On Apr 6, 2005 3:06 PM, Josh Coates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >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. > IANAL, but...
In almost every case, violating an EULA doesn't make you a criminal. It is a license agreement. Not a law. You have broken an agreement you have made. This could result in a lawsuit, but most likely in civil court, not in criminal court. Even then, just because you accept the EULA so that you can use a product doesn't mean that the EULA is binding. There are examples of EULAs being thown out for various reasons. Agreements and contracts are broken all the time. When both sides agree to it there is no problem. When one side is damaged by it they have recourse, but usually not criminal. Interestingly, just a few weeks ago there was an article about a kid that is being allowed to sue a skate park for breaking his leg even after his mother signed a waiver. The signed waiver was required to use the park. An appeals court ruled that the waiver was "void from its inception", I think becuase they say that a parent can't sign away the kids right to sue. Just an example of how things like EULA can be agreed to by all parties and then thrown our when the rubber hits the road. > 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. What is being described as reverse engineering? Were they actually watching registers and memory addresses to see exactly what was happening and then writing code to match it? Or were they simply trying to duplicate a feature set? If all they were doing was trying to duplicate a feature set I don't see how you could consider that reverse engineering. That sort of thing happens between competitors all the time, and it should be allowed. That is why software patents would be such a bad idea. Dan .===================================. | This has been a P.L.U.G. mailing. | | Don't Fear the Penguin. | | IRC: #utah at irc.freenode.net | `==================================='
