Lars, It's not illegal to create filters for MS Office. We have, on this list, discussed this before. And people much more knowledgeable than I have said that Microsoft actually releases the details on how to do it.
The big, bad, boogeyman BIll isn't gonna come get you for writing a filter. -Chad Smith On 10/17/05, Lars D. Noodén <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Sat, 2005-10-15 at 18:08 -0400, Chad Smith wrote: > >> Over 3 years to get 25% saturation? It's almost worth it. But you > yourself, > >> coder as you are, could create hacked filters for Microsoft Office in > those > >> three-years time, and claim the victory. > > Actually not, there are two big legal reasons why this is not possible in > the US and one in Europe. Namely the DMCA and software patents in the US > and the EUCD in Europe. The DMCA and EUCD prevent "cirumvention" of > so-called security mechanisms. Simply calling something a security > mechanism is enough, even if it's as simple as ROT13 or XOR. Look at > Adobe vs Dmitry Sklyarov. Software patents allow litigants to attack end > users, whether they are individuals, corporations or developers. Simply > using a method (e.g. XML serialization) is enough to bring on expensive > litigation. > > Not that US laws don't apply to Europe in practice, look at the whole > "DVD-Jon" caper: The DMCA is only a US problem, the EUCD hadn't even been > passed, and even if it had Norway is not in the EU. Yet the mainstream > articles in the US were whining about him breaking laws that didn't exist. > > -Lars > Lars Nooden ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog ... > ... until you start barking. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -- - Chad Smith
