a circumvention device on U.S. territory. He was in the U.S., and was thus arrested.
Re:Free Skylarov (Score:4)
Generally, email is an ineffective way of contacting many, if not most, Congressmen. For better or for worse, Congressmen attach less of a value to email than they do to regular postal snail mail.
Whenever you write your representative or senator, make sure you include your postal return address in their district. If you don't show that you're one of their constituents, your message will not be seen by anyone besides a low-level staffer or intern (who will summarily discard it).
Some good magic words to use (which are not always effective) are, "I am one of your voting constituents", and "I would appreciate the courtesy of a written response."
Also, form letters will get form responses. Brief, polite, but personal/unique letters get noticed (slightly) more.
I'll say it again: It's better to send snail mail. If you must send email, state that you're one of Congressman ____'s voting constituents right off the bat, and provide your snail mail address in the first paragraph.
Re:Repercussions? (Score:2)
Ok true, it may backfire on them, but companies cannot simply let themselves be rolled over. It is hard to say what the appropriate action is in a case like this, but if they do not do anything about it, it is similar to not defending a challenge to a trademark. Maybe Adobe is doing the wrong thing by going after Skylarov... but they need to at least take some action, a more useful approach in this sense would be to improve the encryption perhaps?
Re:As a US Citizen, do not come to my country! (Score:3)
I am a US citizen, and I am deeply ashamed to be one right now. This is a perfect example to the world that our government is not what we tout it as or claim it to be, but is in fact exactly what we condemn and attack. (Saddam Hussien and George W have a-lot in common... they both support the opression and imprisionment of people that do not agree with his polotical agenda.
George W, if you are a real man, order him freed now, offer restitution to the man, and publically apologize to the entire world for the travesty you allowed to happen.
Re:Where to hold conferences... (Score:2)
HE did not sell it, his employer did... (Score:2)
Re:Have to break some serious stereotypes: (Score:2)
Skylarov wrote and broke Adobe's encryption in Russia, where it is legal to make personal backup copies of everything. In fact I believe it may even be illegal to prevent such copies being made, in which case Adobe may be breaking Russian law, where I presume they have registered offices and thus can be charged and their company directors arrested.
Unless Skylarov wrote his program in the US he has committed no US crime. US laws should not be be enforced on citizens of other countries unless such crimes are committed on US territory. [there are exceptions to this, but copyright laws shouldn't be one of them].
Hacker missing! (Score:5)
Hacker missing [cluebot.com]
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Poliglut [poliglut.com]
So why did the FBI pick Dmitry? (Score:2)
Here's a disturbing thought. Apparently, the feds wanted to make an example of someone to cow everyone into obeying the DMCA. They could have busted Professor Turensky(sp?) for his DeCSS gallery, or dozens of other people for making PlayStation mod chips, game copy protection cracks, Macrovision filters for VCRs, etc. But they picked Dmitry while he was attending and speaking at DefCon. I think this is because they could easily vilify him as an "EVIL RUSSIAN HACKER" to the press and to the courts, while they would have had a harder time vilifying a university professor. This smells like anti-Russian bigotry.
The politics of martyrdom. (Score:4)
This demonstrates yet again how political activism is the slave of the irrationalities of human nature: thousands of people knew this time last week, and last year, that the DMCA could and would be used for precisely this purpose (among others), yet waited until after it had happened to take up arms. It also demonstrates how badly the people who profess to lead the anti-DMCA camp need to learn the moves necessary to campaign successfully in the real, irrational world of politics. They should have been actively trying to force the DMCA's supporters into having people arrested. They should also have been trying to drill their lackadasical supporters into a properly effective grass-roots lobby group.
Did you notice... (Score:3)
Martyr's Cause (Score:5)
"Hackers are bad. They are the cause of the high prices on CDs, videos, DVDs, books, tapes, etc. Poor starving artists. Evil hackers."
Adobe's insistance on the arrest has presented the opportunity to push our views of the DMCA into the more general public via the news media. What was an obscure little argument all of a sudden becomes cause celebre that needs to be exploited.
The MSNBC article [msnbc.com] makes the wonderful point that it is not the application on the law that is the problem, but the law itself.
America has advanced further into the realm of a corporate state than most people realized. What big business wants, big business gets.
This opportunity shouldn't be wasted with irrational rhetoric and ranting. If the spotlight of the mainstream media continues to shine on this issue, it should be used to show the DMCA for what it is -- a frontal assault by Corporate America on the Constitution and the Freedoms of our Citizens.
