Offset for DF 737-400

[mgh 89]

I split some legal hairs, as you call it, to emphasise the point that the law is the law - not what some developers would like us to believe it is. As I pointed out in an earlier post the FS9 EULA accepts that reverse engineering/decompilation is permitted under the applicable law.Wouldyou not agree with the interpretation that if the OP wants to create an independent program to operate with another program then the OP may legally decompile the original program if that's neccessary to obtain the necessary information and the OP complies with the remaing conditions - and, of course, the OP is in the UK/EU?

[WarpD 824]

>I split some legal hairs, as you call it, to emphasise the>point that the law is the law - not what some developers would>like us to believe it is. As I pointed out in an earlier post>the FS9 EULA accepts that reverse engineering/decompilation is>permitted under the applicable law.>>Wouldyou not agree with the interpretation that if the OP>wants to create an independent program to operate with another>program then the OP may legally decompile the original program>if that's neccessary to obtain the necessary information and>the OP complies with the remaing conditions - and, of course,>the OP is in the UK/EU?No, I would not.

[mgh 89]

Why not? Please explain which part of the UK/EU would prevent the OP from doing it.

[WarpD 824]

The UK can not write laws that override another countries laws... no country can. That act alone violates the sovergnty of the countrys. Now... do you truly believe that's something that is both legal and acceptable?If the contract was executed outside the UK... the UK laws can have no jurisdiction.

[mgh 89]

"The UK can not write laws that override another countries laws... no country can." Exactly. But it can write laws applicable to its own jurisdiction that are different to another country's law. I'm sure that that there are many things that are allowed in the UK but not allowed in the US and vice-versa.Under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act it is not an infringment of copyright to decompile a program in the UK provided the conditions are met. It also says that any attempt in an EULA to prevent this is null and void. As a UK citizen I am entitled to take advantage of this law - regardless of what any other law elsewhere may say. If a foreign developer wants copyright protection in the UK then it must accept UK copyright law. If it doesn't, then it has no protection against piracy because its products wouldn't be copyright. It can't pick and chose which bits of the UK copyright law it likes and doesn't like.Though you may not accept this, Microsoft certainly does. In my FS9 EULA as I previously pointed out:"Limitations on Reverse Engineering, Decompilation, and Disassembly. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation." In my case the applicable law is UK law. Surely, if Microsoft's lawyers beleived they could enforce US law world-wide don't you think they'd have omitted the high-lighted phrase?As a matter of interest, can you provide details of the US law that prohibits decompiling under all circumstances?

[WarpD 824]

In the U.S. the EULA is the law... it is a contract. Legal and binding.

[Guest JeanLuc_]

In any case, I'm sure Lou Betti won't bite his hand just for asking if he can do it with the DF737, provided he explains what is the intent.For example, 2 years ago, someone hacked and reverse engineered my Wx500 to create a "bridge" gauge that renders the Wx500 screen to the PMDG 737 EFIS. It perfectly fits acceptable purpose (making a program work with another) and I considered this a good innovation and effort, and I'm fine with it.We still have an advantage of not being large corporations driven by lawyers, and there are so many talented people that it would be a shame, in my opinion, not to favor creative ideas like these.Somehow, isn't this what drives us everyday working in making gauges for FS?

[mgh 89]

"In the U.S. the EULA is the law... it is a contract. Legal and binding."I suggest that is an over simplification. No EULA can override statute law. For example, it can't take away consumers' rights or require them to commit illegal acts. As a result there asre limitation on what an EULA can include. This is why the FS9 EULA has to say "Some states and jurisdictions do not allow limitations on duration of an implied warranty, so the above limitation may not apply to you. " I don't know about the US, but in the UK there is an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that can compel a company to drop unfair ternms from its consumer agreements. As an example, a leading communication company disconnected a consumer by mistake. It then insisted that the consumer must pay a re-connection charge because that was a term if the contract - even though the disconnection was the company's fault. The consumer complained to the OFT which said that even though the term allowed the charge, it was unfair and the company must drop it, else the OFT would see it in court. The company dropped it. This shows that an EULA isn't necessarily the law.Anyway, my main point is that as a UK Citizen in the UK I'm subject to UK law - not US law.

[WarpD 824]

>>Anyway, my main point is that as a UK Citizen in the UK I'm>subject to UK law - not US law.>>Hence the reason we still have wars. ;) Refusal to respect... Ah well... war is good... :(

[Guest JeanLuc_]

So Alberto, after this long conversation, what in the end would you like to do with these offsets?

[WarpD 824]

>So Alberto, after this long conversation, what in the end>would you like to do with these offsets?>That's the big question...

[mgh 89]

Are you suggesting that the rest of the world ought to be subject to US law?

[WarpD 824]

>Are you suggesting that the rest of the world ought to be>subject to US law?I'm suggesting that we all are subject to the agreements we entered into. Are you saying that you should be able to be 'rescued'?

[mgh 89]

If a term in an agreement is null and void under UK statute law then that term simply doesn't apply to a UK Citizen in the UK.

[WarpD 824]

Then you believe you should be rescued. ;)