Background on the case of Dmitry Sklyarov and the DMCA

The case of Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen, Ph.D. student who studies cryptography, and father of two small children (2 1/2 year old son, 3 month old daughter), involves Advanced eBook Processor (AEBPR), software developed by Sklyarov's Russian employer Elcomsoft. According to the company's website, the software permits eBook owners to translate from Adobe's secure eBook format into the more common Portable Document Format (PDF). The software only works on legitimately purchased eBooks and has been used, for example, by blind people to read otherwise-inaccessible PDF user's manuals, and by people who want to move an eBook from one computer to another (just like anyone can move a music CD from the home player to a portable or car).

Sklyarov was arrested and jailed July 17, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV, at the behest of Adobe Systems, according to the DOJ complaint (link at right). He was charged with distributing a product designed to circumvent copyright protection measures. He was held in various jails unti his release on $50,000 bail on Aug. 6, 2001. He was not allowed to leave California and at that time had not seen his wife or children since leaving Russia for the conference in July (and expecting to be home in a few days).

In December 2001, negotiations by his attorney secured permission for Dmitry to return home to Russia with his family. However, charges have not been dropped, and he remains subject to prosecution in the US. As well, he has been ordered to testify against his company as the same case, now against his employer, Elcomsoft, goes to trial in 2002.

Dmitry and his family in Russia

Sklyarov, who was in Las Vegas to deliver a lecture on electronic book security, allegedly authored a program which permits editing, copying, and printing of electronic books by unlocking a proprietary Adobe electronic book format.

Adobe's eBook format restricts the manner in which a legitimate eBook buyer may read, print, back up, and store electronic books. The Advanced eBook Processor appears to remove these usage restrictions, permitting an eBook consumer to enjoy the ability to move the electronic book between computers, make backup copies, and print. Many of these personal, non-commercial activities may constitute fair use under U.S. copyright law. Of course, the Advanced eBook Processor software may also make it easier to infringe copyrights, since eBooks, once translated into open formats like PDF, may be distributed in illegitimate ways.

Robin Gross, attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), explained, "The U.S. government for the first time is prosecuting a programmer for building a tool that may be used for many purposes, including those that legitimate purchasers need in order to exercise their fair use rights."

Jennifer Granick, Clinical Director at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, commented that "the DMCA says that companies can use technology to take away fair use, but programmers can't use technology to take fair use back. Now the government is spending taxpayer money putting people from other countries in jail to protect multinational corporate profits at the expense of free speech."