Dmitry Protests Running 271
Tom writes "the US-wide protests against Adobe and Dmitri Sklyarov's arrest in LA last week are running at full speed. eastcoast protests have already posted pictures - here from New York and here from Saint Paul.
More protests are running right now, or scheduled for later today. meanwhile, Adobe has pulled a "we did nothing wrong" press release from their webpage that they put up earlier today. and EFF is meeting with adobe representatives, expected end of talks: around noon PST." Imagine if IBM had arrested the people who cloned BIOS. What an amazing change the world has gone through in just a few short years. Way to go Adobe. In the future the bigger company will just arrest the smaller company's CEOs for competing. That can't be legal. Worst of all, our taxes are footing the bill.
Update: 07/23 7PM EDT by C :In response to Sklyarov's arrest, an online pettition has been started. If you would like to let others know your stance on the arrest and the DMCA issues in general, then feel free to add your name to the already grouing list.
Re:IBM BIOS (Score:3)
Backward engineering was a genuine approach before, obviously you couldn't develop new products from secretly obtained information either through poaching IBM engineers or stealing manuals. However you could take a product, measure it's inputs, outputs and functionality then independently develop a product based upon those readings, thanks to the DCMA this is no more however. Hence less competition.
screwdrivers outlawed (Score:4)
Re:Adobe Press Release (Score:4)
Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:4)
Re:The ultimate gesture of protest (Score:3)
Duh...
I am posting this from San Jose... (Score:2)
Defcon (Score:2)
-E
Re:The ultimate gesture of protest (Score:2)
And you're right -- in some cases, the employer isn't liable. It depends on the existance of an agency relationship, and basically hinges on whether the coder did the act as part of his job. There's also a strong distinction between an independant contracter (who usually will be sued) and a cog-in-the-mill coder under direct supervision of his employer (in which case there's much less question that, should the coder be found guilty, the employer can too -- so there's less need to reduce risk by suing the coder as well as his employer, which is where the money is anyhow).
However, I'm not a lawyer either; I've just sat in enough law classes to have some small fraction of a clue.
Re:Don't pay taxes ? (Score:2)
I said it was an idea, much like what your Montana Milita did in the early 90s. You can also print your own money like they did and drive around with no plates on your cars.
Or you simply don't work and thus have no income to be taxed.
It was an idea, not a good one.
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:2)
It's from NASA. Email me and I'll give you the full story.
There's a defunct military school in Virgina that has both translations on it's documents.
I'd post my standard reply that I have at home, but it's at home
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:2)
Organize against them.
From working with people, I'll make the statement that a "person" is smart, but people are stupid. People decide things like "Hitler would make a good Chancellor." Or "Windows is a really good OS for our workplace."
I vote, and I'm of the mind that if you don't vote, you don't get to bitch about what happens.
Every vote counts, except in Florida.
Re:how do I make the DMCA a campaign issue? (Score:3)
Get a group togeather, form a non-profit and send out nasty letters to anyone that will listen. Bitch and moan loud enough and people will listen.
In the late 1970s in the US, there was little enforcment of drunk-driving laws. It's because of a grass-roots effort by MADD that things happened.
In the early 1980s people (including my Mother) bitched and whined loud enough in Eugene OR that the U.S. Department of Defense didn't place a radio tower in the town. Yes...some hippies in Eugene stopped the DoD during the Cold War, if they can do that...don't tell me that you can't DMCA a campaign issue.
Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:5)
The reason our (Americans) taxes are footing the bill is because it's a Federal Issue, not a local or state government issue. And also remeber that as a Corporation, Adobe is also paying taxes...and thus they are also footing the bill.
If you don't want your Federal Taxes going to things like the FBI...you have a number of alternatives.
1. Don't pay your taxes.
2. Move somewhere that doesn't subscribe to DMCA or whatever idiotic agreement Adobe is using to justify this to the Federal Government.
3. Vote in Local and Federal Elections
4. Don't support the companies that do this kind of thing.
Re:Stellar Logic (Score:2)
Adobe is a bunch of fucking capitalists. Nobody pisses as happily on "intellectual property rights" as red China.
--
Re:Title? (Score:2)
That's what I thought too. And then I thought, "Wuh hell, running is one of the best things he could have done.
Re:What if IBM arrested the people who cloned BIOS (Score:2)
In the cases involving the Corvair, Silent Spring, and the Firestone tires/Ford Explorers, the corporate world did attempt to silence the whistler blower. However, their attempts failed because each involved risks (i.e., death, injury) to the general public. In each instance, Congressional hearings were conducted, and ultimately, the dangers were publicized. Furthermore, there were people in positions of power/influence who gave their support against the attempt at corporate whitewash that was made.
