I don't want to comment on the details of this case, which I don't know well
enough, or the defend the oddities of American copyright law.  Anyone who
has tried to make sure that they, or people they advise, are on the correct
side of the law know that current copyright law in this country is in a
state of confusion.  However, in fairness, a couple of comments are
required.

> Something is going terribly wrong with copyright law in America.
> Mr. Sklyarov himself did not violate any law, and his employer
> did not violate anyone's copyright.

I don't believe this is true.  The production and distribution of software
designed to break encryption systems is illegal in this country.

> America is essentially alone in this strategy of
> techno-lawmaking.

America is also essentially alone in the size of loses experienced due to
copyright violation.  For many countries, copyright violation is actually
economically advantageous since it gives their workers access to technology
without having to pay for it.  If other countries were looking at the same
level of losses, they would be looking at the same time of regulations.

> If you produce and distribute code that
> cracks technological protection systems, and that code can be
> accessed in the United States, then it's just a matter of time
> before our F.B.I. comes knocking at your door.
>
Assuming your door is in the US.  Mr. Sklyarov mistake was coming to a
country where he was in violation of local law.  Legally, this is the
equivalent of defrauding somebody over the phone from another country where
such fraud was legal and then visiting the country of the person defrauded.

> This is bad law and bad policy.

That I would agree with.

> Adobe understands this. After extensive meetings with the
> nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation - and widespread
> protests on the Internet, at Adobe's San Jose, Calif.,
> headquarters, in Moscow and elsewhere - Adobe announced it did
> not think the prosecution of Mr. Sklyarov was conducive to the
> best interests of the parties involved or of the industry.
>
Basically, they got scared by the bad publicity.

> Yet Mr. Sklyarov still languishes in jail, puzzled, no doubt,
> about how a free society can jail someone for writing code that
> was legal where written, just because he comes to the United
> States and gives a report on encryption weaknesses.
>
He could have been in trouble if he came to country to go fishing.  Speaking
on encryption just assured that people who care would know that he was here.

BTW, what does this topic have to do with this list?