[plug] Re: Aussie DMCA is here now!

[The Thought Assassin]

On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, Bret Busby wrote:
> Denis Brown wrote:
> > Presumably it's okay to reverse-engineer a bona fide copy of software, but
> > not a pirated copy?
> then, what of the prospect of reverse-engineering
> illegitimate software, such as a virus, or, malicious hacking program,
> in order to defeat the nasty software?
I think Microsoft would undoubtably try to sue you if you did such to
their software. Getting back to UCITA, there is also a provision for
Microsoft to prevent you even calling their siftware those names.

> Would that be legal? If so, then, is the DMCA stuff valid? If it is not
> legal, then, is all the anti-virus software, such as McAfee,
> Thunderbyte, etc, legal? Or, is that illegitimate hacking, and
> infringements of copyright?
It might be infringement of copyright, but who is going to stand up and
claim the copyright on a virus or malicious hacking program? (barring MS)

-Greg Mildenhall