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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!inferno.mpx.com.au!news.mel.aone.net.au!imci4!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!news.mathworks.com!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!leasion!leasion!not-for-mail From: mark@leasion.demon.co.uk (Mark Evans) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Why to not buy Matrox Millennium Followup-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Date: 30 Mar 1996 11:29:12 GMT Organization: Electronic Services Lines: 21 Message-ID: <4jj5u9$79@leasion.demon.co.uk> References: <4j21ph$crr@slappy.cs.utexas.edu> <4j3muv$34m@cville-srv.wam.umd.edu> <4j3v64$1rq@virtech.aib.com> <4j53m9$lv1@news1.halcyon.com> <4j72or$lcv@sol.towson.edu> <4j8s38$ppc@innocence.interface-business.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: leasion.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: leasion.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950515BETA PL0] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.apps:13751 comp.os.linux.development.system:20144 comp.os.linux.x:27796 comp.os.linux.hardware:34575 comp.os.linux.setup:47556 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:321 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:2820 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:2600 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:16140 J Wunsch (j@ida.interface-business.de) wrote: : brown@midget.towson.edu (Richard Brown) writes: : : > Reverse engineering software licensed from such a developer is no different : > than doing the same for software provided by the hardware manufacturer and : > included in the package. : : Software license agreements are subject to the underlying law of the : countries where the software is sold. As somebody else has been : noting, disassembling the Matrox driver is most likely legal within : the European Community, since it is required for interoperatibility : purposes, and Matrox refuses to be co-operative to solve the problems : without requiring a reverse-engineering. : : ``Shrink-wrapp'' software licenses are (AFAIK) simply junk in Europe. In my experience it is not unknown for such companies to try and insist that their conditions apply even when they know full well that they don't. It's a form of bluff, they don't think that anyone would risk a court case..