In your last example, the Executive branch (President, not the Pentagon) attempted to suppress the publishing of the Pentagon Papers by the NYT (and later, by the Washington Post). The issue was not the true death count in Vietnam unless you mean Vietnamese deaths; the US casuality rate was known. Remember, the Pentagon Papers detailed the U.S. strategy for this conflict, and the Executive Branch claimed that the release of this information would compromise national security.
The U.S. Supreme court then enjoined the NYT to stop publication of this information. Fortunately, the Washington Post (led by their publisher Katharine Graham) decided that they would publish in defiance of the Executive branch. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that prior restaint was not valid in this case, National security was not compromised, and that the government needed strong reasons before there could be a lessening of freedom of speech by the press.
Lessons to be learned: I see no big clamor for Congressional hearings, the DMCA does not involve public safety, and it's nice to have powerful friends who believe in your cause. Finally, the Supreme Court has generally ruled that the burden of proof falls on those that would like to abridge freedom of speech. The DMCA will only be around until the Supreme Court gets a chance to rule on this POS.
Re:IBM BIOS (Score:2)
And as I understand from a coworker, IBM successfully sued some vendors who just cloned pieces of the bios outright. IBM intentionally put in prom code that did nothing (useful), and when the cloners copied that mindlessly, they were caught.
Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:2)
If you're going to bitch about the quality of slashdot, at least try and read the main page articles.
And where was Slashdot... (Score:2)
Where was Slashdot when these protests were
being planned on the free-sklyarov list, when
the Slashdot publicity might have generated
even greater turn-out? Hemos mailed one of the
list members to say that Slashdot wasn't covering it
because no one had submitted a good enough story.
Excuse me? Did I hear that right? The Slashdot
editorial staff that has enough free time to cover opening
day at every half-assed movie of the summer
doesn't have enough time to cover the organization
of the Anti-DMCA protests, and is just sitting
around waiting for someone else to submit
a "good enough" story?
What about "Stuff That Matters"? If this issue
doesn't matter - then what does? Are you guys
too busy planning your coverage if the opening
of "Planet of the Apes" later this week?
--Jim
Re:Mod this ignorant idiot down (Score:2)
Where was the Slashdot story on "Free Dmitra / Anti-DMCA protests scheduled at the following times, following places..."? Where was the Slashdot headline "Protests Go On Without EFF"? Slashdot should have been out front on this one, not trailing along behind like the news services.
If you would bother to READ the free-sklyarov mailing list you'd see other people saying the same thing: "Where is Slashdot?"
It's ignorant morons like you that post kneejerk followups without bothering to actually READ anything that junk up slashdot with useless comments.
Asshole.
Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:2)
Of course it's not wrong. If you're going to bitch about the quality of my posts, at least try to understand what I'm saying: Slashdot posted that the protests were on hold at the request of the EFF, and let that comment stand until eventually enough readers of the free-sklyarov mailing list wrote in to correct them.
Then they sat idle, waiting for someone else to cover the protest plans for them. Some members of the free-sklyarov mailing list submitted stories, but Hemos rejected them as "not good enough". Why didn't Slashdot have someone reading that list first-hand? Why didn't Slashdot post a Saturday or Sunday story describing where and when the protests were scheduled?
They dropped the ball on this one, especially for a site that claims to be about "Stuff that Matters".
--Jim
Re:Mod this ignorant idiot down (Score:2)
Actually, I didn't say that. I said that Slashdot was missing in action during the planning of the protests - that they didn't follow the free-sklyarov list and that Hemos was waiting for someone else to submit a "good enough" story. Hemos made that comment Monday, long past the time that Slashdot should have been writing its own stories about the protests and when and where they were scheduled. They didn't have that information Friday because it was in flux over the weekend. I stand by what I said: Slashdot should have taken the lead on this story.
Stop bitching and become part of the solution.
I've already donated $100 to EFF to support their work on the case. I challenge you and everybody else posting here to give them at least as much. Give what you can, or give till it hurts, but give something. This is important.
--Jim
Re:IBM BIOS (Score:3)
The important difference is that with current legislation 'Merkins aren't even allowed to do a clean-room implementation if the original is stored in ROT-13...
--
Unfortunately the EFF was a little counterhelpful (Score:5)
The EFF's conduct (disclaimer: I am a paying member of the EFF) in this aspect of the entire issue was unhelpful, to say the least. Which is probably exactly what Adobe intended by scheduling the talks for today, while Dmitry rots in an undisclosed jail somewhere.
Adobe's attourney-goons and PR droids aren't stupid
The appropriate approach would have been to continue the call for protests and have the protests go on while negotiating. This is typically what is done by other groups, Unions, etc. Caving before-the-fact and calling off protests just to get the other side to the negotiating table is not how one goes about strengthening one's hand, or one's cause
Re:Kill the DMCA (Score:2)
Excuse my ignorance of the law here, but he's Russian; is he still protected by the constitution?
