Re: Tube Troubles

In article <C4D23CC5.CD7B4%jono_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jon Yaeger <jono_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

in article byrnsj-465340.13555420082008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, John
Byrns at byrnsj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 8/20/08 2:55 PM:

In article <C4D1D975.CD790%jono_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jon Yaeger <jono_1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

in article byrnsj-3EE011.13132420082008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, John
Byrns at byrnsj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 8/20/08 2:13 PM:

In article
<20e8c68f-07c0-4b68-a29f-58a89e7f4b74@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Peter Wieck <pfjw@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Aug 19, 6:15 pm, Bob Perilstein <Bob.Perilstein.
2f13...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mr. Turner,
You mentioned well back into your boorish diatribe that you too
purchased a "Hong Kong" labeled amp 1 or 2 years ago. I believe that
makes you a complete hippocrite.

--
Bob Perilstein

Bob:

Patrick can derive all of the items he mentioned based on many
thousands of hours of hands-on experience. For him, purchasing the
'competition' is a useful exercise in learning. Much as Ford, Mercedes
or Fiat purchase vehicles from their competition for reverse-
engineering and learning purposes.

Is reverse engineering of this sort legal? Many years ago, before the
creation
of this group, this subject came up in the rec.audio.tech group where the
statement was made that reverse engineering was illegal because it
violates
the
manufacturers copyright on the design. Anyone have any thoughts on this
issue?


AFAIK, you are free to disassemble and document anything you buy unless
there is a ULA or other contractual document specifically enjoining you
from
doing so.

Yes, I understand that restriction.

However, publishing or sharing the information thus gleaned would likely
be
an actionable tort and a possible basis for a civil contest.

This is the part that I don't understand, how documentation you create on a
reverse engineered design can violate any copyright on the original design
documents, they would seem to be different works?

*** I am sure there is sufficient precedent law for this case; I'm not an
attorney and my grasp of intellectual property law revolves mostly around
software licensing.

Neither am I an attorney, but I have the distinct impression that the
intellectual property law surrounding software copyrights is different than that
related to hardware documentation derived from reverse engineering. I assume
these differences result from the fact that reverse engineering software yields
essentially the original copyrighted software source code, while reverse
engineering hardware simply results in documentation likely to be different in
expression than the original manufacturers documentation, hence I don't see the
problem in disseminating the documentation resulting from reverse engineering
hardware, but then as I said I am not an attorney.

Remember, any party can bring suit against another for
a perceived breach and away they go . . .

Yes, there is that, I did remember it but decided not to confuse the issue by
mentioning it.

--
Regards,

John Byrns

Surf my web pages at, http://fmamradios.com/
.

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