Still in DMCA Prison 250
Let's go over the Sklyarov situation. Sklyarov is still in jail. In fact, he's still in Las Vegas, where he is being held without even a bail hearing, much less bail. The excuse given for not having a bail hearing when he was arrested on July 16 was that he was being immediately transferred to San Jose and would get a hearing there. Anyway, a recap of the protests: San Jose, more San Jose, New York, Seattle, Chicago writeup and Chicago pictures, Moscow writeup and Moscow photo and news coverage: New York Times, Business2.com. Wired has Washington's viewpoint - Representative Coble says "there have been very few complaints from intellectual property holders". Well, duh. Linuxplanet has an opinion piece exploring the Digital Millennium Rape Act. Finally EFF has written a letter to U.S. Attorney Mueller, asking for the U.S. to drop the charges against Sklyarov. It seems pretty doubtful that he will, since he won't want to be seen as soft on crime during his Senate confirmation hearings.
Protests... (Score:2)
That aside, my run-ins with the public suggest it is easier to explain to them that a russian who (questionably) committed a crime in another country and who came here only to give a speech about how it was done is in jail here seems easier for people to grasp than copyright issues. I suggest we focus on that instead.
~ Signal 11
Turn off the world. (Score:2)
We are the geeks. We are the administrators, the scientists, the engineers, the technicians.
We keep the modern world running. We have the power to make a statement.
Other workers have work slowdowns, sickouts, and slowdowns. Why don't we?
We have the power to bring down the internet, stop the email, interupt phone service, turn off power grids, and many other things. and we should do it.
On August 1st, shut down the US. Give Congress, the President, and the Corporations something to think about.
Posted anonymously to keep from being arrested in Amerika
Re:Militant branch of the EFF? (Score:4)
-E
Are you responsible? (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 funds in your retirement accounts lately? Maybe you yourself are responsible for this mess?
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Re:The best way to expose a bad law is to enforce (Score:2)
They are doing that already. Here in MN, oral sex between consenting (even married) adults is illegal, and the penalty is higher than that for prostitution. Still, the police does not have undercover operations in single bars with offers for oral sex. Plenty of undercover operations with offers for sex for sale though.
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Talk about missing the point... (Score:2)
I do admit to taking issue with the article's promoting the horrid misconception that only men can commit rape, however; the subjects of the DMRA should have been anyone with a set of genitals, or a mouth or rectum (if you consider forced anal or oral sex to be forms of rape, which most do).
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Faster than sending a letter, but more expensive: (Score:2)
On the positive side, it's just $9.95 (for 1000 characters), is delivered to your recipient's address rather than just showing up in that day's mail, and you can send it over the net. However, telegrams of today are not what they were in the fifties. Apparently, Western Union just prints your message out on telegram stationery and sends it next-day on Airborne Express. And if you're sending it to a congressperson, they may regularly get several telegrams a day anyhow.
I've never sent or received a telegram -- this is all gleaned from Western Union's site. But that's the thing, although just about everyone knows what a telegram is, they're quite rare in this country these days (even in Washington, D.C. when compared to a generation or two ago). They used to be common before affordable long-distance calling, but now they're a surprising curiosity. Most people in the US under the age of forty or fifty have probably never gotten a telegram in their life. So this looks like a possible way to register your opinion with some impact without ever having to leave your computer.
Anyone have experience sending or getting telegrams with WU's current system?
Held without bail (Score:3)
I know it's l4m3 to talk about Kevin Mitnick and I'll get modded down for it, but even if you're with the "He stole millions of dollars by copying source code" camp you still have to agree that being held without a bail hearing for four years is a bit fishy.
Now it's starting to happen to a legitimate software developer. Who's next...
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It is called Habeas Corpus (Score:2)
Why call the gun freaks "gun nuts" (Score:2)
I really have laugh when a gun nut say he/she has weapons to defend their homes from the evil government (and in Waco we all have seem how well guns will defend your home when the evil government wants in).
I am also amazed by poorly trained civilians thinking they can defend themselves from criminals for whom guns are everyday professional tools.
As for "if guns are banned only criminals will have guns", it makes a neat slogan but also a neat instance of double-talk. The whole point of the exercise is to make sure only criminals have guns! So, when the police spot a gun they don't need any other clue, they know they are in front of a criminal.
Lies, dammed lies and statistics (Score:3)
But what is not clear to me is the relation between the gun-banning law and this number. You see, if you ban guns doesn't possessing a gun become a "gun related-crime"?
If so, and if gun-possession crimes are included in the mighty 40% increase (making all this wonderfully circular), we are just seeing a FUD campaign, cortesy of our ever present friends, the gun-nuts.
Re:Target Adobe (Score:2)
Re:yet another irony (Score:2)
I am ambivelent about gun control (Score:2)
Be that as it may, the statistic you question does appear to be in reference to guns being used in offenses:
While not beyond the realm of possibility that one might cook the statistics by including gun possession and misdefining possession as "use," were that the case I think we would be hearing about it from the pro-gun control side of the issue, loudly. It would, in fact, be an outright lie to use the word "used" in conjunction with mere passive possession, so while I don't comletely rule out your scenerio for pro-gun people cooking the stats, I do consider it to be very, very unlikely in this particular case.