--Cycon
Uh, where are the protesters ??? (Score:4)
Re:Protest in Saint Paul (Score:2)
I missed the protest, but I did get a chance to put up a bunch of posters. Do what you can to help.
--
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:2)
Tell me: how do I make the DMCA a campaign issue??
Didn't IBM try? (Score:5)
There was a court case, wasn't there? Civil, not criminal, though. Because at some point IIRC a judge ruled that Phoenix had pursued appropriate reverse-engineering practices. That is the relevant case law upon which "clean room" reverse engineering is based. The only thing missing at the time was the media attention.
It's interesting how corporations are "people" in some regards but not in others. Shouldn't the FBI be going after Elcomsoft the company, not just a programmer that works for them? If Elcomsoft was bankrupt, their creditors would only be able to seize the company, not individual employees' property; shouldn't employees be protected from criminal prosecution in the same way? Of course, this only makes sense if there are real ways to punish whole corporations; the current system of a slap-on-the-wrist fine for an essentially immortal corporation is insufficient.
P.S. Mirror the photos, please, it's going to be a long day for those web servers :)
Re:Alan Cox is pulling out of USENIX because of th (Score:2)
The whole situation sucks and I can only hope it goes to the US supreme court, but exaggerating like New Scientist did won't help things any. I got to quite a few scientific conferences, and most of the conference organizers I know couldn't reschedule an event unless it was at least 3 years out, for practical reasons.
-m
Love this part -- (Score:2)
Every effort that is, other than fixing the security hole.
Re:Stellar Logic (Score:2)
No copy protection is secure, no matter how elaborate the scheme or how tough the encryption. If the data can be decrypted, it can be copied.
<bad_analogy>It's like installing an expensive, high-tech alarm system on your car, then leaving your keys in the ignition.</bad_analogy>
Using bad laws and legal intimidation to force this junk on all of us simply makes our legal system look bad.
Re:20-second explanations (Score:4)
E-Book Users: Not only can you not use your books (often purchased for more than the cost of their paper counterparts) wherever and however you want, someone got arrested for trying to help you do that.
When I told her about the software, my mother wanted to know where/how to buy/use it.
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:3)
-Vulcana
Re:Uh, where are the protesters ??? (Score:2)
Okay, others who had those camera thingies have uploaded some of the pictures taken:
http://www.premier1.net/~rwkramer/ [premier1.net]
http://www.sial.org/sklyarov/ [sial.org] - mirror of above site, maybe more as others get posted.
Re:Uh, where are the protesters ??? (Score:4)
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:2)
Pictures of NY protest (Score:2)
Click me! [umklaydet.com]
Re:Adobe's press release (Score:3)
Adobe's goal in the Elcomsoft case is to help protect the copyrighted works of authors, artists, developers and publishers. Adobe reported this suspected eBook authors' copyright violation to the U.S. Attorney's office. Based on the information gathered in the investigation (see affidavit ), the U.S. Government chose to take legal action to stop the sale of the for-profit security cracking code, and unilaterally decided to arrest Dmitry Sklyarov.
Elcomsoft found a security weakness and made no effort to communicate what it found to Adobe. Instead, the company distributed a software product for profit that can be used to compromise copyrighted works in the United States, violating U.S. law. Adobe took every measure likely to be successful to get Elcomsoft to cease and desist. Adobe's legal department sent letters to Elcomsoft, their ISP and their credit card clearing house used to offer these products for sale. Adobe forwarded the case to the U.S. Attorney's office only after Elcomsoft failed to respond and/or cease and desist. Our goal has been to stop the sale of the program in the U.S.
Contrary to some reports, the issue is not that Adobe alerted the U.S. government about an expert exposing security weaknesses. In fact, Adobe encourages its customers and the software community, including White Hat security experts, to provide feedback on the performance of its software in order to make improvements. Adobe's concern is that a "digital lock pick" is being distributed to enable others to compromise the copyrighted works of authors, artists, developers and publishers, which is why Adobe alerted the U.S. Attorney's office.
Corporate
Q: How are your customers, the publishing community, responding to this?
A: The Electronic Frontier Foundation considers themselves a leading civil liberties organization that works to protect right in the digital world. We are in constant communication with our customers who are also concerned about issues of privacy and protection of digital property. There is strong support from the publishing community, as evidenced by the statement from the American Association of Publishers. While the laws to enforce the protection of digital media are in their infancy, we believe they are based on the same principles as traditional media--protect the copyrights of authors, artists, developers and publishers while balancing the right to fair use.
Q: What's going on with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)?
A: We are engaged in discussions with the EFF to work together to address this situation. We believe a mutual frank discussion of how best to resolve the current issues will benefit Adobe and EFF.
Q: As a result of this case, what is Adobe doing to strengthen the security of its products?
A: Security is an ongoing effort at Adobe. The company is committed to strengthening the security of its products by using sophisticated, industry-standard levels of software encryption and working with the software community, including White Hat security experts, to incorporate features to advance the quality of the product.
