1003.2 Command Groups (Really UUCP protocol)

[std-unix at ut-sally.UUCP]

It was suggested that someone could read the UNIX source code and then
publish a document on the uucp protocols without violation of copyright.
That would let the rest of the world freely implement uucp-compatible
systems.

It may be true that copyright wouldn't be violated (although in this
scenario you might be walking a thin line), but this would certainly
violate the UNIX source code license agreement.  The license is a contract
between AT&T and the person receiving the source code.  Among other
things, it calls for the protection of the source code as a trade
secret.  As a trade secret, the methods used as well as the actual
code are both protected.  You can reverse engineer by looking at the
behavior of a binary system or by reading the published documents, but
you can't reverse engineer by reading the source code without violating
the license agreement.

/Michael Tilson, HCR Corporation
/{utzoo,...}!hcr!mike

Volume-Number: Volume 9, Number 52