FC: Verdict's in: Elcomsoft NOT GUILTY of criminal DMCA violations

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: ElcomSoft verdict: Not guilty
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 13:49:34 -0500
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ElcomSoft verdict: Not guilty
By Lisa M. Bowman
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
December 17, 2002, 10:22 AM PT

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978176.html

SAN JOSE, Calif.--A jury on Tuesday found a Russian software company not
guilty of criminal copyright charges for producing a program that can
crack antipiracy protections on electronic books.

The case against ElcomSoft is considered a crucial test of the criminal
provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a
controversial law designed to extend copyright protections into the
digital age.

The company faced four charges related to directly designing and
marketing software that could be used to crack eBook copyright
protections, plus an additional charge related to conspiring to do so.

The case was launched in July 2001, when ElcomSoft employee Dmitry
Sklyarov was arrested during the Las Vegas Defcon hackers conference
after giving a speech about his company's software, which is designed to
crack protections on Adobe Systems' eBooks. Prosecutors, working with
Adobe, said ElcomSoft's Advanced eBook Processor violated the DMCA.

But after protests from programmers, Adobe backed away from its support
of the case against Sklyarov, and prosecutors set aside charges against
Sklyarov in exchange for his testimony in the case against his
employers.

[...]




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