I don't know exactly where I come down on this debate, except to say that the more I watch my own government in action in Washington, particularly with respect to the DMCA and Dmitry, the less inclined I am to trust their motives in taking away my right to own a firearm. On the other hand, living in downtown Chicago I don't have such a right anyway (handguns are illegal in the city, and other firearms strongly discouraged)[1], so any arguments pro- or con- are necessarilly rather theoretical from my standpoint.
[1]Of course, only the police and the criminals (by definition
Re:Technicalities? (Score:2)
What a clever way to get away with terrorizing the community, without ever having to actually defend the Constitutionality of the law that makes it possible (DMCA) in court. Lose the case after doing the damage, without ever getting The Supremes involved.
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Re:Here's the root of the problem.. (Score:2)
That's rather beside the point, however. Most of the money is from the corporate coffers, and isn't a part of anybody's salary. But management gets to spend it as it chooses "for the benefit of the company". But this is always interpreted to mean "for the benefit of the management", which is in some ways the benefit of the company, and in others is quite divergent. And it also depends on how you define the company. If the company is all of the people who work for it, then management is usually direlect in its duties.
Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
Re:yet another irony (Score:3)
I'm sorry. I feel that the crocodile tears were just that, and no more to be believed. Have they offered to pay for the defense? Have they offered to meet whatever bond is demanded? They set him up, so unless they take effective action to redress their wrong, I won't believe their public speech is anything other than a PR ploy.
Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
Source for figure as requested (Score:2)
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Re:The best way to expose a bad law is to enforce (Score:2)
Exactly. IIRC all police dept. Oaths of Service include language to the effect that make it the job of the officers to not only enforce Constitutional laws, but it is their duty to refuse to enforce an illegal law, and their duty to refuse orders to the contrary. I don't know what oath FBI agents take, but it should be very much inline with the rest of law enforcement in this country.
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Re:Source for figure as requested (Score:2)
As a person who carries a gun for self-defense, I am glad to hear you respond rationally. There are Bill of Rights supporters who are over-the-top zealots, the same as the anti-Bill of Rights folks. If only we could get everyone to be rational in the discussion of these issues.
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Re:Your Rapes Online (Score:2)
Re:What really bugs the hell out of me... (Score:2)
I don't blame the technology that collects my personal data (web bugs, cookes, databases). I blame the people who use this technology for dishonorable purposes. Cookies can be used to track my surfing habits without my knowledge, and they can retain my preferences and login information so I don't have to relogin to Slashdot every time I visit.
In the same way, copy protection circumvention devices can be used for making legitimate backups and shifting the data to other devices and operating systems, or they can be used for piracy. Don't blame the tool, blame the person who uses the tool.
Re:You: Do Something (Score:2)
It's worse than that - they know they are writing and passing laws that stifle our freedoms and violate the Constitution, but they either don't care or actively oppose freedom for us little people.
Re:It is called Habeas Corpus (Score:5)
Re:Supporting Skylarov (Score:2)
Problem - no effect (Score:2)
Instead we need to focus resources where it will get noticed. I write my reps in the house and senate (on paper). I donate money to the EFF to help fight the legal battles that are the ONLY WAY we will ever see the DMCA go away (no matter how much sales dropped the music industry would still cling to the DMCA - it's just how they think). If you want to stop buying DVD's and send that money the the EFF then fine, just don't pretend that simply not purchasing a DVD is really doing anything to help.
Your idea also hurts artists and other people who are just caught in the middle. While the people who run these industries may be robber-baron evil, the workers are not. So, focus your efforts on areas where fighting is really effective!
Cynical (Score:2)
This is quite possibly one of the most cynical things I've heard in months. Give me a break, the guy is interested in upholding the LAW, as is Ashcroft. You haven't noticed the difference since El Reno left? Come on now...
Re:yet another irony (Score:2)
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Re:Source for figure as requested (Score:2)
last year below means 2000.
handguns were used in 3,685 offences last year compared with 2,648 in 1997, an increase of 40 per cent Actually it's very slightly over 39%, but whatever.
It reveals an increase in crimes using shotguns [not banned], up from 580 in 1997 to 693 last year. That's 19%.
Offences involving air weapons [not banned] show an even more startling rise, from 7,506 in 1997 to 10,103 last year [2000]. That's
34%.
So, although the soundbite is "ban handguns, crime up 40%", the actual effect is an annual increase of between 2% and 7%. As a gun-hating liberal, I was quite surprised by this. If the gun-nuts [slashdot.org] used that number more people might listen to them. But instead they prefer to whip their supporters into a frenzy, while alienating people who can actually do math.
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Re:Turn off the world. (Score:2)
The fact is, Big Media employs more people; is united; and has more political muscle than a heavily divided IT industry. I wish it wasn't so but it is. And politicians aren't listening to us as so depressingly pointed out in the Wired article.
