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Sklyarov Case Exposes DMCA Contradictions
Posted by
timothy
on Mon Aug 13, 2001 08:23 AM
from the doublethink-tripletalk- dept.
from the doublethink-tripletalk- dept.
aePrime writes: "This article on the New York Times describes how the case against Dmitri Sklyarov is bringing up some contridictions within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. One is allowed to bypass security measures to backup data, but one is not allowed to write the software to bypass the security. It mentions how this first case to be prosecuted under the law may indeed cause changes to the law." A lot of bad laws have stuck around for longer than the DMCA has yet, but the more this kind of analysis is seen, the sooner sanity can be restored.
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Sklyarov Case Exposes DMCA Contradictions
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An unpopular position (Score:1)
"The DCMA[sic] takes away my right to h4x0r j00..."
<irony>
That having been cleared up, there is a portion of the article [nytimes.com] that seems interesting. In summation, Ms. Harmon writes:
copied directly from this article [nytimes.com] without permission, with all due credit, and with unknown intentions.
"The inequity is of greatest concern to the law where there's a constitutional interest at stake," said Pamela Samuelson, co-director of the Center for Law and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley. "If there is a constitutional-based interest in fair use, it shouldn't just be someone with a Ph.D. in computer science who can circumvent an access control -- just like you can't say people who own property can vote, but poor people can't."
end quote
Essentially, the viewpoint that Ms. Harmon relates here shows the problem of fair use limitation in the DMCA as a question of equality [gmu.edu] before [enterstageright.com] the [justiceplus.org] law [earthlink.net].
Now, the traditional American viewpoint (as you can see above) is even still somewhat fragmented. Equality before the law is given at least a nod of consideration, unless of course it isn't....
So if I may make a slight and modest proposal....
Proposed:
Whereas much of western polical thought since the Hellenic age has rested in part on an underpinning concerned with a 'aristocracy of the mind', and whereas the DMCA is one of the clearest positional statements of the American Government on the principle of an 'aristocracy of the mind', it is hearby proposed that
The American Government consciensiously and systematically adopt the advancement of an aristocracy of the mind with respect to equality before the law.
Perhaps, if we're lucky, the right to vote in America will some day have the prerequsite of correctly explaining the Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent [intrepidsoftware.com].
No mention.... (Score:2, Interesting)
One thing I liked about this article... (Score:5, Insightful)
Once similar cases start growing in number in which the non-computer-geek common man finds their rights limited by copy protection, the case against DMCA will grow as well.
A short walk off a long pier (Score:4, Interesting)
At least they finally let him out on bail. My lord he looks tired in that picture.
OK, then everything is illegal. (Score:2, Insightful)
Well then we MUST make handguns illegal. A gun can't tell the difference between a legal use, and being used to commit a crime.
It MUST be made legal to SELL any tool that has a LEGAL purpose, even IF it can be used for an illegal one. Otherwise EVERYTHING is illegal. Guns, cars, screwdrivers, etc.
Considering the Burst Test article as well. (Score:1)
Perhaps the human experience is all boolean calculation. All we percieve, and all our associated thoughts can be convincingly simulated with computers.
I'm not saying that's all there is to us, but it could be all we're ever able to comprehend. Taken with a grain of salt, eventually somebody will accurately simulate the creative process. The electronic mind invents a new button that never falls off (Surely you see the case where a program invents a new program, but let's keep it simple).
Who owns the patent to the miracle button?
The button, in it's conceptual form, is only the result of a mathematical function.
Ultimate ThinkGeek item... (Score:4, Funny)
Imagine if Skylarov were from China (Score:2, Interesting)
The DMCA (Score:4, Informative)
Details on the DMCA? (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Details on the DMCA? (Score:4, Redundant)
http://www.tuxers.net/dmca/ [tuxers.net]
well, good (Score:4, Funny)
Okay, bring it on. I can take it. More DMCA.
Shouldn't we have a Code Red IV, The Voyage Home, where Skylarov travels back in time before the DMCA and can go home? A whale of a good tail.
