On Monday 01 January 2007 09:12, Amish Mehta wrote: > > The issue is if you can reverse engineer a software or not,
Depends on how you do it. If it is not patented u can as long as u are not reading the source code and hence possibily creating a derived work. If it is patented u set up two teams. One to use the original package and create a specification. And one to implement the specs. The implementer should not ever see the original package. However if the business method is patented u are in a still bigger mess like RIM. U can use the above method to reverse engineer, but cant use it in a similiar business model. > whatever it is done for. Dont count on it but my opinion is as long > as its not patented and its for personal use and it does not harm > anyone, it should be ok. In India and EU software patents as well as business methods are not recognised, hence u can reverse engineer a software package using a debugger / profiler. > > Only problem is, in India no one clearly knows what is legal and > not legal until the case is won. standalone software patents are NOT recognised in India. That is 100% certain. > > I do not think decrypting password algorithm is such a big crime > and infact Pacenet should instead have used better algorithm if > they were much concerned about security. We do not have DRM / DMCA laws right now. So decrypting passwords or algorithms when not used for illegal copying is certainly legal. -- Rgds JTD -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