Legal questions
Q: Elcomsoft claims that eBooks in Adobe PDF are insecure and that the encryption is weak, including ROT-13 which is notorious for its lack of security. Are those claims true?
A: Adobe has never sold ROT-13 as a security product. Adobe incorporates sophisticated, industry-standard levels of software encryption to make our products difficult to compromise. However, no software is 100% secure from a determined, illegal attack. When used legally and in its intended fashion, the Acrobat eBook Reader secures eBooks purchased by locking the eBook to the hardware from which it was purchased. The Elcomsoft software circumvents the security afforded by our software to protect copyrighted works.
Re:how do I make the DMCA a campaign issue? (Score:3)
I'm getting sick and tired of all the "libertarians" who just use "stop whining" on their opponents all the time to make their opponents look like spoilt brats. (Yes, OT I know.) There should be some kind of law like Godwin's Law against that ;) j/k
mirrors (Score:2)
http://nc.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/mirrors/umklaydet
and
http://nc.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/mirrors/www.under
The mirrors are hosted off of two T3s, should be fast enough...
- - - - -
Re:mirrors (Score:2)
- - - - -
Re:mirrors (Score:2)
http://nc.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/mirrors/umklaydet
... it's being built as images arrive.
- - - - -
Re:Protest in Saint Paul (Score:2)
This issue is not ended when the protesters go home this evening. I'm going to take a nap, and then start a more organized campaign to have another protest.
We had some great responses from passers by, and about 90% of people took and actually read the flier. I had printed prewritten, preaddressed postcards to send to our senators, and we gave a hundred or so of those away. I still have boxes of preaddressed envelopes for the letters I made (justifying our next protest).
There are so many reasons for people to identify with this issue (big govt., big corps., prison, reading, speech), that it is hard not to be upset. The truth is our most damaging weapon, and we spread some of it in Saint Paul.
Send your real email address to freedima@underwhelm.org and you will be in the know next time (which will be sooner, not later).
Re:IBM BIOS (Score:2)
More like Apples to oranges. Dmitry allegedly broke it not in the spirit of competition, but to show how easy it was.
Re:Unfortunately the EFF was a little counterhelpf (Score:2)
Fortunately for us, programmer's rights are a relatively minor issue compared to migrant worker's rights, so we haven't had to deal with truly difficult situations. Most rights issues are in the hypothetical, but once in a while a case like this makes it real.
LS
Bullets are NOT limited. (Score:2)
In the United States generally, bullets are not limited as to quantity that can be purchased at any one time. (Some cities may be trying this as a way to get around the Second Amendment. But "Arms" includes bullets...)
So vote in the PRIMARIES. And... (Score:2)
So vote in the PRIMARIES.
And go to the local party functions of the party that revolts you less, find out which potential candidates are NOT "dumb totally owned by corporate interests", encourage them to run in the primary, and VOLUNTEER to ring bells, pass out literature, and otherwise get out the vote for your candidate.
Volunteer in the period leading up to the general election, too. Make the voter-contact calls and visite. You can just "forget to mention" any of the party's candidates you don't like. (That happened to at least one California anti-gun Republican last election - virtually all the volunteers were pro-gun. B-) )
Or run YOURSELF.
Geez. First you let the guys in the smoke-filled rooms and pressure groups decide who the candidates are and work to get them nominated, then you gripe that there's nobody there to represent YOUR interest.
Politics is WAR! If you believe in something, FIGHT for it!
Re:Is Adobe paying taxes? (Score:2)
Erm, that's like saying that I don't take any losses for taxes except perhaps that my salary isn't quite as competitive as a result.
I beg to differ on both counts. I'm no friend of Adobe or anyone who acts as they did, but raising prices to cover taxes does not mean you are not effectively paying said taxes. It just means that the economy as a whole hurts more because of those higher taxes.
Re:Yes. (Score:2)
Well, now, I'm all for a corporate death penalty -- but for being a certain size? Come on. To draw your parallel back, you might as well execute anyone rich enough to have a home that costs more than $100,000.
I say, if a corporation is convicted of breaking a serious law, then give them the lethal injection -- dissolve them completely. Don't break them up, that's just silly.
Re:Yes. (Score:2)
You know, I really didn't mean $100,000; I meant $1,000,000. (My poor mother...) :-)
Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:3)
What's he got against running? (Score:2)
NYC had quite a few people, given the notice. (Score:2)
Re:Any of the NYC organizers here? (Score:2)
Also, there are a lot of people hanging out there!
Re:Uh, where are the protesters ??? (Score:2)
Re:Digital Freedom Continuance Act. (Score:2)
The most important aspect should be a hardcoded limit on created work copyrights that actually matches the reasonable financial lifetime. That means:
Ten years for software/games (legalize abandonware/oldware) because any software/game product ten years old would require such inferior hardware that the chance of that hardware existing is nil.