I don't have an answer to this problem except to say that those who actually give a rip press on and hope enough people begin to care.
Re:Write your congressman (Score:2)
Re:Turn off the world. (Score:2)
I'd rather explain to my boss that the distribution system we're considering purchasing may not be as secure as the vendor proposes because it is using Adobe's products to deliver the articles.Unfortunately, though I could, I won't get the program to test it because I would be violating the DMCA. As the vendor could have me arrested for proving their product isn't secure I won't take that risk. Not covered in my job description.
btw, that's a real world example and in my mind much more effective than some "Let's shut down the Internet" pipe dream.
Re:Picture is Not Getting Any Prettier (Score:2)
Re:Turn off the world. (Score:2)
I'm sure the next time some nasty virus/worm/exploit comes down the pipe and I don't take care of it, the person who lost four months of research on a story will be more than receptive to hear "Free Dimitry!" as an excuse.
Not.
Proposed Solution: Boycott Movies & Music (Score:2)
It will not free Sklyarov now, but it will make people think twice about pulling something like this in the future. ADOBE still remains on my "do not purchase list", perhaps forever.
Also, organize concerted efforts to let your local radio and television stations know about this. Have several friends call their "news tips" desk. Point out how the U.S. is volating Sklyarov's rights and creating an international incident all because the record & movie companies want to make you pay every time you listen to, or view, one of their products. The Supreme Court has said if you own it you can use it any way you want.
Re:don't you just love this bullshit! (Score:2)
Boss of nothin. Big deal.
Son, go get daddy's hard plastic eyes.
Re:don't you just love this bullshit! (Score:2)
It does prevent you from using encryption-cracking technology to access a copyrighted database floating around on a CD somewhere, but I can't imagine why that would ever be the case. I challenge you to come up with any circumstance where the DMCA would stop you from doing anything harmful that would be legal without the DMCA.
Anyone who even pretends to value freedom is under the burden of demonstrating, for any given law, that it can actually prevent or punish something that causes palpable harm to others, that it does not unduly limit the freedom of those not causing such harm through such actions, and that the law does not restrict an overly broad class of activity. The DMCA fails miserably on every count.
Boss of nothin. Big deal.
Son, go get daddy's hard plastic eyes.
Re:a contrary view (Score:2)
Several of the links provided earlier were from newspapers. Here's the local paper's take on the matter (of course, since "local"=="Las Vegas", it follows that there'd be an article here):
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jul-18-Wed-2001 /news/16563325.html
[lvrj.com]
Can't say, as most TV news is slanted so far to the left I don't waste my time with it. Local TV news might've covered it, but I couldn't say one way or the other. (Actually, someone else posted a link to KTNV's website [ktnv.com] in one of the other Sklyarov threads here on /., so I guess the local TV news media have covered the matter.) The only TV news program I follow with any regularity is Fox News Sunday [foxnews.com], and their website indicates they didn't cover this issue.
Re:The best way to expose a bad law is to enforce (Score:2)
Sorry, but "I was only following orders" didn't cut it at the Nazi war crimes trials and doesn't cut it now.
Separation of powers has a purpose; legislatures can (in theory) prevent bad laws from passive, executives can (in theory) prevent bad laws from being enforced, and judiciaries can (in theory) prevent anyone from being convicted under bad laws.
None of them gets to use the "look what you made me do" [mat.upm.es] excuse.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/
Re:More protest coverage: (Score:2)
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Mod this up (Score:2)
Many have simultaneously expressed great regret that Dmitry has to sit in prison, and fear that the anti-DMCA sentiments will whither once he is released. This ambivalence is not dangerous unless it is self-fulfilling. Releasing Dmitry does not prevent another corp from having their rent-a-cops (FBI) from arresting another programmer.
Tell people Dmitry's story, celebrate his eventual release, and use it as a reminder when you start to think you don't have to get the DMCA repealed. Until it is repealed, there is still work to do.
Finding a reason to not think (Score:2)
I admit, putting fliers on cabin doors might be less effective than knocking on them and talking to the occupants; but face it: if it is the wrong time to tell you about how the DOJ is arresting innocent foriegn nationals while you walk to and from lunch, or while you are at your cabin, or while you are at a bar... When is the right time? When you sit in front of the TV and have it fed to you?
I don't know what to do about people like you, but I'm determined to find out. In the mean time, I'll talk to the people whose brains aren't full yet.
You: Do Something (Score:3)
Americans do not think about copyright, Americans would rather not think about people in prison. Americans have a tendency to think circularly: people arrested must be criminals. All laws passed by congress are legitimate. We have an uphill battle convincing them that Dmitry has done nothing wrong, and that the DMCA is unconstitutional.
Don't accept "the Supreme Court will handle it." Who says they will? Why wait for the justice system? Once a sufficient number of Americans are informed about the existence of the DMCA and the erosion of their rights, we can make congress uphold their oaths and protect the constitiution like they should have done in the beginning.
