everybody is stupid (Score 1)

I don't think very many people involved in this whole discussion understand what's really happening, myself included. Could somebody clear a couple of things up for me?

1. What's all this talk in the article about DeCSS being used to copy DVDs over the internet? I thought the CSS prevented you from copying from DVD to VHS.

2. From the article:
"The First Amendment also protects a process called reverse-engineering, which was used to create DeCSS. Reverse engineers take things apart in order to learn how to put them back together in a better form.
In other words, to build a better mousetrap. The right to take things apart--whether breakfast cereals or pharmaceutical compounds--is a time-honored tenet in American law, held to encourage innovation."

Is that true? Is reverse engineering part of the First Amendment?? Isn't it covered under patent law? Aren't we talking about copyright law? And isn't reverse engineering only protected for purposes of interoperability?

Any enlightenment much appreciated!
Cheers,
Jamie