Twenty years for movies and music. No particular reason for that figure, but it seems reasonable that after a generation changes in style and taste would render old movies/music finacially worthless outside of the people who collect "classics".
The next most important aspect is that companies must provide access to any media (audio video text) on ANY device or it will be legal for anyone to create a solution (by reverse engineering, hacking, whatever) for that device and distribute it. No Linux solution exists for that eBook? Legal to engineer one. Can't watch your DVD bonus footage on the VCR in your RV while you are travelling? Legal to use DeCSS to convert it to VHS.
Now we just need to buy a congressman to get it proposed on the floor...
- JoeShmoe
Re:Digital Freedom Continuance Act. (Score:2)
Yes I would contend that there is no one interested in purchasing that any more because now you can purchase the new 1990s Star Wars with enhanced digital effects.
So this law would also help encourage studios to dusts off their old goods and polish them up a bit, while at the same time turning the older "purer" versions out into the public domain.
Not to mention sequels wouldn't count obviously, so the other two Star Wars films (1980s) would still be considered copyrighted.
I think if the law was properly worded, it would be very tough for a congressman to justify voting against it. If you make it a clear choice between the rights of consumers and the arbitrary chance for profit by a company, any congressman who votes no will have to answer to the constituants. And no matter how much money the companies pump into the system, in the end they can't cast as many votes as the masses.
But the whole point of this thread is just idle dreaming anyway.
- JoeShmoe
Re:Digital Freedom Continuance Act. (Score:2)
Games that are two years old that play on systems we all still use are not finacially worthless. Now, games that played in DOS or on hardware from companies that no longer exist...those are games that are no financially viable.
In ten years, our PS2 and Xbox will definely fall in the same category but two years from now we will all still be playing them. I played my SNES for years even after buting an N64. I still was buying games for it too.
Even five years is too short, as games like StarCraft continue to make money from sales and can be played on resonably accessible hardware. Meanwhile, Warcraft 2 (only two years older) requires DOS4GW modes that can't be done on Windows NT, 2000 and probably not XP.
That's the defining line. When the market for hardware is gone, all software for that hardware is finacially worthless.
And get off the damn high horse already, no one appointed you lord of the DFCA. Stop patronizing people by annointing them with section numbers. And if you make good on the promise "I report this everytime a big DMCA story" be assured I know where my moderation point will be spent -1 Redundant.
- JoeShmoe
i caught the tail end (Score:2)
wish there could have been some media coverage; oh well.
the austin protest, among others, was planned very late... you would have had to either wade through the mailing list traffic or wait until it showed up sunday on boycottadobe.org to know about it. d'oh!
-----
Adobe Press Release (Score:2)
Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:5)
-Renard
(Revving up Adobe PR machine...)
These are the key points that will be developed in the FAQ below:
Adobe's goal in the Elcomsoft case is to help protect the copyrighted works of authors, artists, developers and publishers. Adobe reported this suspected eBook authors' copyright violation to the U.S. Attorney's office. Based on the information gathered in the investigation (see affidavit [usaondca.com] ), the U.S. Government chose to take legal action to stop the sale of the for-profit security cracking code, and unilaterally decided to arrest Dmitry Sklyarov.
Elcomsoft found a security weakness and made no effort to communicate what it found to Adobe. Instead, the company distributed a software product for profit that can be used to compromise copyrighted works in the United States, violating U.S. law. Adobe took every measure likely to be successful to get Elcomsoft to cease and desist. Adobe's legal department sent letters to Elcomsoft, their ISP and their credit card clearing house used to offer these products for sale. Adobe forwarded the case to the U.S. Attorney's office only after Elcomsoft failed to respond and/or cease and desist. Our goal has been to stop the sale of the program in the U.S.
Contrary to some reports, the issue is not that Adobe alerted the U.S. government about an expert exposing security weaknesses. In fact, Adobe encourages its customers and the software community, including White Hat security experts, to provide feedback on the performance of its software in order to make improvements. Adobe's concern is that a "digital lock pick" is being distributed to enable others to compromise the copyrighted works of authors, artists, developers and publishers, which is why Adobe alerted the U.S. Attorney's office.
Corporate
Q: How are your customers, the publishing community, responding to this?
A: The Electronic Frontier Foundation considers themselves a leading civil liberties organization that works to protect right in the digital world. We are in constant communication with our customers who are also concerned about issues of privacy and protection of digital property. There is strong support from the publishing community, as evidenced by the statement from the American Association of Publishers [publishers.org]. While the laws to enforce the protection of digital media are in their infancy, we believe they are based on the same principles as traditional media--protect the copyrights of authors, artists, developers and publishers while balancing the right to fair use.
Q: What's going on with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)?
