The vulnerability of technical secrets to reverse engineering : implications for company policy

In this thesis I will explore the controversial topic of reverse engineering, illustrating with case examples drawn from the data storage industry. I will explore intellectual property rights issues including, users' fair-use provisions that permit reverse engineering. I will also explore the nature of the practice via several types of analyses including: the costs and benefits of reverse engineering; the practical limitations of reverse engineering; and a layered approach to reverse engineering as it applies to complex systems. I will conclude with a discussion of innovation and its relationship to reverse engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

System Design and Management Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Kodak, Cenkhan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Eric von Hippel.

• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43117

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/43117