Re: [Gimp-print-devel] Wow!

[Robert L K. <rl...@al...>]

   From: sh...@al...
   Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 01:30:03 +0900

   > I want to be very careful about information obtained from
   > questionable sources, particularly this kind of very specific
   > info.  I don't have a problem with people using information
   > reverse engineered out of print files.  For example, if you print
   > a uniform color patch from Windows, and then disassemble the
   > generated output to determine how much of each color was used,
   > that's fine by me.

   What's fine by you is largely irrelevant, however.  What matters is
   what's fine by Epson (which determines if a suit gets filed) and
   what's fine by the courts (which decide who wins the suit).

That's quite true.  I should think that unless they claim copyright
over the output files, or that someone is not allowed to give someone
else an output file, that it would be a bit harder for them to go
after someone for disassembling the output file.

   I downloaded their current W95 driver a few days ago, and I read
   the click license before downloading it.  It specifically states
   that reverse engineering is not allowed.  Although I did download
   it, I have not installed it, specifically because of this very
   problem.

I don't want to touch the Epson drivers for exactly this reason.  I
haven't downloaded it or looked at any license.

   > Likewise, the spectrometer idea.  If someone under NDA (who you
   > had good reason to believe was under NDA) told you something that
   > you had good reason to believe was under NDA (e. g. he or she
   > told you), then stay away from it.

   Why?  If someone is under NDA and tells someone else who is not
   under NDA, then those people under NDA are not liable for anything.
   It's the same issue as was raised in the DVD case when the MPAA
   tried to claim CSS was a trade secret.  They could get the guy who
   cracked it, but, once it was given to "an innocent" it was no
   longer protected.  The MPAA quickly changed their position, saying
   that the code would promote further copyright violations.  I can't
   see how Epson could claim that about the ink colors.

The MPAA still seems to be trying to claim trade secret violation,
last I checked.

-- 
Robert Krawitz <rl...@al...>      http://www.tiac.net/users/rlk/

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lp...@uu...

"Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works."
--Eric Crampton