Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- "The technology Sklyarov invented is legal under Russian law, but violates new U.S. restrictions on the online use of copyrighted material. " <A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100dvxI.5259370.681614436"> 08/06: Russian hacker freed on bail pending U.S. trial</A> Russian hacker freed on bail pending U.S. trial By Lisa Baertlein SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug 6 (Reuters) - Russian software programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, whose arrest last month on U.S. copyright charges sparked protests over free-speech rights in the Internet age, was released on $50,000 bail on Monday by a California court. Moscow-based ElcomSoft Co., put up the cash bond for Sklyarov, 26, the author of a program that allows people to make and transfer copies of digital books using Adobe Systems Inc.'s <<A HREF="aol://4785:ADBE">ADBE.O</A>> eBook Reader. He was freed into the custody of software programmer Sergei Osokine of nearby Cupertino, Calif., who is a software programmer for San Jose-based Infolio and has lived in the U.S. for about 8 years, said defense attorney Joseph Burton. "Great result. It's a first step. He's out," said Burton. "I might describe him as bubbly," Burton said when asked how Sklyarov was doing. "It's very important to try to get him out while this matter is being considered for indictment." Sklyarov, in a brief interview with a television news crew, said he was "confused" by his predicament, and added that he felt the charges against him were probably intended to send a warning to other programmers. "Probably somebody tried to make it a kind of show for others," a smiling Sklyarov told San Jose's News Channel 11 in the courthouse, adding that he was feeling upbeat. "I already passed my worst days. Now I feel almost fine," he said. Arraignment is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 23 pending the return of an indictment against him by a grand jury, Burton said. The technology Sklyarov invented is legal under Russian law, but violates new U.S. restrictions on the online use of copyrighted material. Sklyarov's arrest July 16 at a hackers' convention in Las Vegas prompted an outcry among software programmers and free speech advocates. "It's the first milestone ... It's not going to be easy from here on out," said Jo Hastings, spokeswoman for a group of activists who have been lobbying for Sklyarov's release through public protests and on Internet sites such as (http://freesklyarov.org). POSTER BOY The lanky software programmer quickly became a cause celebre among computer literati after his July 16 arrest made him one of the first people to be prosecuted under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which seeks to extend the boundaries of copyright protection into cyberspace. The controversial new law bans the creation or distribution of technology that can be used to circumvent copyright protection. Sklyarov on July 15 gave a talk entitled "eBook Security: Theory and Practice" at the DefCon hackers conference in Las Vegas. He was arrested in his hotel as he prepared to check out and return to Moscow. His arrest focused attention first on Adobe, which had claimed that Sklyarov's program was a clear violation of its copyright. But after several demonstrations outside the publishing software company's San Jose, California headquarters, and a meeting with pro-Sklyarov activists at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Adobe switched positions and publicly asked the U.S. government to free him. The EFF, founded by Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow and Mitchell Kapor, founder of the software company Lotus, has repeatedly argued that the Sklyarov case reveals fatal flaws in the new U.S. copyright law, which they say outlaws technologies instead of conduct. Robin Gross, EFF's staff attorney, called the DMCA "broad" and "sloppy". "It's really a battle of the corporations to use technology to take away consumer rights and civil liberties," Gross said. Particularly at risk is an individual's right to copy software, books or music for personal use. "We're now in a place where technology is changing the rules for copyright," Gross said. Federal prosecutors, who declined comment, have not been as easily swayed and are pressing ahead with the case. FREE ON BAIL Sklyarov, who was held in both Las Vegas and Oklahoma City before his transfer to San Jose, appeared in court for the bail hearing, looking pale and wearing orange prison-issued garb. Magistrate Judge Edward Infante, through a translator, ordered Sklyarov to stay in northern California pending his trial on charges of violating DMCA. Protesters who gathered outside the courthouse called his arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation a violation of free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Network security consultant Dan Kaminsky, 22, said he spoke just before Sklyarov at DefCon and was "really freaked out" by news of the arrest and the idea that a Russian citizen has to fight free speech laws in the United States. "It just boggles my mind," he said. 21:20 08-06-01 Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
