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FC: German cops reportedly raid PDF pirate for copyright

------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 01:31:29 -0400 To: politech@politechbot.com From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: FC: German cops reportedly raid PDF pirate for copyright infringement Copies to: Schaub@springer.de Send reply to: declan@well.com

[Probably if the same (alleged) act were to take place in the U.S., the same raid would happen. Nothing to do with the DMCA or the SSSCA. The U.S. law in question, assuming the raidee wasn't selling PDFs, is the 1997 NET Act, which made not-for-profit copyright infringements a crime. Share software with your friends or family and go to prison if you get caught. I invite Springer to reply. --Declan]

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From: Tom <tom@lemuria.org> Subject: [free-sklyarov] more PDF arrests ? Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 13:13:22 +0200 User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i

this just in on a german newssite:

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/jes-10.09.01-000/

for those not speaking german, a short summary:

someone in munich was raided by 5 cops, PC and peripherals taken, because he allegedly posted a "cracked" (reference to elcomsoft) copyrighted .pdf file on his webpage.

the search order explicitly mentions "hacker software for pdf cracking".

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From: Kurt Foss <kfoss@planetpdf.com> Subject: [free-sklyarov] FYI> Computer seized in alleged PDF eBook crack To: free-sklyarov@zork.net Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 10:17:39 -0500

Based on accusations of copyright infringement involving an allegedly cracked PDF version of a recently released book, police in Munich, Germany have reportedly seized the computer and peripheral equipment of a Web site owner. Purchase of the book apparently included a CD-ROM of the contents; according to reports, the protected PDF's security permissions were removed using software from ElcomSoft Co. Ltd -- but not the same controversial application which led to recent indictments for ElcomSoft and employee Dmitry Sklyarov on violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=231

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[Following is what Babelfish makes of the heise.de article. --DBM]

House search because of gecrackter PDF file (update)

The public prosecutor's office Munich let seize the computer system of an Website operator, because it is to have still offered a in copyright matters protected and PDF file gecrackte in addition. According to specification of the concerning at least five officials penetrated into his dwelling and carried one PC with monitor as well as two scanners and some diskettes forward. In that heise on-line available search resolution of the district court running is called it that in particular for data carriering with the PDF data as well as, so literally, " Heckersoftware is looked up for decoding PDF Verschluesselungsprogrammen ". With the corpus Delicti concerns it a PDF file, which is attached to CD on the " manual of the printed media ". The Website operator said heise on-line, the public prosecutor's office accuses to him now the file with the help of the software " Advanced pdf Recovery " the Russian company ElcomSoft to have gecrackt. This software, which can be downloaded in a demo version free of charge, decodes Adobe Acrobat PDF files, which are provided with an owner password, in order it against modifications, supplements, printing, extracting text or pictures to protect. One the programmer von ElcomSoft is located at present in the USA before court, because he is to have cracked the protection of another Adobe program. In the search resolution, which obviously decreases/goes back to a charge of the scientific Springer publishing house, an offence against copyright is accused to suspecting. Usually in such cases on the civil way a requirement for omission is interspersed. The director/conductor of the responsible residents of Munich public prosecutor, Dr. Hubert full man, acknowledged opposite heise on-line that in the course of a preliminary investigation a house search was executed. The analysis of the seized evidence would take about six weeks. Only then is to be counted on results. On the uncommon methodology during a copyright infringement addressed, full man said: " a proportionateness is given already alone, because a judge, who enjoys judicial independence, signed the resolution. " If he did not want to give closer specification to the procedure and the looked up evidence, it stressed however that he could not be come the search resolution (the heise on-line is present) for with one hour of preparation time the set discussion ( jes / c't)

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