The legal status of reverse engineering of computer software

Reverse engineering of computer software has assumed greater importance in recent years because of the need to examine legacy code to remove the year 2000 bug. There are different types of reverse engineering based on the lev el of abstraction of the code to be reengineered; machine code, assembly co de, source code or even CASE code. We describe the different types of rever se engineering and the extent of copyright protection for software. The mos t common uses of reverse engineering are described. This provides for a com parative overview of the legal standing on reverse engineering at the inter national level. We propose challenges to the global electronic community in relation to existing and future legislation in the area of reverse enginee ring and protection of digital works.