Copy Controls Case Hits Court

After a flurry of dismissal motions and delays, the U.S. government's high-profile lawsuit against Russian software company ElcomSoft is finally set to go to trial this week.

The case marks the first time that a defendant will go to trial on criminal charges under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It is being watched closely by civil liberties groups that oppose many provisions of the law, which seeks to extend copyright protection to digital items.

"This case could set a tremendous precedent in terms of the DMCA's chilling effects," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The trial is set to begin on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in San Jose.

Copy-Making Charged

ElcomSoft is being prosecuted for developing and distributing a software program that allows users to circumvent the copyright protection in Adobe Systems' EBook file format. ElcomSoft and one of its programmers, Dmitry Sklyarov, were charged with violating the DMCA last year after Sklyarov gave a presentation on the product at the Def Con hacker conference in Las Vegas.

The criminal charges against Sklyarov were later dropped, however, in exchange for his cooperation in the case.

ElcomSoft has argued that its software is not illegal to distribute in Russia and that the DMCA infringes on its fair use and free speech rights. The company said that the software was created to allow EBooks to be read in more-portable formats.

The government contends that the DMCA is blanket law that prohibits copyright circumvention.

Seeking Precedent

The Moscow company was denied a motion to dismiss the case earlier this year. Then visa problems delayed the defendants' arrival in the United States. But now the case is finally set to go to trial.

"This case will send a strong message one way or another," Cohn said, noting that it is of particular interest to foreign software developers.

Meanwhile, the DMCA itself is up for review. By statute, the federal Copyright Office is soliciting public comment on the act. Through mid-December, the office will accept statements from individuals, companies, and organizations about the act itself or the way it is enforced.

A comment form is available online.