[FYI] U.S.-DMCA: Adobe laesst Dmitry Sklyarov verhaften.

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

[Wenn die EU-UrheberrechtsRiLi erstmal in nationales Recht umgesetzt 
ist, gehts wohl auch hierzulande rund.                        --AHH]

http://www.usaondca.com/press/html/2001_07_17_sklyarov.html

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U.S. Department of Justice  

United States Attorney Northern District of California 11th Floor, 
Federal Building 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055 San Francisco, 
California  94102  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel: (415) 436-7200 Fax: (415) 436-7234  

July 17, 2001  

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of 
California announced that Dmitry Sklyarov, of Moscow, Russia, made an 
initial appearance yesterday in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a complaint 
from the Northern District of California charging a single count of 
trafficking in a product designed to circumvent copyright protection 
measures in violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 
1201(b)(1)(A).   This is one of the first prosecutions in the United 
States under this statute, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
("DMCA").  

According to an affidavit filed by an agent of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation in connection with the criminal complaint, Mr. Sklyarov 
is alleged to have been the author of a program, "Advanced eBook 
Processor," that unlocked the "eBook Reader" produced by Adobe 
Systems, Inc.  Consumers can download eBook Reader onto their 
personal computers in order to purchase electronic books in the eBook 
format from on-line booksellers such as Amazon.com or 
BarnesandNoble.com.  The eBook Reader permits consumers to read the 
encrypted eBook only on the specific computer utilized to engage in 
the transaction.  Because the book is sold in encrypted form and is 
only accessible through the eBook Reader, the copyright holder's 
interest in the book is protected.  

According to the affidavit,  the Advanced eBook Processor permitted 
users of the program to decrypt an eBook in a manner such that the 
eBook could be opened in any Portable Document Format  ("PDF") viewer 
such as Adobe Acrobat reader, and the file would have no restrictions 
on editing, copying and printing the eBook.  The affidavit states 
that the Advanced eBook Processor would allow anyone to read the 
eBook on any computer without paying the fee to the bookseller.  The 
affidavit alleges that the program itself lists Mr. Sklyarov as the 
copyright holder of the Advanced eBook Processor, and that the 
program was distributed by ElcomSoft Company, Ltd. of Moscow, Russia, 
through its website.  

The website for the "Defcon-9" conference in Las Vegas, Nevada states 
that Mr. Sklyarov was scheduled to speak at the Defcon-9 conference, 
scheduled for July 13-15.  The Defcon-9 conference website describes 
the conference as "an annual computer underground party for hackers 
in Las Vegas," and it states that Mr. Sklyarov's speech would include 
"security aspects of electronic books and documents."  

The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of Title 
17, United States Code, Section 1201(b)(1)(A)  is five years 
imprisonment and a fine of $500,000.  However, any sentence following 
conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 
which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in 
the discretion of the Court.  A complaint simply contains allegations 
against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Sklyarov must 
be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.  

Mr. Sklyarov made his initial appearance in federal court in Las 
Vegas, yesterday, July 16, 2001.  Mr. Sklyarov was detained without 
bail and ordered removed to the Northern District of California.  No 
dates have been set for the defendantīs next appearance.  

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Scott Frewing and Joseph Sullivan 
are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with 
the assistance of Lauri Gomez.   

A copy of this press release and key court documents filed in the 
case may also be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at 
www.usaondca.com.  

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed 
to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415)436-7181.  

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Siehe dazu etwa auch

<http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/de/dat/2001/l_167/l_16720010622de001000 
19.pdf>