From:	Weiqi Gao <weiqigao AT a DOT crl DOT com>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: Okay, I have to ask this
Date:	Sat, 01 Aug 1998 20:10:46 -0500
Organization:	Spectrum Healthcare Services
Lines:	18
Message-ID:	<35C3BC96.8DBD2960@a.crl.com>
References:	<3 DOT 0 DOT 5 DOT 32 DOT 19980729133233 DOT 007d0800 AT mail DOT geocities DOT com>
NNTP-Posting-Host:	a116009.stl1.as.crl.com
Mime-Version:	1.0
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

John Meyer wrote:
> 
> What is "reverse engineering"?  And why is it illegal?

Reverse engineering traditionally means to disassemble a executable
program (in machine code) to discover how the program works.

Reverse engineering is not illegal in general.  For example, you can
write and compile a program and then reverse engineer it all you want. 
It'll be perfectly legal.

It becomes illegal only when you license a program from another company
and the prohibition of reverse engineering is part of the license
agreement.

--
Weiqi Gao
weiqigao AT a DOT crl DOT com

- Raw text -