This is a shift from long-established treatment of intellectual property in the mass market. To see the history of this issue in copyright law, shepardize Jewelers Mercantile Agency v. Jewelers Pub. Under the first sale doctrine, publisher lost its property interest in an individual copy of a book once it sold that copy. For patent law, look at the doctrine of exhaustion, starting with Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Manufacturing Co. Others vigorously disagree.
Reverse engineering is a normal engineering practice.
Clauses barring reverse engineering have been enforced in negotiated licenses, but not in mass market cases. Some software publishers want to ban reverse engineering in the mass market. This allegation makes nice copy and superficial impact, but is simply untrue. Under the statute s own definition, a nondisclosure clause is a contractual use restriction. These provisions may keep vital information from the marketplace.