Reverse engineering is generally allowed. Trade secrets don't have a lot of protections. The reverse engineering + reimplementing route has precedent in the US, the Compaq vs IBM BIOS case.
Companies mostly have these rules to guard against copyright and patent lawsuits because there is no presumption of innocence beyond reasonable doubt in these in the US.
Companies mostly have these rules to guard against copyright and patent lawsuits because there is no presumption of innocence beyond reasonable doubt in these in the US.