Legal assumptions. (Score:4, Interesting)
Why don't we chuck out the sense of entitlement, and the laws trying to enforce it, and just tell businesses that if they want to be profitable in the cyberage, they need to come up with a business plan that actually works in the cyberage.
Alienation.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Muddying the law (Score:5, Insightful)
The Library of Congress is now considering whether to recommend other exceptions to the law. Many libraries and other educational institutions want an exception that would let individuals circumvent a copy- control technology in order to copy portions of a work for use in parody, scholarship or criticism -- purposes protected under the "fair use" doctrine of traditional copyright law.
This is the sticking point of the DMCA with me; it strips away whatever bit of fair-use doctrine we once enjoyed. No wonder most people don't like it, no one wants to lose rights they once had.
This is all fine and good, but people still have to prove they cracked whatever encryption in order to make a parody, etc. It makes for more complications in the long run.
It seems to be a poor substitute for examining its constitutionality to see if the law should still even exist.
ACM Declaration (Score:1)
Dmitry KQED Broadcast at 9am PDT (Score:1)
No reg link (Score:5, Informative)
Can't article submitters please take the easy step of replacing www with archives? It works every time.
Re:No reg link (Score:4, Funny)
This cauight my eye, first paragraph (Score:2)
Hello? Those rights already existed - it's called the 1st Amendment. The DMCA even has language expressly affirming those rights to fair use. Here is an article that is critical of the DMCA, yet is still full of pro-media-conglomerate bias! How can we win this when even our "friends" are getting it wrong?
What I'm wondering is... (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean, he broke *US LAW* whilst IN RUSSIA... and now they're prosecuting him in the US.
After taking that into account... what do they hope to achieve? Its unlikely that he has much money that anyone can sue him for... so they just want to keep a prisoner, basically?
What if Russia arrested and held an American for breaking a Russian law whilst in America?!? I bet there'd be a helluva lot of demands going on by the US.
The US seems to have a lot of double standards in terms of what it expects from other countries contrasted with what it allows other countries.
The DMCA is only part of the deal.
COPYright vs ACCESSright (Score:5, Insightful)
It is supposedly about preventing unauthorized copying. But in reality does little to prevent it and puts the publishing industries in the driver's seat in a new way.
The REAL fear here is if we get to the point where all 'media player devices' (not necessarily related to Microsoft media player) play only DMCA-encumbered media - where you can't even play non-access-controlled media if you wanted to. Then free speech and discourse necessary for democracy are in deep trouble.
./configure (Score:4, Funny)
tar -xvzf dmca.tar.gz
./configure ./config.cache /usr/bin/install -c
cd dmca
creating cache
checking for extra includes... no
checking for extra libs... no
checking for a BSD compatible install...
checking whether legal environment is sane... no
*Exit with error code 1
Can you see the parallel... (Score:2, Insightful)
Tonights SJRally Latest on Dmitry (Score:3, Informative)
No software needed to backup Adobe ebooks (Score:1, Informative)
Adobe *tells* users to back up their ebook data files before upgrading the reader. That would be rather silly, if it weren't possible.
The only problem is that Adobe makes it a pain in the ass to make your ebooks readable if you change PCs. No decryption software necessary.
By the way people talk, you'd think that Adobe ebook files *can't* be copied, *can't* be backed up, and *can't* be made to work on another computer without some cracking software. This is not the case.
Two many times (Score:1)
Need to be careful with this case. (Score:2, Informative)
I'm sure the media cartels are grinding their gears to find the right obfuscated solution that may satisfy people now, yet still retain the draconian measures currently in place. Just getting his release is not enough, the law must be made right.
- A non-productive mind is with absolutely zero balance.
- AC
Do we dare combat the DMCA? (Score:3, Insightful)
I frequently read about the DMCA on Slashdot. I've yet to see a Slashdot poll that musters support against it. When all the complaining is done, we all go home to our games, movies and music. The editors here make grandiose statements about "evil corporation X" and then post a review about "X's cool new gizmo". We condemn Sony's role in the SDMI initiative and then go on to say "Oh I can't wait till PS/2 hits the US markets".