The system is being challenged in court. Fine. But that is not justification for twiddling our thumbs in the mean time. Action now makes it easier for the judges to strike down the DMCA. Action now makes it easier for shy, right-thinking congress people to speak out about what a travesty the DMCA is.
Tell 3 people today about the DMCA. Join a protest next week, and tell 1,000. Make people think, encourage people to reason.
Free Dmitry.
Repeal the DMCA.
Why wait?
Re:to quote... (Score:2)
>
> - Thomas Jefferson
> And ill probably be arrested for quoting him.
Naah, you only get arrested if you quote him like this:
"Gur Gerr bs Yvoregl zhfg, sebz gvzr gb gvzr, or jngrerq jvgu gur oybbq bs cngevbgf."
- Gubznf Wrssrefba
Which reminds me, it's time to update my .sig file.
"Now that crypto is outlawed, only outlaws quote Wrssrefba."
FBI and Confirmation hearings opportunity (Score:2)
Z
Re:It is called Habeas Corpus (Score:4)
Kintanon
Re:a contrary view (Score:2)
Um, last time I checked, the New York Times (linked to from the main article) and Boston globe (one of these links you're criticizing) are real newspapers- They just also happen to have a copy of the content online.
Coble (Score:2)
This is the sickest thing I have heard in a long time. Does this man care nothing for the public interest? We need to use him as the poster boy of a big media lapdog in Congress.
Mr. Coble: I am an intellectual property holder. I write copyrighted software. I detest the DMCA almost as much as I detest corrupt politician like you who sell government backed censorship to the big media special interests without even realizing or caring about the public interest. The fact that you equate "intellectual property holders" as someone different than the legions of citizens who are shocked by the draconian law is a testimony to what is wrong with copyright law. Copyright has become a joke because fools like you in power can only think about the interests of the large monied publishing companies that fund your reelection campaigns. The only good thing that will come out of the DMCA is some humor value at watching you learn how futile your pathetic law is.
Re:Coble (Score:2)
You sure are right! Coble got 80%. No wonder he's their lapdog.
By the way, here is a breakdown [opensecrets.org] of big media campaign spending. Soft money galore.
Re:Coble (Score:2)
Individual Donor:
VALENTI, JACK
WASHINGTON, DC 20007
MOTION PICTURE ASSOC OF AMERICA
03/10/1999 $ 500 Lone Star Fund
03/24/2000 $1,000 Biden, Joseph R Jr
03/01/1999 $ 500 Lofgren, Zoe
03/10/1999 $ 500 Frost, Martin
12/20/1999 $1,000 Abraham, Spencer
08/04/1999 $1,000 Hatch, Orrin G
11/09/1999 $ 500 Coggins, Regina Montoya
02/08/2000 $1,000 Harman, Jane
02/08/2000 $1,000 Harman, Jane
02/24/2000 $ 500 Wu, David
08/17/1999 $1,000 Democratic Leader's Victory Fund 2000
09/07/1999 $ 250 Restore America PAC
09/15/1999 $1,000 Berman, Howard L
01/29/1999 $1,000 Gore, Al
11/17/1999 $ 500 Wareing, Peter Staub
08/17/1999 $1,000 Gephardt, Richard A
03/31/2000 $1,000 Dingell, John D
10/07/1999 $1,000 Hyde, Henry J
10/07/1999 $1,000 Hyde, Henry J
06/07/1999 $ 500 Casey, Patrick
04/02/1999 $ 500 Svornich, Rudolph Jr
06/23/1999 $ 500 Clyburn, James E
12/29/2000 $1,000 Baucus, Max
06/09/2000 $1,000 Lewis, John
06/10/1999 $ 500 Watts, J C Jr
03/25/1999 $1,000 Markey, Edward J
05/26/1999 $1,000 Conyers, John Jr
05/22/2000 $ 250 Lugar, Richard G
03/15/2000 $ 250 Lugar, Richard G
10/21/1999 $1,000 Bush, George W
04/11/2000 $1,000 McCain, John
09/14/1999 $1,000 Gore, Al
09/30/1999 $1,000 McCain, John
More protest coverage: (Score:5)
My letter to my Senators: (Score:2)
Dear Senator _____, Recently, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested and jailed in Las Vegas for distributing a software program. This software is allegedly illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Although I strongly oppose the DMCA, I had neglected to write any letters to my elected officials until now. I had falsely believed that violations of the DMCA would be settled in civil court. Only now do I realize what a truly chilling effect the DMCA has on our freedoms. I am very saddened that a foreign visitor with a wife and child can be thrown into jail for what is essentially a thought crime.
Mr. Sklyarov was doing a presentation at a convention on software he had written for his employer in Russia. This software would decrypt e-books created with software by Adobe Systems Inc. Fair uses of these e-books were limited by Adobe's software. The Adobe software limits abilities to print, share, and quote these books. Mr. Sklyarov's decryption software is not illegal in Russia. The software can only be used by someone that lawfully purchases an e-book. If I purchased an Adobe e-book, I could use Mr. Sklyarov's software to transfer this e-book to a handheld computer so I could read it on the road. I could use the software to input the text into a screen-reader for a deaf family member. I could use the software to quote passages for an academic paper. Although some may disagree with me, I believe that these fair uses are within my legal rights.
