In the past it was pretty much a given that the Adobe Flash Player EULA precluded people in the US from both accepting that EULA and writing code for a project such as Gnash:
http://www.gnashdev.org/?q=node/25#eula http://www.gnashdev.org/?q=node/64 http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg07169.html http://lwn.net/Articles/228637/ Choice quotes: "There is some debate about whether the Adobe/Macromedia Flash EULA can be considered binding..." "Rob: The Adobe EULA for Flash forbids anyone who has installed their Flash tools or plugin from working on Flash technologies...Adobe has declined to comment on this issue, since the confusion benefits their lockin of the market." And the most important one, referencing a snippet of a Flash Player license: "It's 2.5.1, the clause about reverse engineering. "[Information] may not be disclosed to any third party or used to create any software which is substantially similar to the expression of the Software." I don't have easy access to old versions of the Flash Player EULA, but the license for Adobe Flash Player 10 (http://www.adobe.com/products/eulas/pdfs/Reader_Player_AIR_WWEULA-Combined-20080204_1313.pdf) does not appear to include language about reverse engineering in relation to creation of "similar" or "competing" projects. The section about reverse engineering reads: "3.4 No Modification or Reverse Engineering. You may not modify, adapt, translate or create derivative works based upon the Software. You will not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Software except to the extent you may be expressly permitted to reverse engineer or decompile under applicable law." If the language about "creating similar software" has been removed from the license, does that mean that there is less of a barrier for people who have installed the Flash Player client to participate in Gnash development? My understanding of laws concerning reverse engineering is limited. Could hacking on the Gnash codebase be somehow construed as a "derivative work" if you have the Flash Player installed? Could actions such as documenting what output the Flash Player gives based on certain inputs be judged to be (legally unprotected) reverse engineering? Thanks, --Robinson _______________________________________________ Gnash-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnash-dev
