Re: Is reverse engineering legal ?

From: Bill Unruh (unruh_at_string.physics.ubc.ca)
Date: 11/25/04 

Date: 25 Nov 2004 18:37:36 GMT

Mok-Kong Shen <mok-kong.shen@t-online.de> writes:

]Matthew Skala wrote:

][snip]
]> ..... That
]> claim may sound pretty bogus, but before you dismiss it out of hand,
]> consider that it's basically the justification for most software license
]> agreements at all: "To run the program on your computer you must *copy* it
]> to your computer's RAM, and we have the exclusive privilege to authorize
]> *copying*, therefore we can set terms for when you're allowed to run the
]> program."

]But the customer pays for the software for the purpose of
]running it (at any time, at least on a single computer, I
]suppose). So that copying action is certainly authorized,
]isn't it?

The argument is that you are only allowed to use the program under the
terms of the license. The claim is that the license is a copyright license.
As such however it can only limit copying, Not use. copyright law says
nothing about use and you cannot institute a copyright license which limits
anything but copying.

Ie, they can set terms under which you can copy, but not under which you
are allowed to run it. Once it has been copied (ie loaded into ram) the
authority to limit copying run out. You can then use that copy for whatever
purpose you please under copyright law. It is like saying that because you
copy the book onto your retina when you read it, they can limit what you
can do with the information contained in the book. No.

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