A federal jury acquitted Russian software firm ElcomSoft December 17 of criminal charges that it had violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 by creating a decryption program that unlocks Adobe eBook’s anti-copying software. The first criminal prosecution under the DMCA, the case hinged on whether ElcomSoft had willfully sought to break the law by creating the decryption program—an argument that jury foreman Dennis Strader rejected. “We didn’t understand why a million-dollar company would put on their Web pages an illegal thing that would [ruin] their whole business if they were caught,” Strader explained, according to a December 17 Associated Press report.
Strader went on to explain that the defense’s explanation of fair-use rights impressed the jury. “Under the eBook formats, you have no rights at all, and the jury had trouble with that concept,” he said. Nonetheless, defense attorney Joe Burton cautioned that the verdict didn’t necessarily “throw a blanket on” the DMCA. “It will take another case to test that.” Ironically, that opportunity may come soon: The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit last summer challenging the constitutionality of the DMCA.
Another challenge is expected on the legislative front: Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) told the online CNet news service December 17 that he would reintroduce in January the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act, which would add digital-fair-use provisions into the DMCA.
Posted December 23, 2002.