Open Source Java Decompiler

[Tony Arnold]

On Wed, 2006-09-27 at 08:42 +0200, Ouattara Oumar Aziz wrote:
> eran ratnayake :
> > Hi all,
> >          Is there any free and open source Java Decompiler available in 
> > current?
> > 
> > eran
> > 
> 
> I am not sure decompilation of programs (even open source ones) is legal 
>    ... Do anyone know something about that ?

Decompilation of open source programs is pointless as you can always get
the source anyway!

Decompilation of non open source stuff may or may not be legal depending
on which country you are in and what you do with the resulting source.
Decompiling and then putting it into a product and claiming it is all
your work would most likely be an infringement of inellectual propert
rights or copyright. Decompiling just to see how it works so you can
make better use of the code might be OK.

Have a look at http://www.jenkins-ip.com/serv/serv_6.htm which is a
pretty thorough article on the whole issue of reverse engineering.

Regards,
Tony.
-- 
Tony Arnold, IT Security Coordinator, University of Manchester,
IT Services Division, Kilburn Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL.
T: +44 (0)161 275 6093, F: +44 (0)870 136 1004, M: +44 (0)773 330 0039
E: tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk, H: http://www.man.ac.uk/Tony.Arnold