Here is a more up to date discussion on the issue:

http://lwn.net/Articles/134642/

which shows it is not as clear cut of an issue.

mike chambers


hank williams wrote:
> I am not familar enough with these projects to know what their issues
> might or might not be. But just to be clear, I believe the issue of
> whether or not protocols can be reverse engineered is settled law.
> 
> http://news.com.com/Judges+OK+garage+door+openers+in+copyright+case/2100-1028_3-5341625.html
> 
> Of course, people can sue over anything, and that is a risk. People
> sue over things about which there is no merit, and that could easily
> include adobe. They have done so in the past.
> 
> In the case linked to above the court of appeals clarifies what should
> be obvious. Copyright law cannot be used to prevent people from
> reverse engineering communication protocols for interoperability. Now
> Adobe could potentially claim that under the EULA, that they restrict
> such reverse engineering. Now I  think it is unlikely that the courts
> will support that position since there are no known cases that support
> that in the context of communications software. Moreover, it is
> entirely possible to reverse engineer a protocol for these products
> without agreeing to a eula. Flash is accessible without even click
> signing a eula because it comes embedded in browsers and computers.
> 
> The bottom line is that the court stands firmly on the side of
> companies who wish to create interoperable products. But, it is always
> possible that Adobe could use the threat of lawsuit, regardless of how
> baseless, to throw cold water on movements that dont have the funding
> to fight.
> 
> Hank
> 
> On 10/25/05, Mike Chambers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
>>Why do you assume they have no issues?
>>
>>mike chambers
>>
>>
>>Thomas Wester wrote:
>>
>>>Thanks for the heads up Aral.
>>>
>>>However I fail to see a clear connection with the MTASC future
>>>discussion. The Red5 or amfphp projects have no issues with
>>>deconstruction the AMF protocol I can't see how deconstructing a f8.5
>>>.swf is any different.
>>>
>>
>>
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> 
> 
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