Adobe Makes New Comments on Sklyarov, ElcomSoft Cases
By Richard Crocker
September 3, 2001
Adobe Systems has published a FAQ on the events surrounding the U.S. government's arrest of ElcomSoft employee Dmitry Sklyarov and the subsequent indictments of Sklyarov and ElcomSoft. The FAQ is Adobe's attempt to clarify areas it believes have been misrepresented, including its position on the indictments, its point of view on the DMCA and copyright infringement, and its involvement in the events leading up to Dmitry Sklyarov's arrest.
Commenting on the recent indictment of the company who developed and sold the Advanced eBook Processor (AEBPR) software, ElcomSoft, Adobe expressed its full support of the government's move, stating:
"[Adobe is] in complete agreement with the government's decision to prosecute the company, ElcomSoft and, as a law-abiding corporate citizen, Adobe intends to cooperate fully with the government as required by law. The indictment returned in this case clearly reflects the grand jury's agreement with the U.S. government that a criminal prosecution is warranted in this case."
In response to the view held by some members of the media and public that, Sklyarov was arrested because of (or in part by) his involvement in the DefCon-9 conference in Las Vegas, and that this was a violation of his free speech rights, Adobe stated that:
"Sklyarov was not arrested for anything he said or for presenting a scholarly paper. According to the press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested as the copyright holder of the "Advanced eBook Processor," a product distributed by his employer, ElcomSoft. He was arrested and charged with a "single count of trafficking in a product designed to circumvent copyright protection measures in violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 1201(b)(1)(A)."
Following protests in late July, Adobe backtracked from its original position supporting the prosecution of Sklyarov after meeting with Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) representatives. Adobe and the EFF had issued a joint press release on July 23 calling for Sklyarov's release.
Adobe's third quarter fiscal 2001 ended August 31; the company will report results on September 13.
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