A: We are engaged in discussions with the EFF to work together to address this situation. We believe a mutual frank discussion of how best to resolve the current issues will benefit Adobe and EFF.
Q: As a result of this case, what is Adobe doing to strengthen the security of its products?
Re:Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:5)
Yup. One point that has been made on the Free-Sklyarov mailing list [zork.net] is that if Elcomsoft's eBookReader is a ``digital lock pick'', well then, lockpicks are legal (in most of the US).
It's breaking and entering that's a crime.
-Renard
Re:Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:2)
Whoops (Score:2)
Heh, sorry. Only a year on the school online paper staff, and I'm speaking editing shorthand. WC means "word choice." I don't think that's a good verb to apply to protests.
-jTitle? (Score:5)
Dmitry Protests Running
My first thought: "What does this Dmitry guy have against running?"
I had to read the blurb to fully understand that. Come on, headline common sense. It should tell you clearly what the story is about. If I had a red pen, I'd circle the word "running" and scrawl "WC?"
I'll stop bitching offtopic now.
-jRe:well (Score:2)
WTF? (Score:2)
The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.
Re:Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:2)
[Adobe] is committed to strengthening the security of its products by using sophisticated, industry-standard levels of software encryption...
A new oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Also the following:
Adobe encourages its customers and the software community, including White Hat security experts, to provide feedback on the performance of its software in order to make improvements.
I've very familiar with our friends at Red Hat [redhat.com] but White Hat? So I checked them [whitehat.com] out. Relying on spammers for security auditing! No wonder they're format can be cracked with my son's Speak and Spell.
Lastly...
To the best of Adobe's knowledge, the Acrobat eBook Reader is the only product that allows for the lending and giving of eBooks.
From what I read here [microsoft.com] there is a little-known competitor to Adobe's ebook format that allows transfer from one computer to another, and they don't rely on the publisher to turn the feature on. If this is "the best of Adobe's knowledge", then they'd better give it up now before someone finds out that the next eBook incantation that they come up with will use Pig Latin encryption.
IBM BIOS (Score:3)
Re:20-second explanations (Score:2)
Okay, okay, you win. I will revise:
"Now, however, it can get you arrested" and "as Adobe just has in having a foreign programmer arrested".
tune
20-second explanations (Score:5)
1. For the Computer User "Anyone who is a frequent computer user probably hears about how one program or another has a security problem. You're usually directed with instructions of where to download the fix or patch. Even a couple of years ago, the security experts that would find the problems would often be thanked publicly or even be given a check. Now, however, it gets you arrested. Dmitry Sklyarov gave a talk on the security flaws in Adobe's encrypted pdf system, and Adobe reacted by having the FBI arrest him on criminal charges."
2. For Adobe's Customers: "Adobe charges you thousands of dollars for encrypted pdf solutions. If there was a security problem in this solution, how would you like it handled? Ideally, it would be a proactive admission of the problem, and the innovation and release of a solution. However, the DMCA makes it possible and legal for Adobe to handle it differently: sue to keep it quiet. When companies use this strategy, as Adobe has in the arrest of Dmitry Sklaryov, a student who gave a talk on faulty security mechanisms, it means that you cannot be confident that your secure solution is actually secure, and you cannot be confident that other people out there don't already have the means to break your security."
3. For the corporate president: "Relying on the DMCA invites you to lose your competitive edge. If you are in the technology sphere, you rely on innovative solutions. You sell your solutions using phrases such as 'time-tested', 'robust', and 'secure'. The DMCA invites you to protect your products not through innovation, but through lawsuits and intimidation. When you protect through lawsuit, you are not protecting through evolution. You may win in the short run, but you erode your long-term viability. When you act as Adobe just has in arresting a foreign programmer who pointed out flaws in their product, you have succeeded in silencing and penalizing the voice of potentially useful information, but you haven't improved your product."
4.For the patriot: "Since the birth of our nation, 'Yankee Ingenuity' has been a phrase that has described the American spirit of our inventors, our tinkerers, our problem-solvers. There has always been an American right to take things apart to see how they work. Now, it is illegal. If someone wants to take apart a company's security protocol to see how it works, with no intention of selling or pirating the media it protects, that someone can be thrown in jail for five years and given a $500,000 fine. Last week, Adobe took advantage of this law and started to destroy a man's life. This anti-innovative spirit is far from what America used to be about, and America isn't what it once was. The man who was arrested is from Russia - and what he did is legal there."
5.For Adobe: "Adobe had a man arrested last week for committing crimes - investigating and talking about shoddy security implementations - that every security professional employed by Adobe would probably be guilty of if the law had existed 15 years ago."
