Fwd: Re: [sklyarov-chicago] [ssteele@eff.org: Re: Why Mueller? Can You Say 'Pressure Point'?]

[Peter A. Peterson II]

Quoting Michael Cannon:
> 2.  Mitch Kapor has been at this for YEARS with no
> forward momentum.  He's been colllecting money and the
> laws are still on the books and DMITRY IS STILL IN
> JAIL!!!  The 'whole thing'  is the idea of a 'stalking
> horse (not Sun Tzu).'  The EFF is the cover for the
> bread and circuses act, to show something is being
> done to further 'the cause,' while inertia builds up
> and the laws aren't challenged.  The EFF has been
> ineffectual.  This is our best hope to keep the cause
> in the spotlight and they're 'negotiating.'  Tomorrow
> is TEN days.

I don't doubt that they could probably "do more." But I don't believe
that 10 days is a ridiculous amount of time for something like this to
be sorted out. IF the DoJ decides to release Dmitry, it was contingent
on Adobe's dropping the complaint. Regardless of whether Adobe had or
had not planned to do this in advance, the EFF had to be there to try to
make sure that happened.

> In short, we're being spun by the very people who we
> trust to act on our behalf.  The EFF lobbied the
> 'rejectmueller.com' folks to stop and redirect at an
> ASSISTANT US Attorney, not the guy in charge! 

I sincerely believe they think it is more useful to attack the assistant
attorney, as opposed to Mueller. THe example was given of pressure on
Louis Freeh in the late 90s re encryption versus Janet Reno, who was not
a useful target. Mueller will be confirmed if he was going to be
confirmed -- there is not time to stop that now. FOr that matter, we do
not know the facts wrt Mueller's involvement in this case. Isn't it
possible that the Asst. Attorney thought this would be a great case to
put under his belt and so he did it while Mueller was away? (The rookie
trying to bring down "something big"?) Because we _do not know the
facts_ regarding Mueller, protesting his involvement, or putting his
name on signs is risky and _unsupportable!_ Unless you can provide us
with documents that incontrovertably show that Mueller OKed this action,
I'M not going to protest him. And I'm not going to argue this point
anymore.


> Conclusion:  Mueller is their guy, too.

Anyone who's read up on Mueller I think knows that he's not a friend of
the EFF. I think that's a pretty wild and unsupportable claim, that
really doesn't jive when you place it next to the action record of the
EFF.

Remember the
> Wired article (link:
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45522,00.html)
> 
> Here are some more about Mueller:
> 
> http://www.newsmakingnews.com/mueller2,9,00.htm
> 
> http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1999/July/319dag.htm
> 
> When it comes to the DMCA, this guy is Ashcroft and
> the AAP/MPAA/BSA 's dream boy!!!

And he's *also* a friend of the EFF? No.

> NOTHING can get more press running to post to deadline
> than a Cabinet confirmation (except for a Supreme
> Court nomination) and the EFF is urging us to 'calm
> down.'

See above.

> We've accomplished more in three days than they have
> in three years!  Adobe caved BEFORE the EFF meeting,
> because of the threat of the boycott and the
> demonstrations.  Go look at the dateline of the PR
> release.  It takes DAYS to get that kind of release
> out of a corp like Adobe...it was pre-prepared.  We
> did it ALL!!!

I believe Adobe caved because they had nothing more to gain from Dmitry
being in prison. Also, it was a *joint* press release between the EFF
and Adobe. If it takes DAYS to do that, then the EFF is *completely* full
of bs and in cahoots with Adobe. Again, that does not make sense.


> PLEASE remember:  Dmitry NEVER had to go to jail. 
> Adobe could have protested his entry visa a month
> before DefCon 9 to the State Department and he never
> would have been allowed in the country.  Instead,
> Warnock and company lobbied Mueller (actually,
> probably started with Ashcroft, but we'll NEVER prove
> that without a LOT of FOIA paperwork) for his arrest,
> rather than a writ of exclusion from the State
> Department.

I agree with you here. It was despicable that Adobe chose to allow him
to come to the states in order to arrest him, rather than just keep him
out of the country. But this would not support Adobe's desire for
someone to squeeze (Dmitry). They let him come in, they didn't ask for a
writ of exclusion, because THEY WANTED TO ARREST HIM! It's SIMPLE! And
you say it yourself -- we can't prove they specifically and personally
lobbied Ashcroft; do we know that they actually got the green light from
Mueller? If we don't know that from a reliable printed source, I will
not make accusations about him, regardless of what I think of his
politics.

> I'll keep repeating that, Peter until you see the REAL
> tragedy here.  What I don't understand is why YOU are
> so hesitant to go after a corporation and people like
> Mueller.  They amke PERFECT targets to get the 'Joe
> Six-Packs' up in arms.  Rich white geeks with
> doctorates, and the FBI...that appeals across ALL
> demographics.

I won't "go after a corporation and people like Mueller" because we do
not know the TRUTH about what happened. We DO know that Dmitry is in
jail. We DO know the DMCA is a rotten piece of legislation. We DO know
that we can write to our representatives and make people squirm just by
being on the streets. I am not in the business of taking "perfect
targets" and slandering them with information that I CANNOT
SUBSTANTIATE. It's one thing to suggest that people boycott Adobe
because of their pro-DMCA stance. It's another thing to tell the world
about Mueller's involvement in the case based on speculation.

Unless you provide me with this information, I am not going to argue
about this any longer. We are wasting the groups time, tolerance, and
motivation. I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm, Mike. I don't know
if anyone else on the list has as much as you do. But I'm afraid you're
maybe jumping the gun.

Later today I'll be sending some information to the list regarding our
plans for this coming Monday the 30th. In short, we want to do a repeat
of Monday's leafletting with updated information wrt Adobe's withdrawing
their complaint. Our focus will be that there is now NOBODY involved
with this case that wants Dmitry in jail. Adobe made a pr coup by
withdrawing their complaint -- but we can use that same coup to show
that to prosecute Dmitry is not the right thing. It puts the burden back
on the federal government to act on the wishes of not only the
citizenry, but on the wishes of the corporation that put him there in
the first place.

I want to ask you to seriously consider coming back Monday (same time,
same place) to spread the word again. I'd also like to invite people to
start making signs now -- good looking, heavy duty signs. I'm going to
make a full "sandwich board" sign. I'll update the poster .jpg with some
new info, incorporating the rep. contact info as well as some urls for
people to follow up. (And an updated breif.) (Note: this is what the San
Francisco people are doing as well.)

I want to personally thank everyone who participated and everyone who's
found their way here. We have been a cog in the national theatre
regarding this incident, and I want to continue to move in the right
direction regarding it. We are members of a small community that are
trying to provide this man with his freedom; and that's no small thing.

Free Dmitry,

Peter