Computer engineers and programmers have long relied on reverse engineering as a way to copy the functionality of a computer program without copying that program’s copyright-protected code directly.

Open source makes the technology world go ’round, forming as much as 90% of the modern software stack via frameworks; libraries; databases; operating systems; and countless stand-alone applications.

Arguments about what is and isn’t “open source” are often resolved by deferring to the Open Source Initiative (OSI): If a piece of software is available under a license rubber stamped as “open source” ...