6.For Vladimir Putin: "So you have a citizen, a student, doing PhD work in computer security, and a Russian company that creates software that protects the legal rights and responsibilities of Russian consumers. The product is designed to be used for a person's personal material and even has safeguards against using it for piracy purposes. The company does not sell or distribute pirated material. This citizen travelled to the United States to give an academic talk. The United States government, beholden to a US Corporation, then arrested your Russian citizen and is now holding him without bail."
tune
Re:20-second explanations (Score:5)
2. Even if his employer broke a law, this should have been a civil suit, not a criminal suit against an employee that was convenient to catch.
3. The employer was not breaking a law in Russia, where they are located.
4. The product was designed for fair-use purposes, not for piracy.
5. It is not illegal anywhere to own or use the product.
6. Just because Dmitry/Elcomsoft finds a security flaw does not require them to tell Adobe and no one else. They did not find it to audit a company's security. They found it to protect Russian consumer rights that are comparable to what was formerly "fair use" here. (What's more, I believe the ability to make back-up copies is *required* there, so it is beyond just protecting rights. You could argue it is a responsibility if they were to own encrypted pdf documents.)
7. The product was briefly for sale, sold less than 20 copies, was then open-sourced. It also has protections to help keep it from being used for piracy purposes (I am unfamiliar with what these controls are, however.) It was not written/designed/sold for the purposes of piracy.
I appreciate your opposition to the DMCA, but I just think the problem is worse than you actually yet realize. Everything I wrote is true.
tune
Re:Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:2)
Exactly! Right now the DMCA is unknown to most people outside of this arena. So - write up some stuff, put it on floppy disks or CD-ROMs, and then secure it with a good 'ol padlock - you will need to remove the lock to get the disk into the drive. Better yet, send out the disk just for the cost of shipping, but SELL THE KEYS.
This is an 'effective access control mechanism' for digital goods.
THEN lockpicks will be illegal. The resulting charges (you should be able to get the FBI to do this for you) should attract even more attention than Sklyarov's arrest.
ya know (Score:2)
new york city probably wasn't the *best* place in the world to hold a protest, unless they were able to get at least a sizable crowd, which, in manhattan, would need to be several thousand people.
but i definitely applaud the efforts. it's good to know that adobe is at least *trying* to listen.
-mike
"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer."
Adobe's Press Release (Score:4)
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Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:5)
A crisis such as this one is an important test case for Slashdot as an organizing medium for the tech community. In this instance, Slashdot has completely failed. Even just reporting about the protests would not have been enough, you need to motivate people to take part in such a protest shortly before it. Show images, link to videos, post a permanent story on the front page -- that singals importance. You have to reach people's emotions to get them off their asses (and for that, you have to get off your own ass, Hemos). Do you think CmdrTaco and Hemos will understand that? Or will anyone who points out their failure simply be moderated down? Slashdot is a site with great political potential -- but in spite of years in the making, it has failed to realize its potential so far.
Visitors only have a limited viewtime per day. Do you really want to give that all to Slashdot, if it degenerates into a fake community site primarily giving you a highly filtered digest of CNN, ZDNet, Wired News and press releases? If this is not a test case -- an unjust arrest, an unconstitutional law, rallies all over the nation --, then what is?
You may want to check out some alternatives:
Others?
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Re:screwdrivers outlawed (Score:3)
Protest in DC (Score:3)
Here's a write-up and pix [indymedia.org], courtesy DC Indymedia [indymedia.org].
A relevant email list for subsequent Washington, DC activities concerning Dmitry and the DMCA can be found here [lupercalia.net] (might be temp. offline).
Sincerely,
Vergil
Vergil Bushnell
Re:screwdrivers outlawed (Score:2)
Water Closet? (Score:2)
Re:And where was Slashdot... (Score:2)
And it's not as if /. hasn't run its share of poorly written/conceived stories. So what if it wasn't "a good enough story"? If the subject matter is important enough, it will speak for itself.
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Is Adobe paying taxes? (Score:2)
Are you sure about this? Thanks to a number of loopholes in the corporate tax regulations, a lot of large corporations pay negligible, or even zero taxes.
Does anyone know where to go to find out if Adobe really does pay taxes?
TheFrood
I was in the San Jose protest. (Score:3)
I got there at 11, we were in a park not far from Adobe HQ, we stayed there until noon to attract attention, then we marched two blocks down to Adobe HQ and chanted stuff like "Free Dmitry" for another hour until the meeting with the EFF indoors ended. The EFF representatives waved to us and one of the contest leaders got a call from them saying our efforts helped.
Overall, it was rather fun, and the cops gave us no problems. One of them actually honked and waved to us.
There were several news reporters milling about asking people stuff. I'd say the entire thing was an overall success.
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Can you imagine a MOSIX cluster of these?
Adobe's press release (Score:2)
Digital Freedom Continuance Act. (Score:4)
Re:Unfortunately the EFF was a little counterhelpf (Score:2)
I definitely agree with this. It's bit late now, but it probably would have been good to announce that today's protests were the first of a series of weekly protests and go ahead, all-out with today's protests, while keeping open the possibility of cancelling future protests in response to concrete positive developments.
