Dmitri deal is struck

The US has agreed to a deal which will see the Russian programmer Dmitri Sklyarov go free.

The only catch is that in exchange for his freedom, Sklyarov will have to testify against his employer, Elcomsoft, about alleged violations of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).

But Elcomsoft has welcomed the deal, saying that it stops the company from worrying about Sklyarov facing a 25-year jail sentence.

Elcomsoft offered to take the place of Sklyarov as sole defendant in the case.

A statement from the company's lawyers said that the case could actually be bolstered if Sklyarov testifies on behalf of the US.

"The company knows that neither Dmitri nor they, committed any criminal acts and believes that in the end, they will be found innocent of any and all charges the US Government is bringing against them," said the statement.

Charges against Sklyarov will be dropped if he testifies, but he will also be under court-ordered supervision for one year and will be required to phone in to a US court once a month.

If found guilty, Elcomsoft faces fines of up to $2.25m.

After his arrest at the DefCon hacker conference in summer, for allegedly writing software in breach of the DMCA, Sklyarov was released on $50,000 bail and has been living in California pending the outcome of the trial.