Dmitry Sklyarov Gains High-Profile Defense Lawyer 228
Diesel Dave writes: "There's an
article on Law.com about Dmitry Sklyarov's new Lawyer.
Renowned San Francisco defense attorney John Keker has agreed to represent the Russian programmer pro bono. Keker is quoted as saying:
"I think he is being unjustly accused and that's the kind of case I like to do." and "[The Government is] always welcome to dismiss the case, but we didn't come in to make a plea deal." This gives me the impression he has full intensions of fighting this to the end. Good."
Interesting decisions given recent events... (Score:5, Insightful)
Given the current anti-tech rage being promoted in the US media this is a brave decision which should be applauded. While it is quite clear that this is a ridiculous case these are rapidly becomming ridiculous times.
"Ex-Commie tries to undermine US companies" is an all to easy headline to imagine. Its excellent that he has this defence lawyer, that should drive him into freedom, but the fact remains that the Don't Mind Capitulating Act is liable to get stronger rather than weaker... will Bush make this the one case where there isn't a back door to cryptography... probably.
This sort of thing is part of the reason why the US is now in recession, the driving of large corporations at the expense on innovation.
Great news - Keker is top notch (Score:4, Insightful)
--CTH
Oh dear, a mistake! (Score:2, Insightful)
Tut tut that was an obvious error, what he really said was:
"I think this is a well-known case that I can use to increase my public profile, and therefore my rate of pay for other, subsequent clients, and that's the kind of case I like to do."
Re:Great news - Keker is top notch (Score:4, Insightful)
That way cases like Bowen v. AHA (courts allowed Down's Syndrome patient to die from an easily curable gastric obstruction because the parents asked the doc not to operate *wink, wink*) won't really matter in the future.
There will always be cases that make bad precedents for the future. The AHA had a good lawyer (probably Keker caliber) and they successfully defended themselves. Who's to say which is the "right" precedent to establish in a case. Maybe if we didn't hold on so strongly to precedents...
Dmitri, PLEASE Go Home! :) (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes! Go home! Quick, Dmitri, go back to Russia! Your presense here is showing Americans how stupid our legal system is and our people can't possibly remain ignorant for much longer! Shoo! Shoo!
Re:Symbiotic Relationship (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, maybe he can charge a couple more bucks-- but that'll hardly balance out with what he would've made charging a different client during the hours he spends on this case. And sure, maybe he enjoys being in the papers; and maybe his clients expect that from him.
But basically, he's already got plenty of money, and his practice is plenty successful. If he were just in it for the money, he wouldn't take this case. You'll find that a lot of defense attorneys (and prosecutors) really care about what happens to their client. Sure, Keker's probably not some anti-DMCA zealot, but he wouldn't have taken this case if he didn't think Sklyarov's prosecution was unjust.
Yes, cynicism is good, and with lawyers, it's doubly important.
Some bio info (Score:4, Insightful)
This is very good. With the recent events in NYC further stigmatizing the public's view of technology, Keker taking the case is an excellent move to bring Dimitri's case into proper perspective.
Re:More people like John Keker. (Score:2, Insightful)
The funny thing is...the left has been suppressing the 2nd amendment for a while now. Of course, I dont agree with what ashcroft said. But I thought it was kinda ironic.
It's sad that this matters (Score:4, Insightful)
Surely any competent lawyer should be sufficient to point out the facts of the case, and allow a reasonably impartial judge and jury to judge the case accordingly.
Sadly, this doesn't appear to be the case.
And no, this isn't intended just to be an attack on the US justice system. I'm sure other countries are as bad (even if some of our laws aren't as bad in this regard - at least, not yet).
high-profile == expensive (Score:2, Insightful)
A foreigner, trying to escape America for Russia and freedom, fighting against an unjust system, being forced to spend all his money on a legal battle that should never have happened.
I wonder how his wife and kid are doing through all this.
