SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the first criminal case under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can proceed to trial, dismissing claims that the 1998 law is unconstitutional.
Attorneys for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. of Russia had called the law overly broad and vague and asked that charges be dropped against the company, which sold a program that circumvented copyright protections in electronic book software made by Adobe Systems Inc. Such programs are legal in Russia but banned by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald M. Whyte ruled that the law contains vital restrictions for the digital age and does not, as its opponents suggest, eliminate the traditional notion of "fair use" for consumers found in copyright law.
"Without the ban on trafficking in circumvention tools, the government's interest in promoting electronic commerce, preserving the rights of copyright holders and preventing piracy would be undermined," the judge wrote.
The case generated worldwide protests after ElcomSoft programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested at a hacker convention in Las Vegas in July and hit with criminal charges for his work on the program, which let users make backup copies of e-books or transfer them to other devices.
Sklyarov could have faced five years in prison and a $500,000 fine, but prosecutors agreed in December to drop charges against him after the company's case is resolved. Sklyarov returned home to Moscow.
The company could be fined $500,000 if convicted. A hearing to set trial dates in the case is set for May 20.
The case is U.S. v. ElcomSoft and Dmitry Sklyarov, CR-01-20138RMW.
