Official Statements

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7/26 AAP opinion on Sklyarov not shared by publishers
"The Russian software writer's imprisonment is not an effective way to secure copyrights... Further, we urge the AAP not to misrepresent its membership by blindly supporting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act... Left in place, it will hinder and perhaps prevent the development of a broad e-book marketplace."

7/26 People for Internet Responsibility (Lauren Weinstein, Peter G. Neumann et al)
"... the continued detention and criminal prosecution of Dmitry Sklyarov as relates to the current case cannot be justified."

WorldForge
While WorldForge does not condone copyright infringement, this is not a case of copyright infringement. Instead, it is another example of corporate oppression of research and technological innovation. The arrest of Sklyarov is clear proof of the threat that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act poses to the liberty of programmers and society as a whole.

7/25 Debian
There is a community declaration regarding the DMCA online which has already been signed by the Debian Project Leader and SPI president as well as many other community leaders and members. This declaration states the basic problems with the DMCA, and addresses why such a law should not exist...

US Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA)
"The arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov under federtal copyright law for the creation of software that facilitates the exercise of individual fair use rights is a travesty. I urge his immediate release."

7/23 Adobe, Electronic Frontier Foundation Call for Release of Sklyarov
"Adobe Systems Incorporated and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today jointly recommend the release of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov from federal custody."

7/22 Electronic Publishers Coalition Condemns Criminal Use of DMCA
"Persecution of an individual shouldn't be any company's response to a commercial disagreement, especially regarding copyright," Connie Foster, the EPC executive director said Sunday.

7/18 Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Once again, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) is proving itself to be as harmful to civil liberties as we predicted it would be... this case is not about copyright infringement. Mr. Sklyarov is not accused of infringing anyone's copyrights. He is accused of building... a tool that allows the legitimate purchaser of an e-book to translate it from one digital format into another (from Adobe's eBook format into Adobe's Portable Document Format). Mr. Sklyarov is not being prosecuted for using the tool himself -- in fact, such a prosecution would be impossible, since using such a tool (as distinguished from building or distributing one) breaks no law. Mr. Sklyarov has entered the strange Twilight Zone of the DMCA, where using a tool is legal, but building it is a crime.

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