IP: Dmitry Sklyarov entered into an agreement

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> > December 13, 2001
> >
> >         The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of
> > California announced  that Dmitry Sklyarov entered into an agreement
> > this morning with the United States and admitted his conduct in a
> > hearing before U.S. District Judge Whyte in San Jose Federal Court.
> >
> >         Under the agreement, Mr. Sklyarov agreed to cooperate with the
> > United States in its ongoing prosecution of Mr. Sklyarov's former
> > employer, Elcomsoft Co., Ltd.  Mr. Skylarov will be required to appear
> > at trial and testify truthfully, and he will be deposed in the matter.
> > For its part, the United States agreed to defer prosecution of Mr.
> > Sklyarov until the conclusion of the case against Elcomsoft or for one
> > year, whichever is longer.  Mr. Sklyarov will be permitted to return to
> > Russia in the meantime, but will be subject to the Court's supervision,
> > including regularly reporting by telephone to the Pretrial Services
> > Department.  Mr. Sklyarov will be prohibited from violating any laws
> > during the year, including copyright laws.  The United States agreed
> > that, if Mr. Sklyarov successfully completes the obligations in the
> > agreement, it will dismiss the charges pending against him at the end of
> > the year or when the case against Elcomsoft is complete.
> >
> >         Mr. Sklyarov, 27, of Moscow, Russia, was indicted by a federal
> > Grand Jury on August 28, 2001.  He was charged with one count of
> > conspiracy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371,
> > and two counts of trafficking for gain in technology primarily designed
> > to circumvent technology that protects a right of a copyright owner in
> > violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 1201(b)(1)(A), and
> > two counts of trafficking for gain in technology marketed for use in
> > circumventing technology that protects a right of a copyright owner in
> > violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 1201(b)(1)(A).
> >
> >         In entering into the agreement with the government, Mr. Sklyarov
> > was required to acknowledge his conduct in the offense.  In the
> > agreement, Mr. Sklyarov made the following admissions, which he also
> > confirmed in federal court today:
> >
> > "Beginning on a date prior to June 20, 2001, and continuing through July
> > 15, 2001, I was employed by the Russian software company, Elcomsoft Co.
> > Ltd. (also known as Elcom Ltd.) (hereinafter "Elcomsoft") as a computer
> > programmer and cryptanalyst.
> >
> > "Prior to June 20, 2001, I was aware Adobe Systems, Inc. ("Adobe") was a
> > software company in the United States.  I was also aware Adobe was the
> > creator of the Adobe Portable Document Format ("PDF"), a computer file
> > format for the publication and distribution of electronic documents.
> > Prior to June 20, 2001, I knew Adobe distributed a program titled the
> > Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader that provided technology for the reading of
> > documents in an electronic format on personal computers.  Prior to June
> > 20, 2001, I was aware that documents distributed in the Adobe Acrobat
> > eBook Reader format are PDF files and that specifications of PDF allow
> > for limiting of certain operations, such as opening, editing, printing,
> > or annotating.
> >
> > "Prior to June 20, 2001, as a part of my dissertation work and as part
> > of my employment with Elcomsoft, I wrote a part of computer program
> > titled the Advanced eBook Processor ("AEBPR").  I developed AEBPR as a
> > practical application of my research for my dissertation and in order to
> > demonstrate weaknesses in protection methods of PDF files.   The only
> > use of the AEBPR is to create an unprotected copy of an electronic
> > document.  Once a PDF file is decrypted with the AEBPR, a copy is no
> > longer protected by encryption.  This is all the AEBPR program does.
> >
> > "Prior to June 20, 2001, I believed that ElcomSoft planned to post the
> > AEBPR program on the Internet on the company's website
> > www.elcomsoft.com.  I believed that the company would charge a fee for a
> > license for the full version of the AEBPR that would allow access to all
> > capabilities of the program.
> >
> > "After Adobe released a new version of the Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader
> > that prevented the initial version of the AEBPR program from removing
> > the limitations or restrictions on an e-book, I wrote software revisions
> > for a new version of the AEBPR program. The new version again decrypted
> > the e-document to which it was applied.  The version of this new AEBPR
> > program offered on the Elcomsoft website only decrypted a portion of an
> > e-document to which it was applied, unless the user had already
> > purchased a fully functional version of the earlier version and had both
> > versions installed on the same machine.  The new version was developed
> > after June 29, 2001. At that time, Elcomsoft had already stopped selling
> > the program. The version of this new program offered on the Elcomsoft
> > website did not provide a user with an opportunity to purchase it or
> > convert it to a fully functional one, and was developed as a matter of
> > competition.
> >
> > "On July 15, 2001, as part of my employment with Elcomsoft, I attended
> > the DEF CON Nine conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  At the conference I
> > made a presentation originally intended for the BlackHat conference that
> > immediately preceded the DefCon Nine in July 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
> > The same group of people organizes both BlackHat and DefCon Nine.  Since
> > there was no available slot for a presentation at BlackHat at the time
> > when the paper was sent for the committee consideration, the organizers
> > of both conferences suggested that the paper be presented at the DefCon
> > rather than at BlackHat.  The paper that I read at DefCon is attached as
> > Exhibit A.  A principal part of my presentation is comprised of my
> > research for the dissertation.  In my presentation when I said "we", I
> > meant Elcomsoft."
> >
> >         Mr. Sklyarov's employer, Elcomsoft, remains charged in the case,
> > and the Court in that matter has set hearings for various motions on
> > March 4, 2002, and April 1, 2002.
> >
> >         The prosecution of Elcomsoft is the result of an  investigation
> > by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Scott Frewing and Joseph
> > Sullivan of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property ("CHIP") Unit
> > are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the
> > assistance of legal technician Lauri Gomez.
> >
> >         A copy of this press release and key court documents filed in
> > the case may also be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at
> > www.usdoj.gov/usao/can <http://www.usaondca.com>.
> >
> >         All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be
> > directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415)436-7181
> > or Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross Nadel, Chief of the CHIP Unit, in San
> > Jose at (408

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