On Friday 14 September 2007, Rui Miguel Silva Seabra wrote:
wrote:
Hello again Rui,
Though copyright laws and even more so, reverse engineering laws, vary
around the world, I'll try to explain to you how things work here in
the US. Over here, if you own a copy of a program, you can modify it as
much as you want with the exception of circumventing copyright
protection mechanisms due the DMCA. Prior to the enactment of the DMCA,
you could do anything you wanted with your copy of the work.
Though you may see "no reverse engineering" clauses in many commercial
licenses, they actually are null and void because you have the right to
modify your copy of the work. Of course, most commercial software
forbids redistribution, so you cannot redistribute your modified
version of the work/program, but the only thing stopping you from
modifying a closed source binary application is your own ability.
In the US, and in many countries, you have the right to modify any work
to suit your personal needs. It's the law and no license terms can
remove your right, so it is impossible for an end user to lose freedom.
Though you are right that ordinary people have a responsibility to know
the law and that lawyers are merely paid experts, you have none the
less failed in your responsibility. You have obviously never bothering
to read any of the copyright laws on any nation, or any of the relevant
case law or findings, or any of the international treaties regarding
copyrights.
Of course, you are free to have strong feelings about whatever you like,
and hold opinions based on flawed understanding, but as long as you
insist on remaining uneducated about the laws, you are failing yourself
and failing your supposed "duty" to make things clear. Please stop.
jcr