At this point, though, I'm not really sure what purpose negotiating with Adobe serves anyway, though, since this is a criminal matter, not just a civil case. I guess it would be helpful if Adobe were to come out and say they were wrong, but at this point that's hardly sufficient.
Mod this ignorant idiot down (Score:3)
It's ignorant morons like you who have kneejerk reactions to everything without bothering to actually READ anything that junk up slashdot with useless comments.
Well, you and whatever jackass moderator that actually modded your comments up.
well (Score:3)
you are in the US.. a country in which corporations gained legal personhood BEFORE Blacks, poor Whites, and Natives
if adobe can't find a way to use the DCMA to quash the protests, they'll buy some new law that will give them a way..
Re:Text of Adobe's Press Release (Score:2)
Re:Taxes Footing the Bill (Score:3)
Let me be the first to suggest
Yeah, next you're going to try and tell me the DMCA doesn't apply in Russia, either, right?
What if IBM arrested the people who cloned BIOS (Score:4)
The list goes on...
DMCA criminalizes what should be a civil issue (Score:5)
problem which this whole issue highlights -- is
that it criminalizes what should be a civil issue.
It may be that there's some room for civil penalties when someone distributes a copyrighted
work w/o permission. It might (a stretch, but
might) even be workable to have fines and accountability for tools whose sole purpose are
to distribute copyrighted works w/o permission.
But throw somebody in JAIL because they did this?
No way.
Not to mention the sovereignty issues. Just once I wish that some of the people I know who constantly carp about the the United Nations would wake up and realize that we're far more in danger of disolving the sovereignty of other nations and giving up ours to monied interests than becoming slaves a shadowy UN conspiracy.
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I wonder .... (Score:3)
Seriously though, good luck with the protest.
They'd have better looking signs if... (Score:3)
Stellar Logic (Score:5)
Q: Elcomsoft claims that eBooks in Adobe PDF are insecure and that the encryption is weak, including ROT-13 which is notorious for its lack of security. Are those claims true?
A: Adobe has never sold ROT-13 as a security product. Adobe incorporates sophisticated, industry-standard levels of software encryption to make our products difficult to compromise. However, no software is 100% secure from a determined, illegal attack. When used legally and in its intended fashion, the Acrobat eBook Reader secures eBooks purchased by locking the eBook to the hardware from which it was purchased. The Elcomsoft software circumvents the security afforded by our software to protect copyrighted works."
Parse this logic with me: When used LEGALLY, it's secure. Well, duh: it's ILLEGAL under the DMCA to attempt to circumvent security, so of course it's freakin' secure. "This alarm system works great, sir... as long as noone attempts to enter your house without first ringing the doorbell and being invited in."
Then theres: "the Acrobat eBook Reader secures eBooks purchased by locking the eBook to the hardware from which it was purchased"
Translation:
The Acrobat eBook Reader renders the concept of electronic books nearly worthless by attempting to tie content to a single piece of proprietary hardware.
Gee, I wonder why this e-book thing isn't taking off? I'm an AVID reader - I read hudreds of books every year - and I've never even considered buying one of these things.
Can EFF get a grant from these people? (Score:5)
"We support nonprofit organizations that service disadvantaged youth, the homeless, people with disabilities, minorities, the elderly, and victims of abuse; provide disaster relief, medical and hospice care, and meal service; provide education and literacy programs; support human rights; support the arts; protect the environment; and support animal rights." http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy [adobe.com]
Maybe the EFF could apply to Adobe for financial assistance in getting Dmitri freed.
Boston Protests Draw ~50 people (Score:4)
All the info here [freesklyarov.org]. And of course, visit the main page [freesklyarov.org] for information about all the other cities.
Alan Cox is pulling out of USENIX because of this. (Score:5)
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thank you for teh support (Score:5)
Teh jail is actually pretty nice, and they have a cafeteria, with pudding! I like pudding. But teh only computer is a lime green IMAC and it is SUCKS!!! Is only have 12.4GB of memory and a 64MB hard drive and is running MICORSOFT OFFICE 95. But is okay because IMAC allow Dmitry to post on Slasdot. Dmitry like Slashdot and many of his friends are there! Hooray for teh Slasdot!
But the jail is perfact? No!!! There is a large man and he is black and he is having a hard penis. In Russia there is stories of the men in the American jail who anal sodomize in teh butt and Dmitry not like that. So I want to get out of jail while still are are having "ass cherry." Ha! Ha that is funny.
So onec again thank you for teh supports and they rally and such! And hope that Dmitry get out of teh jail and return to cracking the ADOBE ROT13 ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM OF FUN. But this time I do it in Russia where no are evil DCMA law to put Dmitry in teh jaill.
Also I want to bomb Adobe.
So are thank you for the time! And keep the fight up!
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