[Benjamin_Dobell]

DanBC's comment contains useful information. The EU issued a Copyright Directive, thus all member states were told to implement compatible laws.

As pertains to Latvia specifically (I apologise if my Github <-> HN username assumption is inaccurate), then the relevant laws are implemented under "Copyright Law, Chapter XI, Section 68".

We also still have laws in Australia that permit reverse engineering for the purpose of interoperability. This is what I meant above where I wrote:

> To clarify, none of the reverse engineering stuff is the issue.

The problem is these laws are superseded when circumvention of technological measures pertaining to copy protection is involved.

[PeterisP]

True, I had missed the Information Society Directive which adds the restrictions on circumventing effective technological measures. The big problem is in the interaction between these parts of copyright law and the other parts which limit the copyrights; so even if you have the right to do something yourself, then the distribution of these "circumvention measures" is prohibited by this. Sad.