Re: [Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>] Re: Debian & BSD concerns
On Tue, Mar 09, 1999 at 11:36:35PM -0500, Phillip R. Jaenke wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Mar 1999, Stephen Carpenter wrote:
>
> > if so then I have seen many companies CLAIM that it is illegal to
> > reverse engineer their IP...I have seen licenses which specifically
> > tell you not to...
>
> mebbe i should be on debian-legal.. ;P
>
> if the license prohibits reverse engineering, it is illegal to reverse
> engineer that software/hardware. it's called breach of license/contract. a
> license agreement *is* legally binding. even if you don't read it. when
> you hit that 'accept' button or whatever, it's the same as signing it. it
> is assumed that you read it. if you didn't read it, then you're entirely
> at fault. it's the end-user's responsibility to read the contract. not the
> software/hardware authors/designers responsibility.
>
> so, yes, if it is stated in the license that it is prohibited, then it is
> illegal to reverse engineer that product.
It is very common to see contracts that stipulate clauses that are not
binding due to either precedent or statutes that preclude them. I
read a very good summary about this issue with respect to emulators.
http://www.concentric.net/~Twist/atari800win/legal.shtml
The bottom line WRT reverse engineering is that the courts tend to
support it where it is the only method for acquiring information about
a system. They rule in favor of efforts to improve the state of the
art. (I am not a lawyer etc etc etc).
- O
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