Here's a link to a letter I wrote to Malda and Rusty. Nothing came out of it.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2001/7/31/20314/
Why isn't there a collective, organized protest against DMCA and its lobbyists? Don't we think that its possible to live without the offerings of corporations? Its time to consider this thing seriously, and chip away at it, each day, relentlessly. Keep journals. My journal entry would read, "Today, I would have done X, but for the DMCA. I can't wait until the day that we'll be rid of it".
If we're so weak that we can't resist cool toys, then perhaps we deserve the DMCA.
-rao
Good to be arrested? (Score:5, Informative)
The meaning of "Malfunction"? (Score:2)
Last fall, Congress adopted the library's recommendation that when the copyright safeguards malfunction on "literary works, including computer programs and databases," that an individual has legally purchased, the person be allowed to use technology like the software Mr. Sklyarov developed to regain reading access to the work.
Can this be used as an argument for DeCSS? The encryption on DVDs is so weak that it "malfunctioned"?
It's a stretch, I know.
Let my people go (Score:3, Troll)
Re:Let my people go (Score:5, Interesting)
But he is a hero either way, because the definition of "hero" does not always require the subject to have high-minded, lofty goals at the outset. He is quite possibly going to be central in overturning this law, or he will be one of the most obvious victims of it-- in a way that Eric Corley can never be. I fully expect "Free Dmitry" to replace Mitnick references... at least the new rallying cry will have a more ethical foundation.
Re:Adobe and other corporations wat him let go. (Score:4, Insightful)
This is more than a bit naive, I am afraid. Adobe is trying for the best of both worlds here: intimidating anyone who seeks to reverse-engineer their code, AND endear themselves to the anti-DMCA crowd as being "reasonable" and "open to negotiation". An iron bar wrapped in a happy-face marshmallow.
Same with RIAA: if charges are dropped now, intimidation is successful without taking the risk of the law they purchased being overthrown.
sPh
A good thing™ (Score:2)
Re:A good thing? (Score:5, Insightful)
Since the Internet started to become widely popular (say around 1994-1995) I have watched a number of on-line political hoo-haa's. The furor over the Communications Decency Act I & II comes to mind.
In all of these cases I have noticed a common thread: lots of people are willing to hit the "R" key in the e-mail program and contribute a fresh rant to the discussion. Very, very few people are willing to actually DO anything that might make a difference.
OK guys, this one's important. This is pretty much a key battleground in the future of on-line rights.
In that vein, here's a suggestion: (a) get out your _manual_ typewriter and write a letter to your three members of Congress explaining your views on this situation (b) contribute $100 each to DS's legal defense fund and a fund for his family's well-being (c) write out 3 checks for $50 each to your congresspeople's re-election fund.
Now, if in 6 weeks or so I see $10 million in DS's defense fund and 150,000 letters received on Capitol Hill, then I will think that on-line activitism means something.
My prediction: $10,000, a couple of hundred letters (remember - typewritten, hand-signed, stamped, and mailed). Net effect: ZERO.
sPh
Computer Law... (Score:1)
What Happens to Libraries with the DMCA (Score:3, Interesting)
The DMCA seems to criminalize the library that might someday exist.
I love this part (Score:5, Insightful)
"Many of the people I know can come up with a program to do it themselves, without being in the business of doing it," Ms. Peters said.
She has GOT to be kidding if she thinks the average consumer has the ability to design tools that will allow them to access there fair use rights. This is idiotic. Most
What she is suggesting would be like if wrenches were illegal, but you could make your own to fix your faucet that is leaking. "We believe the average consumer will find a way to make the wrenches they need." Sorry, but most people do not have the knowledge, expertise, or equipment to make wrenches. If you think most people can write code that will crack encryption, you shouldn't buy that new Lexus you have been looking at. Why not build you own car?
a common skill? (Score:4, Insightful)
Marybeth Peters, the chief of the United States Copyright Office, said that the exception was still meaningful, even without a market for anti- circumvention devices, because it allowed individuals to figure out for themselves how to go around a technological control measure. "Many of the people I know can come up with a program to do it themselves, without being in the business of doing it," Ms. Peters said.
