Re: A Question of Ethics (was: Overriding Acrobat User Settings)

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com]

<sigh>

>a.) This fact is disputed. In some accounts, his company has insisted
>that it doesn't give away or sell the software in question.

No one said his *company* gave it away. No one ever said that, myself
included. But the reports *do* say that *he* gave a few copies away. Have
there been any reports that deny this? I've seen some which claim he was
arrested for speaking at DefCon, which is unquestionably incorrect. But
none of the reports I've seen deny he handed out a few copies.

As for the company not selling it, come on, Bruce, that's being
disingenuous at the least. Their own website says it's not available
"anymore," which clearly means that they *were* distributing it, either
free or for purchase. And the clear implication in the web site text is
that they only stopped after the arrest happened.

>b.) There are conflicting reports of why he was arrested. Some say that
>Sklyarov was targeted by Adobe before he actually appeared in the United
>States, simply because he was the first member of the company available.

Adobe didn't arrest him. The FBI did. The FBI doesn't have to arrest anyone
(it's not like local police who want a complaint sworn out, the FBI swears
out its own complaints) but will listen if someone reports a crime. And
will quite often *not* arrest someone, even when told about them.

>c.) Even if the allegation appears on his charge sheet, that doesn't
>make it so.

I'm assuming this is based on innocent until proven, which I heartily agree
with, and it doesn't conflict with my statement that he was arrested for
doing that. I didn't say he was convicted, just that his defenders aren't
telling the whole truth, because they gloss over this little fact.
Surprise.

FWIW, I wasn't being snide, Bruce. I was simply tired of all the fog people
were generating surrounding this. I may have gone a little overboard, but
you know, it's severely taxed my sense of irony to see the Internet all up
in arms defending a company whose main products are very efficient
spammer's tools, such as an email address harvester. (Next time you get
spam from someone who has scraped your address off a web page, be sure and
send wonderful ol' Dmitri and his buddies at ElcomSoft a thank you note,
OK?) Oh, of course no one's going to use their tools in anything like
spamming. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?) They'll only
harvest the email addresses of people who *want* them to.

But you're right, this doesn't belong on list, so I'm done. Go ahead and
grab the Last Word, if you wish.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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In God we trust; all others must provide data.
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Opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
If JCI had an opinion on this, they'd hire someone else to deliver it.


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