Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested on July 16, 2001 for trafficking in software that circumvents the technical protection of copyrighted material. Although the particular piece of software in question is legal in Russia -- it allows users to disable the copyright protection mechanisms in Adobe's electronic book software -- in the United States it violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. ElcomSoft, Sklyarov's employer, thus faces fines of up to $500,000 for selling the program in the U.S.
Sklyarov had originally been charged along with his employer, but he ultimately agreed to testify against ElcomSoft, and was released on August 6, 2001 on a bail of $50,000, and, on December 13, 2001, allowed to return home to Russia.
Sklyarov has been unable to return to the US to participate in the trial, however, because last week both he and defendant Alex Katalov (ElcomSoft's CEO) had been denied visas by US officials in Russia.
The trial, reports the Mercury News, has been postponed.
New York Times article is here.