The “Chilling Effect” on Digital Development: US v. ElcomSoft

The “Chilling Effect” on Digital Development: US v. ElcomSoft

Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old programmer for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested after giving a speech at DEFCon, a major annual technical conference. He was arrested for trafficking software, which could circumvent the technological protection on eBooks in Adobe’s eBook format. He was charged with five criminal offensives. With his arrest came the first criminal challenge to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). This paper will study why he was charged and later acquitted. It will also show how “fair use” has been defined in the terms of the DMCA. Mainly, it will observe the failures in the DMCA. This paper will also show the effect that the DMCA, according to several experts in the field of software, has had on current research in the field of digital media. My presentation associated with “The ‘Chilling Effect’ on Digital Development: US v. ElcomSoft” was originally presented at the 2006 AEJMC Midwestern Conference in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The “Chilling Effect” 
on Digital Development: 
US vs. ElcomSoft from Shane Tilton

Shane Tilton

Dr. Shane Tilton is an associate professor at Ohio Northern University. He was awarded the 2018 Young Stationers’ Prize & twice awarded Outstanding Adviser honors from the Society for Collegiate Journalists in 2015 (Outstanding New Adviser) and 2018 (Outstanding Adviser). His published works include the role of journalism in society, the role of new media systems on culture and the pedagogy of gaming. His work on social media and university life earned him the BEA 2013 Harwood Dissertation Award.

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