If reverse engineering is a crime, then you can probably say the same thing about the whole Linux community, and how they are "stealing" Microsoft and Apple's innovations.
This has been a big issue for companies dealing with China, you sell your product their for awhile, until they can reverse it (or even hack your servers for info) and make their own.
In this case, the legality wasn't brought up, just the motivations for one company not sharing with another.