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📝 Page Status: Draft — sourced but not yet reviewed

  • Status: draft
  • Sources: 3
  • Relationships: 3
  • Research debt items: 3

United States v. Sklyarov / Elcomsoft

Summary

Dmitry Sklyarov and Elcomsoft Co. Ltd. were indicted in the Northern District of California in 2001 for DMCA circumvention-trafficking offenses related to Advanced eBook Processor software. DOJ described the prosecution as the first DMCA criminal case. Sklyarov entered a deferred-prosecution cooperation agreement in December 2001.

Verified Facts

  • On August 28, 2001, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced a grand jury indictment of Elcom Ltd. (Elcomsoft Co. Ltd.) and Dmitry Sklyarov on copyright counts related to trafficking in technology to circumvent Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader protections.1
  • The indictment announcement alleges Sklyarov and others wrote Advanced eBook Processor (AEBPR), whose primary purpose was to remove publisher-imposed ebook limitations, and that Elcomsoft sold the program via elcomsoft.com and a U.S. payment service for about $99.1
  • On December 13, 2001, DOJ announced Sklyarov entered an agreement admitting conduct, agreeing to cooperate in the prosecution of Elcomsoft, with the United States agreeing to defer prosecution of Sklyarov and to dismiss charges if he successfully completed the agreement’s obligations.2
  • The December 13, 2001 DOJ release states Sklyarov had been indicted on one conspiracy count under 18 U.S.C. § 371 and counts under 17 U.S.C. § 1201(b)(1)(A) for trafficking in circumvention technology.2
  • EFF’s case page states charges against Sklyarov would eventually be dropped under the agreement and that ElcomSoft remained charged; EFF further summarizes later acquittal of ElcomSoft (research debt for primary verdict source).3

Historical Context

Sklyarov, a Russian programmer employed by Elcomsoft, was arrested in the United States in 2001 in connection with ebook circumvention software. Individual charges against Sklyarov were resolved through a deferred-prosecution agreement; the company prosecution continued separately.

Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (criminal). Statutory theories documented by DOJ include conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371) and DMCA trafficking in circumvention technology (17 U.S.C. § 1201(b)(1)(A)). Individual outcome for Sklyarov was deferred prosecution with contemplated dismissal upon compliance. Company trial outcome requires a primary verdict source beyond EFF summary.

Relationships

  • CASE-US-V-SKLYAROV cites SRC-DOJ-SKLYAROV-AGREE-2001.
  • CASE-US-V-SKLYAROV related_to TOPIC-DEVELOPER-SOFTWARE-LIABILITY.
  • CASE-US-V-SKLYAROV related_to CASE-UNIVERSAL-V-CORLEY.

Sources

  1. SRC-DOJ-SKLYAROV-INDICTMENT-2001: DOJ — First DMCA Indictment Against Sklyarov and Elcomsoft (Aug. 28, 2001).
  2. SRC-DOJ-SKLYAROV-AGREE-2001: DOJ — Sklyarov Enters Agreement in First DMCA Criminal Case (Dec. 13, 2001).
  3. SRC-EFF-SKLYAROV-CASE: EFF Case Page — US v. ElcomSoft / Sklyarov.

Research Debt

  • Add primary source for Elcomsoft jury verdict / judgment of acquittal.
  • Add arrest-date FBI/DOJ materials (July 2001).
  • Add indictment PDF from PACER/RECAP.

Document metadata

  • Decision date: 2001-12-13
  • Indictment date: 2001-08-28
  • Last verified: 2026-07-23

  1. SRC-DOJ-SKLYAROV-INDICTMENT-2001 — DOJ First DMCA Indictment Against Sklyarov and Elcomsoft (Aug. 28, 2001). Archived official press release. ↩↩

  2. SRC-DOJ-SKLYAROV-AGREE-2001 — DOJ Sklyarov Enters Agreement (Dec. 13, 2001). Official archived press release. ↩↩

  3. SRC-EFF-SKLYAROV-CASE — EFF Case Page — US v. ElcomSoft / Sklyarov. Organization case page; corroboration pending for company verdict. ↩