On Fri, 22 Dec 2000, Julian Stacey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Matt Dillon wrote:
> > :Reverse engineering is a myth. The result is so inferior to high-level
> > :language source code as to not be a concern, plus its illegal so it cant be
> > :marketed.
> > Reverse engineering is very legal, and it is hardly a myth, nor
> > ..............
>
> Examiners at the European Patent Office http://www.epo.org tell me:
> Reverse engineering is legal in Europe, Illegal in USA.
AFAIK it's a bit more subtle than that.
As far as I understand, in the US reverse engineering is
illegal if you want to copy the product's functionality
and compete with the manufacturer of the 'original' thing.
However, reverse engineering for compatability, so that
your product can be used together with the product that you
are reverse engineering is, AFAIK, completely legal.
regards,
Rik
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