EFFector Vol. 14, No. 18 Aug 8, 2001 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
In the 178th Issue of EFFector (now with over 28,500 subscribers!):
* Donate Your Tax Refund to EFF!
* Join EFF in Fundraising Dinner with Ed Felten in DC
* ALERT: Tell the DoJ to Drop the Charges Against Dmitry!
* EFF Asks California Court to Quash "John Doe" Subpoena
* California Court Asserts Jurisdiction Over Non-resident Internet
Publisher
* Administrivia
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Donate your tax refund to the EFF!
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Join EFF in Fundraising Dinner with Ed Felten
Washington, D.C., Aug. 15.
Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation in celebration of the
presentation of Professor Ed Felten's "Reading Between the Lines:
Lessons from the SDMI Challenge" at the USENIX Security Symposium in
Washington, DC, on August 15th, 2001! Come and meet Professor Felten,
his research team, and legal team, and support EFF's legal battle to
get this paper presented. We will be dining at the prestigious Red
Sage restaurant after the panel discussion on SDMI/DMCA, which runs
from 6:30-7pm ET, on the evening of August 15th.
Time's running out! There are only 10 spots left, so sign up early!
Contact Contact Katie by e-mail at katie@eff.org or by phone at +1
415-436-9333 x104 to reserve a spot. The price of admission to the
celebration with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ed Felten, his
research team, and the legal team is $250, which includes dinner and
wine at the legendary Red Sage restaurant.
The Red Sage is just around the block from the JW Marriott Hotel. We
will be gathering in the Continental room at 7:30pm, and dinner will
begin at 8:00pm.
Come support the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in defending our
rights to think, speak, and share our ideas, thoughts, and needs using
new technologies!
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ALERT: Tell the DoJ to Drop the Charges Against Dmitry!
Letter-writing campaign to set Sklyarov free for real
Introduction:
Dmitry Sklyarov, a Russian programmer & cryptographic researcher
visiting the US for a conference was arrested in Las Vegas on charges
of "trafficking in a product designed to circumvent copyright
protection measures" in violation of the anticircumention provisions
of the questionably-constitutional Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA), for helping create software that decrypts the Adobe eBook
format to bypass hampering restrictions that publishers may impose.
On. Mon., Aug. 6, Dmitry was released on bail pending trial in Silicon
Valley, must remain in California, and has a pre-trial hearing slated
for Aug. 23, 2001.
What YOU Can Do:
Write to, call, fax and e-mail the US Attorney General's office, and
if you have time that of several other Justice Department officials.
You can use the sample letter and phone script below, and the contact
information that follows it.
Sample Letter
This is just a sample. It will be most effective if you send something
similar but in your own words
Dear Attorney General Ashcroft:
I want to express my dismay and disappointment with the Justice
Department that it arrested and plans to prosecute visiting Russian
programmer Dmitry Sklyarov. This is a travesty of justice, all in
the name of protecting software industry interests at the cost of
basic civil liberties. This is fast becoming an international
incident, with foreign academics dropping out of US-based research
programs and conferences. Organized protests have been held around
the country and in Moscow. This is a major embarassment for "the
Home of the Free" and a grave injustice to an innocent foreign
national.
Sklyarov and the company he works for did nothing wrong, and
nothing illegal under US or Russian law. Pointing out security
weaknesses in poorly-designed systems is part and parcel of the
computer security field. And helping people convert content from
one format to another that they can use is not a crime. The
complainant, Adobe, has even backed out of the case, leaving no
alleged victim for the Dept. of Justice to defend in the first place.
The anticircumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) being used against him were clearly never
intended to censor software with substantial legitimate uses, or
research, in this way, as you yourself pointed out in the
Congressional record, as a Senator when the DMCA was being
considered for passage.
The charges should be dropped immediately, and Dmitry should be
allowed to return to his family in Russia where he belongs.
Sincerely,
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Change "as you yourself" to "as Attorney General Ashcroft himself" in
versions to be sent to Ashcroft deputies & others]
Sample Phone Script
This too would be best recast in your own words.
I would like to address some comments to Attorney General Ashcroft.
I want to express my dismay and disappointment with the Justice
Department that it arrested and plans to prosecute visiting Russian
programmer Dmitry Sklyarov. The provisions of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act being used against him were clearly never
intended to censor research in this way. The charges should be
dropped immediately, and Dmitry should be allowed to return to his
family in Russia where he belongs.
