I've got news for you.
Reverse engineering is a protected act under US law. Some other things, too. Seriously, you can legally reverse engineer anything you want.
Why do you think that Compaq was able to make a 100% (well nearly) IBM compatable PC BIOS? They reverse engineered it. They even consulted somebody who had access to the code. (using carefull seperation technics to make sure their was no question of code copying.)
You know making a mix tape of songs you own and giving it to your friends is perfectly legal, too? As is recording radio or TV.
Also it's legal to photocopy pages out of books, AND post them publicly and use them as references word for word in documentation, classes, etc etc etc.
That's why the DMCA sucks. I can take any MS format/software and reverse engineer the snot out of it and publish my results publicly or make a competing product and MS can't do anything about it. But as soon MS slaps some sort of encryption on it, no matter how weak it instantly becomes illegal under the DMCA.
Reverse engineering is a protected act under US law. Some other things, too. Seriously, you can legally reverse engineer anything you want.
Why do you think that Compaq was able to make a 100% (well nearly) IBM compatable PC BIOS? They reverse engineered it. They even consulted somebody who had access to the code. (using carefull seperation technics to make sure their was no question of code copying.)
You know making a mix tape of songs you own and giving it to your friends is perfectly legal, too? As is recording radio or TV.
Also it's legal to photocopy pages out of books, AND post them publicly and use them as references word for word in documentation, classes, etc etc etc.
That's why the DMCA sucks. I can take any MS format/software and reverse engineer the snot out of it and publish my results publicly or make a competing product and MS can't do anything about it. But as soon MS slaps some sort of encryption on it, no matter how weak it instantly becomes illegal under the DMCA.