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Charles E. Hill
Re:Except DMCA seems constitutional... (Score:2)
Note also that the application of the DMCA appears to be "corporate centric". Otherwise with both this and the DeCSS case the software authors would be perfectly justified persuing their own actions for "copyright infringement".
Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Score:3)
Please send an email to freedima@underwhelm.org, or my qwest email listed above, if you are in the area and would like to help coordinate or provide services. The protest will be at the Federal Courthouse at 301 Robert Street in downtown St. Paul from 11am - 1pm.
Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Score:4)
Please contact me at freedima@underwhelm.org or at my qwest address above if you want to help coordinate or provide services, or have questions about the location.
Free Dmitry!
Re:Protests? (Score:5)
WTO-style protests may be counter-productive, but peaceful, organized, and non-violent protest is one of the most effective ways of getting the public to focus on a given issue, and history is full of examples. So I must disagree with you.
My gut feeling is that this case is the proverbial "it". An arrest has been made, charges pressed, and a foreign national has been denied access to the diplomats of his native country. So Adobe cant back out with "just kidding" tactics like the RIAA. Nor can the Feds.
DMCA will be tested in court, with all that entails for the First Amendment. Why would we want to let the very organizations that drafted the faulty legislation in the first place set the tone of the debate???
:Michael
Interview with Sklyarov's boss (Score:4)
Except DMCA seems constitutional... (Score:4)
Basically, what it does is add a provision to the US Code title 17 (the copyright section) which additionally makes it illegal to gain unauthorized access to a copyrighted work. Well, technically, it makes it illegal to "circumvent" a technological access control measure, but that's basically the same thing.
The thing is, there is an exception that makes it legal to breach COPY protection to excersize fair use right. But you still can't breach ACCESS protection, since, get this, there's no "access" provisions in the fair use section of title 17.
Basically what the DMCA does is convert copyright law into "accessright" law, or "controlright." Accordingly, we need additional provisions in the fair use sections to allow access for all the purposes for which we are currently allowed to make copies. After all, legal copies don't mean anything if they're still illegal to access.
Anyway, isn't this all unconstitutional? Maybe not. The constitution (Article I [cornell.edu], section 8) grants authors and inventors "exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Seems like this could conceptually include access restrictions.
The only real argument I see is the "limited times" provision in that same section of Article I. As currently implemented, access control is permanent and irrevocable - there's no conceivable way to call this "securing [the rights] for a limited time." Maybe a judge could force them to insert an expiration date on their encryption, after which it would let anyone in. But other than that, the DMCA looks constitutionally defensible.
Counterarguments?
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Boston Protest (Score:4)
Repercussions? (Score:3)
A Nation of Six Year Olds? (Score:3)
This has to stop. Corporations are behaving like kindergardeners. As Americans, we pride ourselves saying that whoever is more creative, or is the hardest worker, gets ahead. But more and more it appears that whoever is the biggest bully in a meeting, or whoever pushes others around the most, gets what they want, even if it's not what the company or the customer needs. And now, at the very height of hubris, companies are having people arrested because we don't like them pointing out the flaws in our products...
Sure the job market sucks, but Engineers should simply walk out of these companies, en masse. I guess I'm just too proud to work for a company that follows these tactics. Maybe the company will say "sure, leave, we'll just hire new programmers," but we all know the learning curve cost of new employees - they'd be screwed. Clearly engineers are not the only important human assets that a company has, but it's just as clear that bull headed managers who lie, cheat, bully, and pad their golden parachutes so that they always get their way are indicative of the worst of short sighted American attitudes. If this country ever wants to truly be respected on a global scale, and once achieve feats of artistic and scientific greatness that are not simply fueled by the bottom line, someone needs to start setting an example.
To paraphrase Tyler Durden, "We enable your e-commerce, we set up your Stock Exchange Network, we build your military weapons. We are your engineers, your scientists, your software developers. Don't fuck with us."
We Need Johnny Cochrane!!! (Score:4)
Who's gonna start collecting for this?
Another fine mess the DMCA has given us... (Score:3)
I question whether or not the arrest should have been allowed. I'm having trouble reading through the media spin, but it looks to me like he was arrested because he wrote a program to circumvent copy protection. Something the DMCA criminalizes in the U.S.. However, since he is a student at a Moscow university, it does not look to me like the crime occurred in the U.S..
