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Trade Secret Law
In the case of Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp., the United States Supreme Court ruled that trade secret laws could not be eliminated by “discovery by a fair and honest method,” such as reverse engineering.

Again, in Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., the SC ruled in favor of reverse engineering when it declared that “the general public was still free to discover and exploit the trade secret by reverse engineering products in the public domain or by independent creation.”

In states like Texas and California, reverse engineering is legally permitted. However, reverse engineering that violates a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is frowned upon. So, if you are pursuing technology that is subject to contractual restrictions, it is best to seek legal advice before proceeding further.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
The DMCA, which came into effect in 1998, implements two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties from 1996, namely, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Section 103(f)t Act (17 U.S.C. § 1201(f)) allows a person who legally owns a program to reverse engineer it if necessary to achieve 'interoperability'. This provides protection for professionals who wish to reverse engineer products for research purposes only. Otherwise, however, it is illegal to circumvent controls such as authentication handshakes, code signing, code obfuscation, and protocol encryption that prevent access to copyrighted information. Under this law, it is also illegal to manufacture or distribute tools that can help circumvent copyright controls.

Contract Law
Software applications are protected under different types of contract laws based on their domain.

End User License Agreement (EULA) The most common contract in software applications. This is a legal contract between the software developer and the end user, which contains various clauses that the user must accept before using the software. Also known as 'click-through' agreements, EULAs often include "no reverse engineering" clauses that prohibit u Croatia Phone Number Library sers from copying or reverse engineering the product.

Terms of Service (TOS) refers to a legal agreement between a service provider and a person who wants to use that service. It outlines the user rules, restrictions, and prohibited behaviors, as well as the company’s liability limits, property rights, and dispute resolution. ToS are commonly found in web browsers, e-commerce, web search engines, social media, etc., and act as a legally binding contract for accessing the services. Any reverse engineering clause will vary based on the nature of the product.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a mutual agreement between parties not to disclose confidential information that they have kept confidential. They are also known as Confidentiality Agreements (CAs), Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs), Proprietary Information Agreements (PIAs), or Confidentiality Agreements (SAs) and are one of the most common ways to protect trade secrets.

It is a good practice to carefully study the fine print of these contracts before proceeding with the reverse engineering process. An experienced attorney can help identify restrictive clauses in such agreements.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA )