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Seriously, try to think about this stuff a little bit more.
Yes, there are many freedoms that we may enjoy, as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others. If you don't want something done with your property, you get to make that claim, whether you created it on your lonesome or if you've been able to grow a business around it.
The right to property is very important to us Americans, and the Constitution is structured around that tenant (along with our other inherent rights).
Perhaps you should think about this more...or, better yet, study and learn some things.
Actually U.S. law directly and emphatically permits and supports all efforts in the name of universal compatibility. It is a de facto requirement of a free-market system.
The problem is FAR beyond technology. If you have a part on your car which fails frequently, you can reverse engineer that part and re-engineer a replacement. You can't just COPY, but you CAN create a competing product.
The law ( and precedent ) clearly provides for technical compatibility on all levels without restriction except ( roughly ) as follows:
1. Violation of Copyright
2. Violation of Trademark
3. Violation of Patent
4. Violation of Contract
5. Illegal Possession of Property ( i.e. source code )
Without falling into any of the above violations, one can do as they will in the name of compatibility.
I ( or you ) have every right in the U.S. to reverse engineer ANYTHING and create a competing product, without fear of legal reprisal ( not that lawyers care about the law anymore ).
Not to be condescending, I would not expect ANYONE to know every law pertaining to even a SINGLE matter, and there is every possibility I am unaware of more recent findings or new precedence set which invalidates the written letter of the law. However, the law is written as such, and numerous, fairly recent, cases have been proven to the affirmative of the actual letter of the law, so I feel safe :-)
--The loon







Member since:
2006-05-09
Why? It's the US of A - freedom of the enterprise and so on. It's Apple's legacy on the line here - you can't just nationalize their tech "for the greater good" like some socialist European government
it's un-american!