More to the point, he was paid by his employer to do exactly what he did which is completely legal in his country. Not only that, but in his country allowing someone who made a legitimate purchase of a copyright work to make a backup is a requirement.
I'm afraid Alan Cox had it right. And I'm an embarrassed American right now. I urge every other embarassed American to sit down with a Pen and Paper and write their congressional representatives. Don't use email folks, too many zealots spamming hate have ruined that as a way to effectively communicate with congress.
Re:Interview with Sklyarov's boss (Score:3)
Re:Except DMCA seems constitutional... (Score:4)
But there's more to it than that. One big constitutional beef with the DMCA is that it looks a lot like prior restraint. Meaning: it restricts expression (to hell with the idea that code isn't expression; if you can copyright it it's damn expression and all you dissentors can just shut up. Shut the hell up!) that is not itself a violation of intellectual property rights on the basis that it COULD be used to violate intellectual property rights (Whether or not it will in fact be used for that purpose).
And although this is not perhaps set out plain and simple in the constitution, DMCA is a redundant law (prior copyright statutes fully protect copyrighted material from unlawful reproduction and distribution, and anyone who is willing to create/distribute/consume bootleg whatever is also going to be willing to use illegal circumvention to serve their cause) which does not add significant protection to intellectual property (The whole DeCSS debacle demonstrates succinctly that the law can only restrict access to circumvention tools in theory) but does come with significant potential for abuse of the freedom of speech. Basic principles tell us that technically constitutional or not, this law doesn't belong on the books as is.
So far, the DMCA hasn't been used to prevent any actual piracy, has it? Napster got legitimately screwed with plain old-fashioned copyright infringement. Academics, Journalists, Researchers are the ones getting screwed by the DMCA. Industry seems mainly focused on reacting with crazy vegeful fury to the continuous revelation that it has guarded its precious intellectual property with gimcrack, laughably weak protection.
I would have no problem with a provision that would make it illegal to circumvent encryption in the service of piracy. This could be a valid law that made it easier to catch and prosecute copyright pirates. But DMCA strives for a world where a few corporations dish up intellectual property and we sit quietly and eat it: with the approved spoon, in the approved order, at their say so. Constitution is just a document, it is the spirit of it that should concern any lover of freedom. I refuse to accept the pay-per-view world the major copyright owners are trying to stuff down my throat. You should too. And I'd like to get it sorted out because I cannot in good conscience make the switch to DVD as long as it is illegal for me to build my own player. That's right, I'm stuck with VHS until this DMCA crap gets reversed. For god's sake, send a letter to your representative RIGHT AWAY.
Free Skylarov (Score:4)
Re:Protests? (Score:5)
These aren't amateurs - a lot of people from organizations with lots of experience in activism like this are involved.
For my part I've written a few e-mail messages do Adobe officials. Every little bit done to turn this into a PR nightmare for Adobe is a good thing.
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Remove Trash+ to reach my actual inbox
Have to break some serious stereotypes: (Score:4)
But this is the thing. Whilst talking with my Dad about this, he made a few very valid points about the arrest. In his opinion, he should have been arrested since he did commit an illegal act. I personally don't agree, but I do see his point and can see how people can agree. It's only the
The scary thing is, Dad is not one of the average people who's of the opinion that the 'net is "scary" and that people who break even the smallest online law are "dangers to society and will be causing anarchy in a week". He does understand the web and I imagine he'd be more inclined to look at it differently than the common denominator.
Way to go, Alan (Score:5)
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Contact Adobe (Score:5)
Adobe Community Relations Ginny Babbit gbabbit@adobe.com [mailto]
Adobe Public Policy Autumn Blatchford ablatchf@adobe.com [mailto]
Adobe Investor Relations ir@adobe.com [mailto]
Adobe User Forums (located on adobe.com) may be found here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?.ee6b30e [adobeforums.com]
Any other contacts at Adobe I missed?
It's always the Media's fault (Score:3)
Then a year later they had an article on DiVX
So if it wasn't for the media hooplah, I never would've found these great technologies
Anyways, getting back to my point, you would think that the media would figure out that whenever the media talks about something that we shouldn't have, the masses are going to try to get it before the media can finish their sentences. Then again, some media corps are so far out of the loop, they are just now talking about DiVX and such, as if it came out yesterday or something. It also cracks me up when yet other media corps are so into getting a news story, they don't bother to do any research, and they report half truths and sometimes don't even get the facts straight, and just plain spread lies/rumors.