Copyright infringement is wrong. Mr. Sklyarov is not charged with copyright infringement. He is charged with distribution of software that, in addition to allowing fair use by legitimate consumers, might be used by others to infringe on copyrights. It is ridiculous that this alleged "crime" could result in a five-year prison sentence.
Currently, the office in charge of prosecuting Mr. Sklyarov (the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California) is headed by Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Mueller is President Bush's nominee for director of the FBI. Mr. Mueller has shown a special interest in computer-related cases. Please consider how Mr. Mueller handles the case of Dmitry Sklyarov when voting on the nomination. If you have a chance to ask questions during the nomination hearings, please bring up the Sklyarov case.
I do not know how Mr. Sklyarov's case will turn out. Adobe has already dropped support of Mr. Sklyarov's prosecution. Hopefully he will be released and allowed to return to his family in Russia. I find it ironic that someone from Russia can come to America and be arrested for a thought crime. I consider the DCMA an affront to the freedom of all Americans and hope that you and your colleagues will have the wisdom to repeal it.
Sincerely,
Matt Shook
Links of Congress-critter quotes? (Score:2)
Such statements of "Whoops" are powerful, yet the anti-DMCAers have not taken the time to collect them
Or, am I not looking in the correct places?
Re:a contrary view (Score:5)
Boston Globe:
Adobe shifts, urges hacker's release [boston.com]
CBS News:
Hacker Held Under New Law [cbsnews.com]
ABC News:
Russian programmer arrested at hacker convention for alleged violation of copyright law [go.com]
MSNBC:
Adobe seeks release of Russian programmer arrested at Def Con [msnbc.com]
New York Times:
U.S. Arrests Russian Cryptographer as Copyright Violator [nytimes.com]
Arrest Raises Stakes in Battle Over Copyright [nytimes.com]
Protesters Target FBI Nominee Over Russian Arrest [nytimes.com]
Adobe Opposes Prosecution in Hacking Case [nytimes.com]
Those all seem pretty mainstream to me.
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Re:to quote... (Score:2)
Re:to quote... (Score:3)
to quote... (Score:4)
-Thomas Jefferson
And ill probably be arrested for quoting him.
Yuck! (Score:2)
Idea: If Slashdot is partially about "stuff the matters" how about letting the Slashdot readers voice a public, collective opinion?
When stories like this one come around, where having an opinion bloc to point to can sway others, why not let the collective voice of Slashdot readers be in public view? Say a poll attached to the article, and keep the results out there in front for folks to use as fodder as necessary. We'll all know a bit better where the crowd sits on the issue too. And folks could easily opt-out of the system if they choose.
Bad idea?
Re:Habeus Corpus? (Score:3)
First, from the U.S. Constitution, Article I Section 9:
"The Privilege of the writ of habeas ccorpus shall not be suspended, unless, when in cases of reballion or invasion, the public safety may require it."[Emphasis added]
Notice that it says nothing about applying only to citizens.
A writ of habeas corpus is a court order demanding that the person of the imprisoned be brought before the court, and that the authority who holds him justify itself, usually by filing charges. Habeas corpus is latin for "give us the body!" The privilege of the writ has only been suspended once in US history, by Abraham Lincoln during the civil war. It doesn't say in the constitution who may suspend it, but legal scholars up until that point had always assumed that it was up to congress, for two reasons:
1) Under British common law, from which much of US law is taken, only parliament may suspend the privilege of the writ
2) The above quote is in Article I, which details the congress.
Hope this helps ease the confusion.
Re:a contrary view (Score:3)
The problem with this is that it is not Dmitry's battle to fight. He is Russian. It is the responsibility of Americans to fight for the freedom of Americans, not Russians or anyone else.
Re:a contrary view (Score:3)
I don't think so. Not in my case.
I do think that I would go to a high degree of pain for the cause, but in this case there may be better avenues. Eating this much crap to just hopefully get a little press is a little much. I personally would bow out and focus my time and energy on a more controlled campaign.
That being said, just to add my little opinion to the thread, I think what the authorities are doing here is just plain horrible. They're ignoring the constitution on one hand, while referencing and hiding behind it on the other.
More race stuff in one place,
It's already been done (Score:3)
Microsoft was the true source of the Red Worm virus in an attempt to remind the Whitehouse who REALLY is the world super power.
Luckily their planned attack went through the same beta testing and forethought as the rest of their software.
Developers Have a Louder Voice than Speech (Score:5)
But why are we playing by their rules? If we really want to be heard, we should use our abilities to make ourselves heard. America needs the developers, techies, and computer savvy people who oppose the DMCA to function as a country, to remain economically viable, and to remain internationally competetive.
