What kind of techniques can I legally use to discover if a pr oduc t really is violating some (L)GPL code ?

[Diamant-Berger, Antoine]

> Copyright law will prohibit you from disclosing disassembly listings
> without permission of the copyright owner. 

Couldn't Fair-Use be invoked, if only small "excerpts" are made? 

If instead of disclosing the "content", I disclose the steps I followed to
get my results, and a summary to what kind of results can be found, could it
be found as in violation of copyright law?

> You should consult your local
> law to check what conditions are placed on reverse engineering; I know
> Dutch law is pretty liberal, but French law may be different.

It seems I'm headed to meet a lawyer next week...

> I do think that a strong argument can be made that EULAs for store-
> bought software are not binding on the consumer under EU consumer
> protection laws. However I am not aware of a legal decision saying so.
> As long as you didn't accept the EULA and _NEVER_ accepted the EULA
> before, you are not bound by it. (The other party may try all unfair
> means to make the conditions stick to you.)

That's exactly why I won't install the program at all.

If I had previously installed an other product from the same publisher, and
the EULA's were valid under the law, would I be legally bound regarding the
new product ?

> One thing that is important is that you do your analysis on a legally
> obtained copy of the software. You'll perform copyright infringement
> yourself if you don't.

If I find things in a "demo" version of the "infringing" program, can my
results be used as a motivation to ask an expert to find out more in the
"complete" application ?

> You would need someone who keeps an eye on changes in the law too...
> What's correct today may be wrong next year.

OK, then next step is paying a lawyer ... Let's take my agenda ...

Thanks again.

Antoine Diamant-Berger