Pressure mounts to free Russian programmer

Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, arrested for trafficking in illegal software tools, is still in jail and protests urging his release are continuing across the country.

Sklyarov, employed by the Moscow firm ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested at the behest of Adobe Systems Inc. on July 16 after the conclusion of the Def Con convention in Las Vegas where he gave a presentation on electronic book security. Sklyarov is charged with trafficking in tools designed to circumvent copy control measures, an act made illegal under 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The tool that caused Sklyarov to run afoul of the DMCA is Advanced eBook Processor, a program that can convert an Adobe eBook Reader document into the less secure, but more malleable Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format). If convicted, Sklyarov faces up to five years in jail and a $500,000 fine.

Adobe's eBook format places restrictions on what a user can do with documents, preventing users from backing up, printing, lending or reselling them. Critics of the software charge that the DMCA restrictions limit the traditional consumer rights of fair use and first sale, and contradict the so-called fair use doctrine embodied in other U.S. copyright law. Under the fair use doctrine consumers have the right to make private, noncommercial copies of copyright works, as well as quote from limited sections of them. The first sale doctrine also allows consumers to resell items that they have legally purchased.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) cyber-rights group has been at the forefront of the "Free Sklyarov" movement, organizing protests and meeting with the involved parties. The EFF had briefly dropped out of the protests after both Adobe and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California (the office handling Sklyarov's prosecution) agreed to meet with the group to discuss the case.

Though Adobe changed its position after meeting with the EFF and is now calling for Sklyarov's release, a Friday meeting with the U.S. Attorney's office broke no new ground, according to the EFF. After the meeting with the U.S. Attorney's office, the EFF rejoined the protests and urged their continuation.

Sklyarov's arrest has sparked a wave of protest and demonstrations in over 21 cities worldwide. Protests, some attended by more than 100 people, were held in most major U.S. cities, and were scheduled for Tel Aviv, Moscow and Munich, on July 16. Monday saw protests held, or planned, in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco.

In Boston, around 30 people gathered at the Park Street subway stop to hand out flyers, sign petitions and singing protest songs. A similar gathering last Monday drew around 40 people. Protest organizer C. Scott Ananian was optimistic about the groups' efforts.

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