Re: Just-out comment on *Eldred*

"Tyler Ochoa" writes:

: Lessig's point was that if you use an Adobe ebook Reader, the software
: doesn't permit you to copy text without the publisher's permission, even
: if the text is in the public domain. And the DMCA makes it illegal to
: hack around Adobe's weak encryption system in order to get at the public
: domain text.

I think that that is indeed his point, but I would add that the Adobe ebook Reader, which was formerly the Glassbook Reader and is the software involved in the infamous case where the settings denied permission to read aloud a pubic domain copy of Alice in Wonderland, is not the same as Adobe Acrobat reader, or whatever it is called, that reads PDF files.

: Sure, you can use a different .pdf program that doesn't restrict
: copying, if you have access to one. But Adobe is the number one pdf
: reader on the market; many people aren't even aware that there are other
: ones. Public domain advocates fear that if the entire digital world
: goes to encrypted versions, the electronic public domain will be locked
: up by programs like Adobe's, and the DMCA will make it illegal to free
: them.

There is no other program available that allows one to read texts prepared for the Adobe ebook Reader. There was one, written by Dmitry Sklyarov, but it is no longer available. Writing and distributing that program was the ``crime'' for which poor Dmitry was sent to jail. Thus the threat is even greater than you suggest.

--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
 EMAIL: junger@samsara.law.cwru.edu    URL:  http://samsara.law.cwru.edu   
        NOTE: junger[_at_]pdj2-ra.f-remote.cwru.edu no longer exists