Windows source leaked?

[Major Variola (ret)]

[sent to al-q; does cypherpunks-moderated at minder.net forward there?]

At 06:25 PM 2/12/04 -0500, Riad S. Wahby wrote:
>Among others, /. is reporting that Win2k and WinNT source code may
>have leaked.

The horror, the horror.

>Lots has been said about OSS developers not wanting to look at this
>for fear that they will be "tainted."  While it is true that simply
>the act of looking at the code is unauthorized and illegal,

If you didn't steal it, its not your problem if you read it.

I wonder
>if there is any truth to the claim that a developer who looked at
>Windows source would endanger future projects (assuming, of course,
>that simple copying---which is clearly illegal---doesn't happen).

How would M$ show that you had in fact read the code?
And if you didn't copy it, why would a court care?