>>In the U.S. the Supreme Court ruled early on that we have the unlimited right to enter into contracts. It is there, under contract, that we agree to things, and are under the force of law to abide by those terms we agreed to.
>
>But those contracts are NOT unlimited: would a contract to sell your firstborn into slavery be deemed binding in current US courts, even if both parties agree to those terms ? Could the balancing payment be forced via courts of law to be collected for such a deal today?
>
>Doubt it a lot

The courts have upheld EULAs are legal and that we do enter into contracts by clicking "I Agree" through them, save certain points within them which do cross the type of lines you're talking about here, but those have generally been ruled on very narrowly, and sometimes even on a single case basis and not on a blanket ruling against the clause.

If I'm wrong about that, I'd be happy to hear it. I would like to decompile the OS/2 kernel as I'm working on writing a free and open source replacement kernel for it. It would make my job a lot easier. But, I will respect the rule of law and not decompile it until it is legal, or until IBM/Microsoft gives me permission to do so.

UPDATE: Here's a reference to the landmark case: http://www.osnews.com/story/23794/US_Court_Upholds_EULAs_Criminalises_Pretty_Much_All_of_Us