Thank you.
[Probably the best approximation of the pronunciation of "Dmitry
Sklyarov" that most English-speakers can muster will be "DiMEE-tree
Skluh-YAH-roff", we're told, though it isn't exact.]
Who to contact
It is most effective to send postal letters, faxes, phone calls, and
e-mail, in descending order, to the head of the DoJ, the Criminal
Division deputy, the Deputy Assitant in charge of computer crimes, and
the Northern District of California US Attorney, in descending order.
If you have only a little time to spare, please at least fax A.G.
Ashcroft. If you have more time to spare, please work your way down
the list, sending letters, faxes and email, and calling, each
government representative in turn (some of the numbers are the same,
but you can call/fax and address your comments to each person
separately). For e-mail, mention who it is addressed to in the subject
line or in a salutation at the top of the message body. If you don't
have writer's cramp yet, try sending letters-to-the-editor to your
local (and even some national) papers and other media outlets (see
last issue of EFFector for more information on how to do that.)
John Ashcroft
Attorney General
US Deptartment of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax: +1 202-514-6113 (Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section)
attn: AG Ashcroft
Phone: +1 202-514-2601 (Criminal Division)
"I would like to address some comments to Attorney General
Ashcroft..."
E-mail: askdoj@usdoj.gov
attn: AG Ashcroft
Extras:
Michael Chertoff
Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax: +1 202-514-6113 (Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section)
attn: AAG Chertoff
Phone: +1 202-514-2601 (Criminal Division)
"I would like to address some comments to Assitant AG Chertoff..."
E-mail: askdoj@usdoj.gov
attn: AAG Chertoff
Mary Ellen Warlow
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General
US Deptartment of Justice
Criminal Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax: +1 202-514-6113 (Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section)
attn: DAAG Warlow
Phone: +1 202-514-1026 (Computer Crime & Intellectual Property
Section)
"I would like to address some comments to Deputy Assitant AG
Warlow..."
E-mail: askdoj@usdoj.govBR> attn: DAAG Warlow
David Shapiro
Acting US Attorney / Criminal Chief
450 Golden Gate Ave., Box 36055,
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: +1 415-436-7200
"I would like to address some comments to US Attorney Shapiro..."
Fax: +1 415-436-7234
attn: US Atty. Shapiro
E-mail: no address known
Tips:
Please remember to be polite but firm. Ranting, swearing,
incohesiveness or lack of clear resolve will not make a good
impression. Try to make it brief (1-3 paragraphs written, or a few
sentences spoken) and clear, without getting into nitpicky details.
"Super-activists" may also wish to send similar communiques to the
office of the President, the Speaker of the House, the President
Pro-Tempore of the Senate, and the Majority and Minority leaders of
both houses of Congress. See EFF's "Contacting Congress and Other
Government Representatives" Factsheet for more information:
http://www.eff.org/congress/
Activists Around the World
If you are not a US resident, the US Department of Justice is unlikely
to care about your opinion. It will be more effective for you to write
to your country's equivalent of our Department of State (i.e., the
branch that covers international diplomacy) and urge them to express
their concerns to the US Dept. of State, and the US President (who
ultimately controls the Justice Department). Ask your government to
let our government know that prosecution of innocent foreign nationals
under injust and questionably-valid laws is not going to go unnoticed
anywhere, and can only harm trade and other relations.
Background:
For more information about the US v. Sklyarov Case see:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/
For yet more information on the DMCA see:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/
Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) About the US v. Sklyarov
Case:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/us_v_sklyarov_faq.html
For more information on the grassroots effort to free Dmitry Sklyarov,
see:
http://www.freesklyarov.org/
To join the free-sklyarov mailing list, see:
http://zork.net/mailman/listinfo/free-sklyarov/
About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded
in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and
government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the
information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world:
http://www.eff.org
Media Contacts:
Will Doherty, EFF Online Activist / Press Relations
help-dmitry@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333 x111
Robin Gross, EFF Staff Attorney - Intellectual Property
robin@eff.org
+1 415-863-5459
- end -
_________________________________________________________________
EFF Asks California Court to Quash "John Doe" Subpoena
Argues that High Standard is Required Before Terminating First Amendment
Rights of Anonymous Internet Speakers.
