U.S. shows Sklyarov video in court
By Lisa M. Bowman
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
December 5, 2002, 4:00 PM PT
SAN JOSE, Calif.--The U.S. government wrapped up its case in the ElcomSoft
criminal trial Thursday without calling to the stand a Russian programmer
initially expected to be the prosecution's star witness.
Instead of calling ElcomSoft programmer Dmitry Sklyarov to the stand in the
courtroom here, government prosecutors played an hour-long video of the
programmer's earlier deposition. Defense lawyers, after unsuccessfully
trying to quash the video, said they intend to call Sklyarov to testify in
person on Monday.
Russian software company ElcomSoft faces five criminal counts related to
offering and marketing software that can be used to crack Adobe Systems'
eBooks, or electronic copies of paper books. ElcomSoft is accused of
violating the criminal provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
or DMCA, which outlaws offering software that can be use to crack copyright
protections on digital content, no matter how the material is later used.
As part of the video deposition, Sklyarov admitted that the Advanced eBook
Processor software he developed could be used to remove copyright
protections to make multiple copies of an eBook.
"The program can be used for bad purposes," Sklyarov said, answering
questions from a government lawyer through an interpreter in the video.
"After obtaining copies, somebody who wishes to harm can spread these
copies. That's a negative effect of the use of that program," said
Sklyarov, who in the video sported a beige jacket, a light-colored shirt
and a thick sweep of black, disheveled hair.
Sklyarov said that before the first version of the Advanced eBook Processor
was released, he encouraged ElcomSoft to add language to the company's Web
site saying the program should not be used for illegal purposes. ElcomSoft
added the language only after receiving a warning from Adobe Systems to
stop selling the software, he said.
At one point Sklyarov, still an ElcomSoft employee earning $2,000 a month,
said he created the program for research purposes as part of his dissertation.
"This product was developed not only for purposes of a proffr, but to show
the weaknesses of protections of PDF formats," he said.
The deposition was recorded in December 2001 after Sklyarov made a deal
with the government to testify in exchange for charges against him being
dropped. The programmer was arrested and jailed in Las Vegas after giving a
speech about the company's software earlier that year.
The move to play a videotape in lieu of calling a witness in person is
unusual in a criminal case. Assistant U.S. attorney Scott Frewing would not
comment Thursday on his decision not to call Sklyarov to the stand.
Frewing did call to the stand an FBI agent who said his agency had
questioned three people who admitted to using ElcomSoft's product to remove
copyright protections on an eBook. However, government objections prevented
the defense from making it clear whether those people had legally purchased
the eBooks they decrypted. Also, it was not clear what the people in
question planned to do with the decrypted books.
In court testimony Wednesday, an Adobe witness said he didn't know of any
illegal copies of eBooks that had been created using ElcomSoft's software.
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Overheard at the Kanadian Sekurity Kordon."Citizen! Stand away from that
decryption device!" MOVE!