, Newsbytes 2001-07-17
FBI Arrests Russian Creator Of E-Book-Decoding Software.
The FBI on Monday arrested Dimitry Sklyarov, a Russian software developer responsible for creating the "Advanced eBook Processor," a controversial application capable of circumventing e-book security features, an FBI official said today.FBI Special Agent Daron Borst confirmed today that Sklyarov was arrested Monday at the Alexis Park Hotel in Las Vegas on charges of "trafficking in software designed to circumvent copyrighted software" and of aiding and abetting.
Sklyarov is being held in a Las Vegas jail, awaiting extradition to San Francisco, where the warrant was issued, Borst said. Borst, who works in the FBI's Las Vegas field office, added that, as a Russian citizen, Sklyarov would probably not be granted bail.
Sklyarov is a software developer for Moscow-based Elcomsoft, which publishes several applications including an e-mail management and password recovery tool.
Sklyarov was in Las Vegas to give a presentation on e-book security at the Def Con 9 conference there, according to a notice posted on the Elcomsoft Web site.
Billing itself as the "largest underground Internet security gathering on the planet," Def Con convenes annually in Las Vegas.
According to Elcomsoft, Adobe Systems has led the crusade against the Advanced eBook Processor, which is designed specifically to crack the security protocols embedded in Adobe's Acrobat eBook Reader.
Neither Elcomsoft nor Adobe officials were available for comment on this story.
Elcomsoft and the e-book-cracking tool are at http://www.elcomsoft.com/aebpr.html .
Adobe is at http://www.adobe.com .
