Moscow-based ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. was charged in federal court of violating the 1998 U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act by selling a program that circumvents the digital copyright protections on Adobe Systems Inc. ADBE.O software.

The two-week trial in San Jose, California was the first criminal prosecution under the controversial DMCA, which prohibits the sale of technology used to break the digital locks on digitally formatted movies, music and other software.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about two days before reaching the verdict on Tuesday. The trial had hinged on whether ElcomSoft had "willfully" violated the U.S. law, lawyers for the defense said.

"They never intended to violate the law," said defense attorney Joseph Burton of the San Francisco law firm of Duane Morris.

"We respect the jury's verdict," said U.S. Attorney Scott Frewing.

ElcomSoft's program, which sold online for about a month in mid-2001 for $99 before Adobe complained, allows users to make copies of electronic books, transfer them to laptops and have the computer read them aloud to the blind.

Prosecutors contended the program was akin to a burglar tool that could be used to make illegal copies of electronic books.

ElcomSoft President Alexander Katalov testified that he did not think the program was illegal. He said the program was not meant to be used for electronic books that had not been legally purchased.

The case caused an international uproar after ElcomSoft programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in July 2001 following a talk he gave about the program at the DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors agreed to drop charges against him in exchange for his testimony. His videotaped deposition was played in court by the prosecution and he was questioned in person in court by the defense.

Copyright holders pushed for the DMCA, arguing that they need it to prevent easy piracy in the digital age. Opponents say the law gives copyright owners more rights in cyberspace than they have elsewhere.