The reverse engineering of software, so long as it is consistent with our international treaty obligations, should be allowed in South Africa.<\/p>\n
This is according to the draft Intellectual Property Policy which was published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI<\/a>) in the Government Gazette on Wednesday, 4 September 2013.<\/p>\n The DTI offered a number of recommendations in the document, which it said were made \u201cto enhance access to copyrighted materials and achieve developmental goals for education and knowledge transfer\u201d.<\/p>\n According to the DTI, South Africa must adopt \u201cpro-competitive measures under copyright legislation\u201d. This legislation must provide the adoption and maintenance of broad exemptions for educational, research, and library uses.<\/p>\n Among the provisions that should be made in copyright legislation is allowing software to be adapted to local needs by allowing reverse engineering.<\/p>\n The full text of the recommendation is reproduced below for the sake of accuracy:<\/p>\n South Africa should allow software to be adapted to local needs through copyright legislation that allows reverse engineering of computer software programs consistent with its international treaty obligations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n ANN7 video \u201ccensorship\u201d fight-back<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Are you an online pirate?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n SA ADSL subscribers using torrents being watched<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Paid-for international video streaming illegal in SA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore copyright and IP news<\/h3>\n