Dmitry Sklyarov, the Russian programmer arrested under a controversial US anti-hacker law, has given the first interview since his release on bail last week.

His arrest has turned him into a reluctant focal point for advocates protesting against the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

"If someone will allow me to choose not to be famous in this case, I would prefer not to be famous," he told the San Jose Mercury News.

Sklyarov said that he hopes to return to the one-bedroom Moscow apartment he shares with his wife and two small children as soon as possible, and get back to his studies of cryptography.

The programmer was heading home on 16 July when he was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas. He had presented his research on the security of electronic books to the Def Con hacker conference the day before.

As he was handcuffed and taken to the North Las Vegas jail, Sklyarov learned that he was accused, under the DMCA, of trafficking in a software program that stripped the copy protection from electronic books displayed in a format developed by Adobe Systems.

Sklyarov claimed that he didn't panic after the arrest because: "I knew that US law is working and nothing very bad could happen before the trial."

Last week, the Russian Consulate General of San Francisco filed more than 60 pages of letters and testimonials written in support of Sklyarov and translated into English. In the documents, Skylarov is described as a "highly qualified professional and a scholar of outstanding achievements".

In the interview, however, Sklyarov said: "I don't have enough knowledge now to become a really good cryptographer."

He pointed out that writing the program was not illegal and that he and his lawyer hope that the prosecutors will eventually decide to drop the charges.