Personally, I think we should show the nation just how much power they've inadvertantly given us. We should strike, or perform some equivalant that cripples the software and internet infrastructure that runs this economy. We should make a statement that shows that unless America listens to the very people who have created this Digital World, we're not going to give it to them anymore.
Sure, we'll get initially labeled as "evil hackers" and social miscreants, but we're educated enough to know that that's the price of freedom. And we're also the only people who can bail the country out of a technical catastrophe. The fact is that America needs us much more than America needs bogus laws that protect the wealthiest of companies. And we're everywhere, in every industry, and influencing every aspect of life.
Like the Patriots who threw tea overboard in Boston Harbor to protest unjust laws, we shall show that without the foundation technology upon which the Nation depends, no law prohibiting it's advancement and the open table research thereof shall survive or be tolerated.
Re:Developers Have a Louder Voice than Speech (Score:3)
Maybe some open-source software that corporations rely on could change their licenses so they only work for open-source purposes. Like apache could include a mod by default that would make it so that commercial browsers wouldn't server the correct pages. Or the various server programs.... make the stuff that is already free "crippleware" if used for certain purposes. That's not illegal, right? They're freely available. Corporations rely on services we give them for free. No reason we can't hold them for ransom, payable in guaranteed rights.
tune
Re:An Intellectual Property Owner Complains (Score:2)
Re:Developers Have a Louder Voice than Speech (Score:2)
Well, I would probably say that you should read "Democracy in America", specifically the portion on tyranny of the majority. The last hope we had was the courts, and they sided firmly with everyone else.
You are right that the creators have a lot of power. They make what everyone else uses and needs to live and continue to have US society function. But that power can only be checked in two ways, either by destroying what you make, or by denying access to that knowledge and future knowledge.
I don't see how destroying peoples' ability to go places on the web will make any friends. It will piss people off, and when you piss a lot of people off, they tend to pound on you and think later (if at all). By doing what you suggest, you may not realize that people become intractible in the face of adversity...they will kill the person that makes the fire if that person puts the fire out, and they will NOT feel sorry for killing you later.
I have another thought along those lines, though. Read the following quote:
"We believe that a careful effort was made by Congress to balance the rights of intellectual property owners and the rights of intellectual property consumers," says Allan Adler, vice president at the Association of American Publishers, which applauded Sklyarov's arrest last week.
Do you see what I see? These people are doing what their own expectations lead them to believe...the ones who own the money and the IP are happy (the owners) and the ones who use the stuff are happy (the consumers). But this guy and most folks in general COMPLETELY ignore the CREATORS. Being ignored is a good thing sometimes. Yeah, if the creators rock the boat, the owners will get pissed off and get something like the DMCA passed (oh, wait, that already happened). The consumers get pissed off if the creators trash everything, because the creators are not the owners in the US, or VERY rarely, but definitely not in this situation.
There is something every creator can do to stop the machinery. Walk away. Stop working for them. Whatever you do, don't do it all at once, and do it smart. Here is what I suggest, because if enough people stop working, I guarantee you the shit will hit the fan, just not immediately, and time can only help people who are ignored:
1. Get a passport. Start looking online at other countries who will protect your rights to create. Visit those countries, make sure you like what you see. Become conversant with ALL of the ways of getting legally inside their borders. You would even be better off getting a passport from a US protectorate, just so you can say you are not even from the US if you get stopped by the local cops before you can cross.
2. Follow the proposal and passage of laws closely, both federally and by border states in the US. When something actually gets to a committee that will prevent people with technical knowledge from freely travelling, get your things together. Don't look at me like I am some kind of crank- DMCA got passed on a voice vote on the floor, with ZERO arguements. FYI, acts that modify constitutional rights are supposed to be voted on by ballot, but that took to long for Congress. Don't think they won't do it again. Some kind of bill preventing "a rare and precious US resource" from moving outside the borders is all anyone needs to place coders and such folks under a special provisional status.
Write your congressman (Score:3)
Type or handwrite(if you still remember how) to your "friends" on the Hill and express your outrage. Tell them what you think as a voter and as one of the most in demand workers on the planet (its true) on how these laws are not helpful to the US.
A couple of words of caution for those of you in the thros of rage.
Do not swear
Do not threaten to kill them if they do not comply
Do not include c4 or other explosives "to get your point across"
Re:McVey in training. (Score:2)
EFF Taking fight to US AG (Score:3)
The EFF has moved to targeting the US Attorney [eff.org] on the case. Further action against Adobe, while perhaps deserved, would be fruitless.
We need to move on to the next step in getting Dmitry released, and in continuing to fight the DMCA. If we do this right, we might be able to get the entire law overturned.
(email addr is at acm, not mca)
We are Number One. All others are Number Two, or lower.
Re:Lies, dammed lies and statistics (Score:2)
Is there something intriniscally nutty about owning a gun? Or is this just another example of the logical fallacy of attacking the person [datanation.com] you are arguing with rather than coming up with a valid argument to support your conclusion?
