arrest raises stakes in battle over copyright

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/24/te...rchpv=nytToday

July 24, 2001



Adobe Opposes Prosecution in Hacking Case

By AMY HARMON

In an unexpected turnaround, Adobe Systems (news/quote) called yesterday for the release of a Russian programmer accused of violating American copyright law after he helped create software that can crack Adobe's security software for electronic books.

Last month, Adobe filed a complaint with the F.B.I. against Elcomsoft, the Moscow-based company where the programmer works. It was selling a $99 software package that disabled Adobe's anti-piracy system for e-books. Then last week, the programmer, Dmitri Sklyarov, was arrested by federal agents at a conference in Las Vegas, where he described how to crack copy-protection system. He remains in jail.

But yesterday, Adobe said it would withdraw its support for the prosecution of Mr. Sklyarov.

The detention of the 26-year-old programmer touched off a public outcry over the first criminal prosecution under a 1998 copyright law. The law makes it illegal to "provide to the public" a device with a main purpose of circumventing a technological security measure for copyrighted works.

About 100 protesters marched at Adobe's headquarters in San Jose today, and protests were held in several other cities. Civil liberties advocates argue that the 1998 law, known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or D.M.C.A., is an unconstitutional restriction on speech.

Adobe announced its decision after an eight-hour meeting with the representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties group based in San Francisco.

"We strongly support the D.M.C.A. and the enforcement of copyright protection of digital content," said Colleen Pouliot, Adobe's general counsel. "However, the prosecution of this individual in this particular case is not conducive to the best interests of any of the parties involved or the industry."

Last month, after being contacted by Adobe, Elcomsoft stopped selling the controversial software. Mr. Pouliot said that "from that perspective, the D.M.C.A. worked."

Robin Gross, a lawyer for the foundation, said that the group had been able to convince Adobe that supporting the prosecution would hurt its business. The Justice Department could continue to pursue the case regardless of Adobe's position. But Ms. Gross said the company's statement should be "persuasive."

"It makes very little sense for the U.S. attorney's office to ask taxpayers to foot the bill for a prosecution that Adobe itself doesn't even support," Ms. Gross said.