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Re: Is it apropos? (was: Re: [Plug] DVD people taking the hackers to court)
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> <QUOTE>
> (a) The reverse engineering (correctly referred to as "hacking" in the
> court papers) occurred in a country in which reverse-engineering is
> protected,
It doesn't matter if we agree with it. An injunction is an injunction.
It doesn't matter if we agree with it, but it does matter that they're
trying to issue an injunction against somebody operating outside of the US.
They can't really do that unless they get an injunction in the other
country.
> Also, if my understanding is correct, they never patented this
encryption;
> instead, it is a trade secret and subject to less stringent
"protection".
> If someone had gone "dumpster diving" and discovered, say, white papers
> outlining the method, or signed an NDA and then leaked the information,
that
> would be a different matter.
The complaint does mention a suspected complicity of a licensee. This
would then meant that the software was based on illegally obtained
information.
The information was obtained legally as in the country it was obtained, the
right to reverse engineer is protected, a protection that superseeds any
licenses to the contrary. Also, a license doesn't apply merely because you
open the box. If the person or people who reverse engineered the software to
strip out the keys never used it, then there would've been no reason for
them to agree to the license. That being said, I've always thought that the
idea of somebody agreeing to a license by clicking on a YES box or using the
software was a bit absurd. For all I know, that's not legally binding (as
well it shouldn't be) in the country it took place.
> That said, I am not a lawyer. I don't even play one on TV.
This is a key point. It is a legal complaint, and their complaint has
demonstrated that the plaintiff is willing to go after people trying to
help spread the software, even off-shore. If PLUG were to be implicated
in helping spread the software when it is under injunction, PLUG, and its
members, would be in danger of legal action. The point here isn't whether
or not it's right. It's a matter of not dragging other people down in a
fit of pique (don't worry, I don't think you've done this).
> Once again:
>
> main()
> {
> insert(foot, open(mouth));
> main();
> }
>
> Seems I've been doing a lot of that lately. :)
Don't sweat it. We all do this peroidically (even me :).
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