Everytime you call someone a "gun nut" you actually weaken any rational argument in favor of gun control. So don't do it. Rather, explain why the 2nd amendment is flawed and why individual citizens should not own firearms. Do so in a way that makes your argument stronger than the argument of those who maintain that the right to own firearms is an important liberty.
Unless you can't come up with such an argument in which case using a logical fallacy is your only hope. Hmm, come to think of it thats probably why the term "gun nut" gets thrown around so much. Its too hard to come up with a valid argument, so you take the easy way out and label people.
Coble translation for the reality-impaired (Score:5)
When Howard Coble says:
"The law is performing the way we hoped... As far as I know there have been very few complaints from intellectual property holders."
what he means is
"My customers are very happy with their purchase."
TheFrood
Re:Here's the root of the problem.. (Score:2)
The problem here is that there is no profit motive in being right. The funny thing is, the way you get profit motive on this side of the argument is to crack protection, pirate mass quantities of 'intellectual property' and sell it for a profit. Since this is *not* whats happening, there is no cash-payback for fighting the DMCA. The distribution industries have *mucho* profit motive to do what they do, and all you get for all your effort is the same rights you had ten years ago.
Here's the root of the problem.. (Score:3)
'Geektivist's' simply don't have the cash to compete with corporate lobbyist. There is no money in being morally right. Money buys laws.
Re:Your Rapes Online (Score:3)
Yes, I'm making the bizarre counterintuitive suggestion that movements in the British crime statistics since 1997 are not relevant to the question of whether it should be illegal to reverse engineer Adobe's ebook document format.
I may be wrong, but you're going to have to spell this out for me.
Your Rapes Online (Score:4)
- Analogises the crime of copyright infringement with the crime of rape.
- Analogises the prosecution of people for copyright infringement with the wholesale massacre of Jews.
- Wastes half of its length on a boring anti-gun-control rant utterly unrelated to the topic, and
- Destroys the entire case for freedom of information by claiming that hackers should be seen as analogous to mobs killing each other in Chicago (I am not making this up -- the fool's argument is that if hackers want to break the law they will do no matter what the law, therefore they should be allowed the tools to do so)
Quotes like "It's impossible to favor gun regulations and oppose computer regulations and remain philosophically consistent. " are calculated to get half the reasonable people in this country thinking that the DMCA must be a good thing after all, and the linked article's author is a prick of the worst kind for trying to hijack a genuine issue of liberty for his own half-assed political program. Even Eric Raymond has always had the common sense not to stoop this low.I always wondered whether there was a site out there with worse journalistic standards than Slashdot. Michael's found it, and he's linked to it [linuxplanet.com]. Congratulations.
Re:Adobe (Score:2)
True, I am just going off of what I've read here, and have not been privy what went on between Adobe and the EFF or FBI. But, since Adobe was in this from the beginning (were the ones who filed the complaint with the Justice Dept in the first place) I find it very hard to believe that they didn't know that this would result in an arrest and prosicution. To turn around now and say "wow, he shouldn't be in jail" smacks of damage control. Maybe they're sincere, but I have my doubts.
If you don't have anything nice to say, say it often.
Adobe (Score:3)
If you don't have anything nice to say, say it often.
Habeus Corpus? (Score:4)
Perhaps someone should file a Habeus Corpus petiton?
Re:Here's the root of the problem.. (Score:2)
I can understand how the DMCA flew under the radar, because at the time it seemed to apply primarily to people who made cable descramblers and the like and not directly applicable to software technology.
However, I find it especially shocking that when legislation that directly affects 'geeks' such as the H1-B Visa program expansion comes up for debate, there isn't a single group representing technical employees on capital hill lobbying for their interests, while every Silicon Valley company was out in full force. In fact, there isn't a single group claiming to represent technical employees at all, with the exception of the IWW and some obscure Unix Sysadmin club. You'll have to face that in this business, there is very little 'consciousness' and 'geeks' are more than happy to let their corporate masters do all of the talking.
Re:The best way to expose a bad law is to enforce (Score:2)
And, of course, we are the folks who made the law. Big media interests were able to get the DMCA enacted because voters didn't care about it one way or another. There is not a single congressman or senator now in office who thinks his or her reelection hinges on opposing the DMCA or similar legislation. Our representatives can do Big Media's bidding (and collect healthy campaign contributions and other support) without jeopardizing their positions. What do you expect them to do?
For the moment, at least, we still live in something close to a representative republic. Sufficiently irate citizens routinely change government policies and influence important votes. Our only challenge is how to make our case compelling enough to get a groundswell of popular opinion behind it -- people who are mad enough to vote incumbents out of office over this issue. Then we'll see changes.
Intellectual property law is an esoteric enough issue that I don't even know whether this is possible or not. But I do know that we're spending most of our time preaching to the choir. Try explaining the situation to your non-techie friends and family. Write to your representatives, and to the local paper. Above all, vote, and let all the candidates know why you're voting for your choice.
It may be too late to preserve our freedoms; I don't know. But we have to act as if it's not, or it definitely will be too late, very soon.
