Tutorials that show how to reverse engineer software code - The ethics of proprietary software law.
Looking online for an alternative to the expired Windows 7 Media Center and found a tutorial about reverse engineering software.
The fact is, sure, there are ways around code. But it is unethical, immoral, illegal and basically is not sanctioned by those who originally wrote the software. Case in point: windows media center that came with the original Windows 7 operating system on many pcs in the retail environment.
A YouTube search pointed to articles, video tutorials, on ways to hack code for this particular software. I am totally against such actions. It goes against copyright, and beyond that, defeats the purpose of the original creators who actually have legal rights to that code. Reverse engineering is a crime. When you download a program that another user shares online that has expired and is no longer supported, you invite not only the risk of crashing your system, but you are contributing to criminal copyright laws to protect software.
If Microsoft wanted us to have Media Center in Windows 10, they would let us have it for free or at a price, but the fact is, at present, Media Center, that is, the original Windows version, that once was included in the Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Operating System, was intended to be used within and only within those particular OS.
But, when the new upgrade was offered for free to hundreds of thousands of users who had an earlier version of the Windows OS, it became clear to everyone that once the upgrade was complete, Windows Media Center would be, in fact, removed by Microsoft. They have their legal rights to do so. You may think it is a bad deal but it is in fact not. To make it possible to integrate the PC with the other mobile deices on the market, and to utilize the apps feature, and touch screen and all that good stuff, arrangements, deals and agreements with other marketers of software and media sources online, things had to change so that Microsoft 10 would be able to remain in step with modern mobility trends that had already started more than a decade ago with the first mobile or wireless cell phone. They knew that sales for mobile devices would soar to the roof while older PCs running Windows XP and other OS versions of Windows would be on the decline, based on the dramatic surge in the sales of wireless technology.
THEN CAME THE HACKERS
The black hat software writers who know code so well that they can take a line of code in any software and completely reverse engineer some functions and yet fool the operating system in thinking that that warped or altered code was legit. The same thing is going on every single day by those bad guys who like to play with code so they can reek havoc on Joe Public, making the need to buy safeware, like Norton Security, Mcafee and others. On an every day basis, I must, by necessity, download the latest updates for me to protect my computer from hacker's code, known by most of us simply as a computer virus, or malware, which is a simple way of saying, a bad guy wants to destroy my computer just because he or she can!
What does Wikipedia have to say about REVERSE ENGINEERING ?
TUTORIALS THAT PROVIDE INFORMATION TO HACK CODE IS AVAILABLE FROM LINKS ONLINE
This is very disturbing, but we can't turn a blind eye to the problem. We must be careful and not click on such links or watch such videos that are only uploaded by other people with bad intentions. To learn more about this ever constant cyber threat just go to the link below and learn more about BAD CODE .
read about it here from FRONTLINE
Image Credit » https://pixabay.com/en/code-code-editor-coding-computer-1839406/
Comments
MegL wrote on March 9, 2018, 10:01 AM
I think there is a difference between reverse engineering someone's code, so you can create your own program, hijack theirs or steal something from them; and trying to keep a favourite program operating where it was legally operating before. I don't use Windows Media and never have but if you are used to using a particular program and it stops working just because someone upgraded the OS but failed to upgrade all parts of it, I can understand users being annoyed. I had a good scanner with my old PC. It worked on XP. My computer went to the great electronic graveyard and I had to get Windows7 but my scanner would not work with it. Not because of microsoft this time but because the scanner manufacturer refused to upgrade the software. I lost the use of a perfectly good scanner, which was very annoying.
lookatdesktop wrote on March 9, 2018, 10:21 AM
Wow. Sorry you had to throw away an otherwise good scanner. I had to do the same thing with an older printer and scanner and fax machine that were all obsolete with the new operating system. So I bought an HP all-in-one with scanner, fax and printer and wireless function and so far it still works well with my Windows 10 desktop PC.
VinceSummers wrote on March 9, 2018, 3:46 PM
I don't fiddle with code, but if I did, I would happily, and with a clear conscience, reverse engineer it for my own use. I would not sell it to others, however.