For Immediate Release: Aug. 7, 2001
Contacts:
Lee Tien, EFF Senior Staff Attorney,
tien@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333 x102
Lauren Gelman, EFF Public Policy Dir.
gelman@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333
San Francisco, CA - A California state court will hear oral argument
this week in a case that may determine the legal standard California
will apply to subpoenas requesting the identity of anonymous Internet
speakers.
The case involves a subpoena issued by Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. of
Oklahoma (PPLS) requesting the identity of eight posters on Yahoo!'s
"Pre-Paid" message board. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
represents two of the J. Does whose identities were subpoenaed, in a
dispute between PPLS and another (known) party.
PPLS argues that it needs the Does' identities to determine whether
they are subject to a voluntary injunction preventing former sales
associates who work for a competitor from revealing PPLS's trade
secrets. The messages cited by PPLS, however, indicate only that the
eight Does were critical of the company and how it treats its
associates. EFF will argue that revealing the identity of these
speakers will give PPLS the opportunity to punish its critics for
speaking out against it.
"Without proper safeguards on Doe subpoenas, a company can use a court
as a detective agency to ferret out its critics," said EFF's Lee Tien.
"We hope that the court will adopt a standard that protects anonymous
speech against such subpoenas."
Tien will ask the court to apply a four part test adopted by the
federal court in Doe v. 2TheMart.com, Inc., 140 F. Supp.2d 1088 (W.D.
Wash., 2001) ("2TheMart") to determine whether a subpoena for the
identity of non-party Internet speakers should be upheld. That test
asks:
1. Was the subpoena brought in good faith?
2. Does the information relate to a core claim or defense?
3. Is the identifying information directly and materially relevant to
that claim or defense?
4. Is the information available from other sources?
The 2TheMart decision was issued as a result of a motion to quash
brought jointly by the EFF and the ACLU of Washington on behalf of a
J. Doe whose identity had been subpoenaed by 2TheMart.com, Inc. "We
were extremely pleased that the court set such a high standard for
protecting the identity of anonymous online speakers in 2TheMart,"
said Lauren Gelman, EFF's director of public policy. "EFF will
continue to defend the rights of J. Does to speak anonymously on the
Internet until companies realize that they can no longer turn to the
courts when they want to silence their critics."
The case will be heard on Friday, August 10th, at 9:00 AM, before the
Honorable Neil Cabrinha in Department 18 of the Santa Clara County
Superior Court.
The documents filed in the case (PPLS v. Sturtz) are available at:
http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/PrePaid_Legal_v_Sturtz/
More information on the 2TheMart case can be found at:
http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/2TheMart_case/
- end -
_________________________________________________________________
California Court Asserts Jurisdiction Over Non-resident Internet Publisher
For Immediate Release: August 8, 2001
Contact:
Robin Gross, EFF Staff Attorney - Intellectual Property,
robin@eff.org,
+1 415-436-9333 x112
Lee Tien, EFF Senior Staff Attorney,
tien@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333 x102
On August 7th, the California Sixth Appellate District issued an
opinion denying Matthew Pavlovich's motion to dismiss the case against
him for lack of personal jurisdiction over him.
Pavlovich, who was a college student in Indiana and now lives in
Texas, claims postings made to the LiVID mailing list, which he ran
from his home computer should not subject him to defending himself in
California. LiVID is an open source development team working to build
a DVD player compatible with the Linux operating system that could
compete with the movie studios' monopoly on DVD players. In January
2000, a California judge issued an injunction banning dozens of
individuals, including Pavlovich, from publishing DeCSS computer code.
Today, the court held that because Pavlovich knew the movie business
was in California, publishing information that might have an effect on
its profits was a sufficient connection to find Pavlovich within the
court's purview.
This ruling magnifies the ability of Hollywood or other businesses to
successfully sue anyone in the world who publishes information on the
Internet which the movie studios claim could hurt their profits.
Pavlovich is considering an appeal of the order to the California
Supreme Court on Constitutional Due Process grounds.
Text of ruling:
http://www.eff.org/Cases/DVDCCA_case/
20010807_pavlovich_appelate_ruling.html
- end -
_________________________________________________________________
Administrivia
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Editors:
Katina Bishop, EFF Education & Offline Activism Director
Stanton McCandlish, EFF Technical Director/Webmaster
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