Daniel Iliev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted [EMAIL PROTECTED], excerpted below, on Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:37:34 +0300:
> - and he sends you a > wmv compressed clip... > > Now what? You gonna tell your friend "Sorry, man, but I'm not gonna see > your family 'cause I like my freedom!" > Come ooon! ;-))))))))))))) Well, if I was living somewhere where reverse engineering of DRM was allowed and he invited me to the US, I think I'd be wise to decline, unless I wished to become another Dimitry Sklyarov! To me, the same idea applies. In fact, it's actually even closer than that. I can no longer agree to most EULAs for at least two reasons, due to the reverse engineering prohibitions in most cases (a right I don't choose to sign away), and for security reasons -- if I can't verify the source or have someone I trust do so, then they better vouch for the security and freedom from harm of their binaries, only no software developer or distributor in their right mind is going to do that for anything near the price I'm willing to pay, because it'll put them on the hook for potentially millions of dollars! Thus, they can't vouch for it, and I can't assure myself of the quality since I can't read the code nor can I have someone I trust do so, so I won't take that security risk. Thus, in places like the US where EULAs could potentially be legal, it's no longer a /question/ of choice for me, as it's literally illegal for me to run the software if the EULA could be considered binding since I literally cannot agree to it. Thus, I will very patiently explain to that old friend that if he wants me to see the video clip, he will have to transcode it to a format I can legally view. Will MS or NVidia agree to waive the EULA and be liable if their closed source software causes damage to anything on my computer? Will the agree to waive the reverse engineering restrictions? If they can't do both and they won't, I can't agree to the EULA either. Therefore, as long as it's possible/likely that EULA could be considered legal, and that's the case here in the US unfortunately, I can't legally run their software. It's not a case of want to any more. It's a case of legality -- I can't legally do it. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman -- [email protected] mailing list
