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In Norway, we have an un-waverable right by law to reverse engineer computer systems for learning purposes. They are described in Åndsverkloven §§ 39h and 39i.
by lstor 12y ago
In Norway, we have an un-waverable right by law to reverse engineer computer systems for learning purposes.
They are described in Åndsverkloven §§ 39h and 39i.
Roughly translated excerpts:
§ 39h Whoever has the right to use a computer program, can copy, change and work on the program to the extent necessary in order to utilize the program in accordance with its purpose, including in order to correct errors in the program.
Whoever has the right to use a copy of a computer program can, during such reading, screen display, running, transfer or storage of the program that the user has the right to do, monitor, examine or probe the working of the program in order to determine the ideas and principles on which the individual parts of the program is based. [This right is un-waverable]
§ 39i You are allowed to produce a copy of a computer program's code and translate the form of the code, when this is a prerequisite in order to produce the information necessary to achieve functional interaction between a self-developed program and other programs, if
a) the actions are performed by a person who has the right to use a copy of a computer program, or acting on behalf of someone who do,
b) the information is not already easily accessible, and
c) the actions are limited to the parts of the original program necessary to achieve functional interaction.
[A few limitations on utilization of the information]
These rights are un-waverable.
- gpvos 12y agoNice. The only problem I can see with this (I'm not a lawyer) is that I hope 39i.c is interpreted broadly - e.g., some tools disassemble an entire executable when you only need to look at a part.
- lstor 12y agoI don't know for sure, but anything else would surprise me, really.
- userbinator 12y agoIt seems countries in Northern Europe have some of the most liberal laws on RE - I wonder if the fact that the demoscene (which originated from software cracking culture) being quite established in that area is related in any way, or the fact that a lot of security researchers, who by necessity have to RE, are also from around that area.
- drdaeman 12y ago> for learning purposes > A few limitations on utilization of the information I don't know how it is in Norway, but I see those clauses as problematic. There is not much point in reverse engineering a piece of software if you can't use the results freely, including implementation of directly "competing" software. That is, most of RE is just figuring out the data formats and protocols. And I fear that in too many jurisdictions one who had analyzed those can't also be the person who can legally write an alternate implementation, and a "clean-room engineering" is required.
- lstor 12y agoAs far as I know there is no legal precedence (and I'm not a lawyer), but I think that figuring out data formats and protocols counts as "ideas and principles" -- which is okay. It's hard to say, really, courts aren't famous for showing any understanding of computer science. There is the DeCSS-case, which led to acquittal in Norwegian courts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS
- rertrree 12y agoThis reads like disassembly of programs is legal. What about publishing that information?