What a fantastic conspiracy theory. This article basically accuses the Department of Justice of taking Dmitry Sklyarov hostage. It has convinced me, although admittedly that doesn't take a lot.
posted by Atom Heart Mother on Aug 30, 2001 - 7 comments

This NYT article on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), written by Prof. Lawrence Lessig (author of an excellent book on copyright law and policy in the digital age), raises concerns that were academic prior to the recent arrest of a Russian software programmer at a Las Vegas computer security convention for violation of the act's Sec. 1201(a)(1)(A)'s anticircumvention provision. Is Lessig right that Sec. 1201 essentially makes coders (and their employers) into de facto lawmakers and, if so, is this a bad thing? If Sec. 1201 is bad policy, are there any more reasonable alternatives for effectively protecting access to software and/or providing negative incentives for the unauthorized use of software? (NYT article, registration required)
posted by estopped on Jul 30, 2001 - 16 comments

Adobe backs down, Dmitry left on the hook. They dropped all charges against Dmitry, but the Justice Department may not.
posted by Kikkoman on Jul 23, 2001 - 1 comment

The EFF gets a meeting with Adobe, but does it come quickly enough? I, for one, am not ready to easily forgive and forget the company's actions, regardless how strong Adobe's case against him. Keep your eye on the ball and maybe we'll see a bad law overturned and an injustice corrected.
posted by Kikkoman on Jul 20, 2001 - 20 comments