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Jailed Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov has been granted bail and released on a $50,000 bond, but he still faces copyright law charges, despite the protests of fellow programmers and Adobe's withdrawal of its original complaint.

Sklyarov's employer in Moscow posted his bail after his hearing in Federal District Court Monday, according to Robin Gross, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is assisting in his defense. The programmer is restricted to northern California and is being released into custody of a local man of Russian descent who shares mutual friends with Sklyarov, Gross says. The U.S. Attorney's office is holding Sklyarov's passport.

The free-Sklyarov forces "scored a major victory" with the ruling, Gross says. She credits public support and pressure exerted for the decision. Sklyarov is scheduled to enter a plea in court on August 23.

Sklyarov faces up to five years in jail and a $500,000 fine if convicted of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He was arrested at the behest of Adobe on June 16 after the Def Con security conference in Las Vegas, where he gave a presentation and sold copies of Advanced eBook Processor. His program removes some of the more restrictive aspects of Adobe's eBook Reader format, and it is legal in Russia.

After meeting with the EFF, Adobe changed its position and urged that Sklyarov be freed. However, the U.S. Attorney's office handling the case has shown no indication that it intends to cease prosecution.

Protests Continue

To that end, protests urging Sklyarov's release and a repeal of the DMCA are continuing across the United States. Protestors marched Monday in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, and San Jose.

About 20 protestors occupied space around Boston's Park Street subway station at noon for the third consecutive week.

The protestors, led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student C. Scott Ananian, say they are hopeful Sklyarov will eventually be freed. On Monday morning, however, most protestors doubted the court would allow bail.

The Boston protests have drawn fewer participants every week, down from a high of more than 40 in their first week.

"There's only so much attention you can get for '50 geeks show up yet again,'" Ananian says. He is planning marches, petitions, a presentation of materials to Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, and other activities. The group is also recruiting other groups affected by the DMCA but not yet mobilized, such as librarians, he said.

Free-software guru Richard M. Stallman joined the Boston protest this week. He says the Sklyarov case is related to the goals of free software, which include less restrictive copyright measures and the freedom to redistribute and modify programs.

"People are entitled to the freedom to use books in flexible ways," he says.

The Sklyarov case is only one step on the path to changing the DMCA, Stallman and Ananian agree.

"This isn't going to be a short battle," Ananian says.

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