--
Re:Write your congressman (Score:3)
I was planning on writing to my Congressman this past weekend. Since he's a Republican, I thought I'd point out how Adobe's customers for this product are mostly corporations, and show how much their profits are being hurt by paying $3000/doc for lame encryption (tailor your message to the audience, and all that). I figured I'd end with a write-up explaining just how lame Adobe's encryption was, complete with simple examples even a non-geek could understand. Then I realized that by doing so, I could find the FBI knocking on my door.
I don't have my copy of "1984" handy, but I seem to recall a statement along the lines of:
This is the real problem with the DMCA; no one can meaningfully protest it without running afoul of it.
Re:a contrary view (Score:2)
If madonna was caught, though, then it would make the major press. hmmmmmmmmmmm....
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Re:a contrary view (Score:3)
a contrary view (Score:4)
Comment removed (Score:5)
An Intellectual Property Owner Complains (Score:4)
Re:a contrary view (Score:3)
Here's an excerpt:
To the average mainstream American, what does this look like? A bunch of hacker kids, out to disrupt orderly society, who get off on the adrenaline rush of hacking into systems. Not exactly apt to inspire sympathy in the Heartland(TM).It's also interesting to note that abcnews.com's top story this morning is a piece on resume padding, by the way.
- Firedog
The best way to expose a bad law is to enforce it (Score:4)
I say, enforce the bad law, expose it for what it is, and get it ruled as unconstitutional. Or, get congress to change the law, in light of the bad ways it is required to be enforced.
It's just sad that some poor sod has to sit in jail while this process goes on.
Just keep in mind, the folks who made the law are to blame, not the folks mandated to enforce it.
Off topic: Your Rapes Online (Score:3)
Back to Sklyarov: The DMCA obviously violates the first ammendment, but there may be arguments that it violates the second, fourth ("the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers") and eighth ("excessive fines") too.
Regardless of the DMCA, Sklyarov's imprisonment definitely violates the sixth ("an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed", ie. Russia) and the eleventh ("the Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to...Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.")
Re:Your Rapes Online (Score:3)
Re:Your Rapes Online (Score:5)
So you're saying that the proven fact that gun crime in Britain jumped 40% in one year after enacting laws to ban regular citizens from owning guns is not relevant? The fact that enforcing a law that is fundamentally foolish and flawed (DMCA kills fair use copyright law already in place) is therefore a good thing, just because it is now law? That's ridiculous! The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. The British didn't remember that, and today they've got a 40% increase in gun crime (not just crime overall, specifically crimes involving guns). I find that quite relavant considering the DMCA flies in the face of our own Constitutionally granted freedoms.
Re:It is called Habeas Corpus (Score:4)
You can't be charged with a Federal Felony without a grand jury determination that :
a) a crime has been committed
b) you are the person that likely committed that crime.
This little thing called the US Constitution requres this.
If you want to know more of the rules do a findlaw search on federal criminal procedure.
How do you justify that? (Score:3)
If we try and take away Sklyarov's freedom to make a point, how are we better than Adobe and the Feds? Isn't that what they did?
Don't make an unwilling martyr out of Sklyarov. Let him go home!
The U.S. needs to take care of their own problems.
'crow
Re:Here's the root of the problem.. (Score:3)
Don't get me wrong. I think that the DMCA sucks. I have made monetary contributions to the EFF. I don't like MS. But it is far too easy to take the path of least resistance. 50% voter turnout in presidential elections means that the "dedicated" minorities get their way. Geeks just don't seem to be dedicated enough to the real world.
Re:a contrary view (Score:5)
Picture is Not Getting Any Prettier (Score:4)
The CHIPs plan to hold illegal sites and post "a warning that the site has been seized by law enforcement" and present a "clear message that cybercrime carries real penalties for offenders."
The article further states that current EFF Executive Director, Shari Steele, addressed a letter to Ashcroft requesting the release of Sklyarov. Ashcroft had no comment regarding his ageny's charges against Sklyarov.
It looks DMCA will soon accrue an army or firm of brand new federal government attorneys under the Bush administration.
No, Not with Dmitry. This is Our (US) Problem. (Score:5)
Let DMCA be tested by Americans. This nation we live in is responsible for this damn law; we should be the ones who deal with it; who correct the wrong.
Re:a contrary view (Score:5)
yet another irony (Score:5)
I find it ironic that the current chairman and former CEO of Adobe [adobe.com] was quoted as saying that one of the worst parts of being kidnapped [mercurycenter.com] is the forced separation from ones family. Isn't that what he has ( in part ) done to Sklyarov ?
Re:to quote... (Score:5)
Unfortunately, instead of an American patriot, we arrested a foreign national, a man with a family, who is paying the price for the Law purchased by big business in our country.
Sadly, the people responsible for this law will probably never suffer for their abrogation of duties, and they obviously don't qualify as patriots, at least from my perspective.
I know we don't have the votes to really hurt the politicians who voted this law into effect, but we should generate as much attention as we can, and remind people that the Chinese government isn't the only one that detains foreign nationals without due process, as this case shows!