So, according to the US copyright office, hacking e-books is a common skill? In fact, a neccessary skill to excersize our rights?I like this one.... (Score:3, Funny)
I beg to differ. I have the perfect device to distinguish fair use. It's called a brain. I have greater faith in its capability than in any access control scheme Big Media may come up with.
DMCA gagging crypto researcher (Score:3, Insightful)
He said that he had done some research on some topic (unfortunately I could not hear what it was about). He said he would go to the US next week for a conference and he feared being arrested if he would publish. Since he had mouths to feed and rent to pay, he said he could not afford to take the risk. So he decided to not publish his research. He urged everyone to protest against the DMCA which affects him as a non-US citizen. He did realise that at the HAL he was preaching to the choir...
Some little known facts about this case (Score:5, Interesting)
Dmitry's company made an extremely smart move in hiring Joe Burton for their lawyer here. He's the same one who represented Kelly Goen and Phil Zimmerman when they were being investigated by the Grand Jury for PGP.
Joe Burton is arguably the best lawyer in the world for this case. Not only is he experienced in this area, he's an ex-Fed prosecutor (IIRC) and knows all the people involved on the Government side of things. He also believed strongly in the rights of people to use strong cryptography, and represented Kelly and Phil for free.
IMHO he's a rare bird; and I wish we had more like him.
Here's another extremely little known fact about the PGP case. Joe wouldn't touch handling suing the Feds involved with a ten-foot pole for violating Phil and Kelly's constitutional rights on Freedom of Speech with PGP. Apparantly he's still a little too close to some of the Feds to do this.
But I still think he's the best person for handling the criminal case. I would personally choose another for handling the civil-rights violation countersuit against Adobe and the Feds though. It will be interesting to see who's the best lawyer for this one.
Perfection? (Score:1)
Jury trial... (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the things his software is capable of doing is to allow blind people to read these e-books. Imagine THAT testimony in front of a jury!
And what would Adobe's representatives say when they take the stand? (and you can be sure that they will) They backed off once. Will they say "No, this hasn't hurt us." Or will they backtrack once again and call for him to be put in jail. Surely their calls to have him released will enter into the testimony?
No jury of "average" Americans will be able to wrap their heads around the technical issues of the DMCA. It's going to be the simple things like "this software allows blind people to read e-books" that will sway them one way or the other.
-S
Re:It will never get to a jury (Score:4, Informative)
Apparently you've never heard of jury nullification [2ndlawlib.org]. You most certainly *do* have the right to decide if a law is legal when you are on a jury.
More DMCA violations! (Score:2, Informative)
Arrest her! She is a hacker-theif!!
Don't worry (Score:5, Funny)
DCMA and Microsoft... (Score:4, Insightful)
What if the whole affair about copyright and fair-use a red herring designed to distract attention from the real game: making it illegal to write software that competes in any way whatsoever with Microsoft's own work.
Re:That's not the DMCA.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course most people would not be using the Linux client to crack unauthorized emails but to access ones addressed to them. And of course the Linux client is not really the crucial part here, since Bob could conceivably have used the MS program -- it was the interception that was wrong. But the RIAA, MPAA, and other evil acroynyms have been arguing that a single infringing use -- even one entirely hypothetical -- is enough to open the developer to charges or suit under the DMCA.
The DMCA is a bad law because of its creeping featurism. In the 21st century, copyright law will become one of the major areas of law at all.
The Perfect Defense (Score:2, Funny)
Fight fire with fire [brunching.com]
AlpineR
Re:Is anybody else (Score:1)
Re:NY times sucks (Score:1)
Re:Is anybody else (Score:1)
I get a lot of "Invalid Form Code *random text*" errors, myself. It seems to be gradually occurring more and more often.
Re:Isn't Elcomsoft a competitor of Adobe's? (Score:1)
Umm, no.