Dmitri Sklyarov rarely reads electronic books. "There are almost no e-books in Russian," said Mr. Sklyarov, the 26-year- old Moscow cryptographer who was arrested in Las Vegas last month under a 1998 digital copyright law. "I prefer paper books. They're much . . .
Dmitri Sklyarov rarely reads electronic books. "There are almost no e-books in Russian," said Mr. Sklyarov, the 26-year- old Moscow cryptographer who was arrested in Las Vegas last month under a 1998 digital copyright law. "I prefer paper books. They're much easier to carry with me, and can be read anywhere."

In fact, most people still prefer paper books. Unlike music and film, books have yet to be popularly accepted in digital format. Nevertheless, the nascent market has heightened the publishing industry's sensitivity to the potential for digital piracy, enough so that it has initiated the first criminal case under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. And Mr. Sklyarov is the first to be charged.

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