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Indicted Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested after Adobe Systems complained to the U.S. government about a program he had written. But Adobe, which has since called for the charges to be dropped, says it has no obligation or responsibility to help him.

Sklyarov, who was arrested for violating the terms of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in mid-July, was indicted last week for trafficking and conspiring to traffic in tools designed to circumvent copy control technology.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and up to a $2.25 million fine. His employer, Moscow-based ElcomSoft, was also indicted and faces up to $2.5 million in fines.

Criminal Charges

The program that ran Sklyarov afoul of the law is Advanced eBook Processor, an application that removes restrictions built into Adobe eBook Reader files and allows them to be copied, backed up, printed, and more.

The DMCA makes it a crime to provide tools or information designed to circumvent these protections. Critics of the DMCA charge that the law is unconstitutional, stifles free speech, and abridges consumer rights such as fair use, the ability to lend, borrow, or quote from a book, and first sale (the right to resell an item once it has been legally purchased).

Despite its initial support for Sklyarov's arrest, one week later the company reversed field and called, along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a number of other groups, for Sklyarov's release.

Prosecution Looks Likely

Charges against Sklyarov have not been dropped, however, and all signs indicate that the U.S. government intends to prosecute him, making him the first person to face criminal prosecution under the DMCA.

Though Sklyarov was indicted last week, "we do welcome the change in the case" that sees the government pursuing ElcomSoft, Adobe General Counsel Colleen Pouliot says. The company stands by its July statement and still wants to see Sklyarov acquitted, she says.

Despite that desire, the company will do no more than it has already done--call for charges to be dropped--to pursue his exoneration, she says.

"All we have done is express our public sentiment that we don't support the prosecution of this individual in this particular case" and Adobe will do no more than that, she says.

Leaving It Up to the Government

Pouliot also denies that Adobe has any responsibility for Sklyarov's prosecution.

"We provided information to the government about what ElcomSoft was doing" and the government made its own decision about whom to arrest and prosecute, she says.

Because of this--and even though the company's complaint led to Sklyarov's arrest, prosecution, and possible imprisonment in a foreign country which would separate him from his wife and young daughter for as many as 25 years--Adobe has no responsibility or obligation to help him further, she says.

If Sklyarov does go to jail, "that's an outcome our system has provided," Pouliot says.

Adobe continues to "absolutely support" another law provided by the system, the DMCA, Pouliot says.

The DMCA "really has helped support the explosion of online content" and has had little if any adverse effects, Pouliot says, pointing to a ruling handed down by the U.S. Copyright Office last week that said largely the same thing. If there are any discussions about changing the law, though, Adobe will be involved, she says.

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