US laws do not apply outside US (Score:2, Insightful)
Every country has its own laws, and laws of one country are not applicable on what happened inside another country.
ms
Re:Just another Brian West. Quit bleeding hearts (Score:2, Insightful)
So, in the free world (i.e. places like Russia, where the DMCA is not law) you are entirely within your rights to write, and use such software, just as you were in the USA prior to the DMCA.
It strikes me that the USA are retroactively enforcing this law outside its jurisdiction.
From where I'm standing, this looks pretty similar to a totalitarian regime arresting foreign journalists for criticising the regime. The only difference is that the authorities are acting on behalf of totalitarian corporations, rather than a dictator.
Potential Threat to Lawyers (Score:2, Insightful)
Since information is the capital with which lawyers can conduct their business, any sane lawyer could not help but feel threatened by any trend towards enforcing strict locks on information.
Imagine legal textbooks and other legal literature being published as e-Books with strict license agreements stipulating that the information contained can not be used in certain legal contexts (eg defending against DMCA prosecutions, or suing certain companies) - this is not dissimilar to Microsoft's EULA banning use of FrontPage with any website containing anti-Microsoft sentiments.
History is being made by this case.
It's not 'California v Dmitry Sklyarov', it's DMCA v the First Amendment'!
Good luck, Dmitry and Mr Keker! The freedom of the masses depends on you.
Re:Just another Brian West. Quit bleeding hearts (Score:2, Insightful)
But what about the owners of the data in those protected files? Don't they have any rights in your mind? I've lost files because the format they were in was password protected. I've had to use password crackers in order to recover my property from being lost forever.
You're also ignoring the oft repeated fact that what he was doing in Russia was perfectly legal. In fact, Adobe was breaking the law in providing their reader software to Russia without a provision for creating a backup.
How about the person down the street? Perhaps they do need this sort of program in order to do their job. Perhaps they went blind in an accident and are trying to get on with their life. Perhaps the hard drive on their computer crashed - the money they just spent on that e-book just went down the tubes because they can't make a backup copy. It's perfectly legal to copy a book to use and keep the original in a secure location - why should duplication for backup purposes be illegal just because the book is now digital?
High tech vs Precedents (Score:3, Insightful)
The first case to be determined regarding some new and revolutionizing tech development is bound to be heard by judges and lawyers who aren't familiar with it, probbaly somewhat scared and confused by it, and when the full consequences of it is not understood. That sounds like the wirst possible time and way to determine how to handle it in all future.
What happened to the law that cars could only drive 5 mph and have a guy with a red flag walking in front of it?
Re:Just another Brian West. Quit bleeding hearts (Score:2, Insightful)
Lol insults,
>>I can buy a mechanical device which contains proprietary or patented technolgy and I can take it apart, test it, make and publish a set of design documents, basically anything I want to do with it. I can make more tools for taking apart the thing and sell those tools.
Yes but you are talking about something that is tangible, hard to reproduce, the fact that it is tangable makes it allmost copy proof.
File's are not tangable, I can reproduce a million copies with the stroke of a key or a click of a mouse.
>>Maybe a product is worth what people are willing to pay for it. Maybe content in digital form that is so easily duplicated is of lower value than content in a proprietary form. Let them devise their own formats and HW if they don't like the general purpose computing world.
I'm starting to get the picture that you must not live in America, otherwise you would know that in the capitalist marketplace you sell where there is a market. THEY are NOT trying make YOUR computer into anything. They just want to fill a market demand. So apparently a LARGE majority want this product. Ever hear of democracy?
>>Instead these bloody fascists are trying to make MY general purpose computer into THEIR pay per view delivery system. (SSSwhatsit) That makes me very angry. What a bunch of rat-fucking bastards.
Then you got a choice, DON'T USE IT THEN!! Support authors that GPL their work and publish in free ascii and not e-book. Phew I had to just stop myself from going into a flame, anyhow.
Maybe you should stop and look at yourself before you go calling a company trying to protect it's shareholders interest a facist. Open source is an idea, not facism.
--toq