>It's not illegal per se. AYAL? IANAL.
but i'm pretty sure if you willfully violate an EULA (which typically has the "don't reverse engineer this" clause), and/or copy someones intellectual property, then you are breaking the law. but in either case, you are right that it certainly violates the spirit of the agreement in this particular case. my original point is that this is an example of very unprofessional, immature behavior and if the OSS community knows whats good for them, they should come down hard on it instead of celebrating it as some kind of moral victory. Josh Coates www.jcoates.org -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Gary Thornock Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 2:47 PM To: Provo Linux Users Group Mailing List Subject: RE: Slashdot feed... > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Steve Dibb > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 14:41 > To: Provo Linux Users Group Mailing List > Subject: Re: Slashdot feed... > > Josh Coates wrote: >> i read "open source zealots ripped off (ie. stole) bitkeeper >> by illegally reverse engineering it, which resulted in >> bitmover killing their free version of the product." > > So, is it really illegal to reverse engineer something even if > its a license agreement (non-signed contract)? It's not illegal per se. If it were, BitMover would be suing (or, at least, they'd have legal standing to sue) OSDL. On the other hand, it does go against the original agreement between BitMover and Linus, where they said "we'll provide you with our product and space on our server for free if you don't try to create a competing product while you're using our free stuff." .============ | This has been a P.L.U.G. mailing. | | Don't Fear the Penguin. | | IRC: #utah at irc.freenode.net | `============ .===================================. | This has been a P.L.U.G. mailing. | | Don't Fear the Penguin. | | IRC: #utah at irc.freenode.net | `==================================='
