[Imc-newsroom] Protest TOMORROW to free Dmitry Sklyarov / Repeal the DMCA

[Fred Gray]

***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***** 7/24/2001

On July 16, a Russian graduate student named Dmitry Sklyarov was
arrested after a presentation at a technical conference in Las
Vegas, Nevada.  His presentation concerned the flimsiness of the
anti-fair-use software used in Adobe Systems, Inc.'s electronic book
products.

He was arrested on suspicion of violating the Digital Millenium Copyright
Act, or DMCA, a United States federal law passed in 1998 by the 105th
Congress as H.R. 2281.  The DMCA provides for significant criminal
penalties for anyone distributing information on bypassing
"anti-circumvention devices" on copyrighted material.

This arrest is significant for several reasons.  It's the first test of
the DMCA's criminal provisions.  The FBI arrested a Russian national for
acts supposedly committed in Russia.  And he was arrested shortly after
giving a scientific presentation on a legitimate computer science topic.

Inspired in part by protests around the nation on Monday, July 23, 
Adobe Systems and the Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a joint press
release calling for Sklyarov's release.  However, the decision on whether
or not to press charges rests with Robert S. Mueller, III, United States
Attorney.  Meanwhile, Sklyarov remains in jail. 

On July 25, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., a group will be protesting 
on the University of Illinois Quad to free Dmitry Sklyarov and to repeal the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  

Join us to help free Dmitry Sklyarov.  Join us if you value your right to
read and share books.  And join us if you value scientists' right to share
information freely at conferences.  All these rights are under significant
attack by e-book publishers and software vendors.

Also, for further background information on the situation, consider
reading the following links:

A reprint of the complaint and the July 18th New York Times article:
<http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sklyarov.htm>

The Electronic Freedom Foundation's protest information page:
<http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010719_eff_sklyarov_alert.html>

Thoughts about the DMCA:
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/freedom-or-copyright.html>

PlanetEbook's index of USA vs. Sklyarov-related stories:
<http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=170>

*****

-- Fred Gray

*** FREE DMITRY SKLYAROV *** http://www.freesklyarov.org ***