Reverse engineering typically refers to taking a known result and trying to
derive how that result was achieved within known bounds. For example, if you
wanted to reverse engineer Microsoft's .DOC format you would look at the
format of a saved Word document and try to come up with a way to reliably
produce compatible results without being able to see the source code for
Word. By reading source you have the blueprints, so no reversal is needed.
An important point is that you can create similar functionality without
infringing on copyrighted material. To protect against similar functionality
you must turn to the patent process, not copyright. I can paint Mona Lisa
knock-offs all day long if I don't try to sell them as original da Vinci's
or market them as "Mona Lisa" because that is protected by copyright. Also,
I could sell a word processing program that reads and writes .DOC format as
long as I didn't market it as "Word", that's trademark law. This assumes
that the DCMA hasn't made this illegal. It's also important for those in the
US to realize that much of world doesn't have the same laws regarding
reverse engineering and/or copyright of ideas. Many people think our laws
are ludicrous and impede the growth of knowledge, and hence the strength of
the country.
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Long [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2001 7:12 PM
To: CF-Talk
Subject: RE: Need decryptor tag for CFUG presentation
> ... i'm talking about studying the code,
> how they made it work, etc, etc....then developing
> your own application...
Isn't that's called reverse engineering.
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