Hacker News Reader

If it is decoded in Javascript on the browser (so... source code), can't we figure out how to decode and encode the codec fairly easily?

Or would using the codec still be a copyright violation even if it is reverse engineered?

View on HN

Minified js isn't much easier to reverse engineer than compiled native code.

I've spent most of my life reversing native code, and I've also reversed a good deal of minified JS. The latter is many, many orders of magnitude easier and less time-intensive in every case. Now, with things like Emscripten and Asm.js that will change (since the JS is effectively compiled native code), but it still will be easier due to the fact that, for example, you don't have to worry about code-data separations you have to worry about in most native code.

the whole point is to have an open codec. if you have to reverse it, not only are you breaking the ToS/EULA, but you're much better off just using a natively installed codec.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com