Release the Russian, Adobe Says

In a stunning turn of events, Adobe abruptly bowed to public outcry and recommended the release of a
Russian programmer who was arrested for writing code-breaking software.



Late Monday, Adobe officials said they had changed their minds and no longer believed that Dmitry Sklyarov should be
prosecuted for alleged copyright infringement.



"We strongly support (federal copyright law) and the enforcement of copyright protection of digital content," Colleen
Pouliot, general counsel for Adobe, said in a statement. "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."


Adobe's announcement came as hundreds of geeks-turned-activists
protested Sklyarov's arrest in at least 10 cities, with about 100 marchers
descending on the company's San Jose headquarters, and
representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation met with Adobe
officials to try and broker a deal.



FBI agents arrested Sklyarov after he spoke at the Defcon hacker
convention last week on charges of violating the 1998 Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, which makes it a crime to sell software that can
"circumvent" copy protection methods such as the one Adobe used.



But will the Justice Department continue to prosecute the case? Since
it's a criminal and not a civil matter, Adobe's change of heart may not even matter.



"The only thing I can tell you is that this is a criminal matter brought by the United States against the defendant and
Adobe is not a party to that action," says Matt Jacobs, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the San Francisco office.



One Justice Department lawyer familiar with the case said it's common for the feds to prosecute someone even if a private
party is no longer angry: "As long as there's a crime committed, we'll prosecute."



This high-visibility prosecution under the DMCA seems to have focused the kind of anger not seen since the days of the
1996 Communications Decency Act or the Secret Service raid of Steve Jackson Games -- two defining moments in the
development of civil liberties online.



"EFF praises Adobe for doing the right thing," said EFF director Shari Steele. "We are pleased to see that Adobe has lived
up to the high standard of integrity that has made the company successful. While we don't agree on every detail of the
DMCA, we look forward to working together with Adobe to secure Dmitry's immediate release."



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