Interesting Microsoft license clause re open source

[David Johnson]

On Thursday 28 June 2001 04:17 pm, Lawrence E. Rosen wrote:

> > What happens if I read the MS EULA and disagree with it? How can I be
> > prevented from making archival copies and reverse engineering it?
>
> The standard argument MS will make is that if you have actually read the
> agreement and disagree with it, don't use their software. 

The law already grants me the right to use the software. If I have disagreed 
with the EULA, then I am not bound by it, so I do not have any rights granted 
to me by that document. But I still have the right to use the program. I 
can't copy it, modify it, redistribute it, etc. But I can certainly use it.

In order for Microsoft to prevent me from running Windows XP, they must 
demonstrate that I have agreed with the EULA. But if I have agreed with the 
EULA then I have the permission to run the program. They can't stop me!

> I don't know what "users rights" have been "granted by copyright law."
> The right to reverse engineer isn't one of them. 

The big question is whether reverse engineering is a right exclusive to 
the author under copyright law. 

And the medium sized question is, if reverse engineering is indeed protected 
under copyright law, and no open source license explicitely grants permission 
to reverse engineer, would I be in violation of the GPL if I used gdb on gcc?

-- 
David Johnson
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