Reverse engineering: Legality and application in different regions of the world.

The question of the legality of reverse engineering is often when and how it is possible and
legal to execute. As a matter of fact, the conditions under which such practice is legal are very
strict. Yet, legal boundaries seem to differentiate regarding different actions like, for example,
decompilation or reverse engineering, or under which legal framework the software upon
which reverse engineering is exercised is protected. Nevertheless, the practice itself is legal and
the specifications are usually very clear, therefore, the exact conditions of legality depend on
which country the practice is executed. In this paper, at a first level we will overview the legal
provisions and frameworks of the European Union and the United States of America, since they
are two of the most important actors in terms of rules and then we will briefly mention the
situation in China and Japan.