Gates on Digital Restrictions Technologies 465
doormat writes "According to this article, Gates says you can choose not to use the new secure PC technology that they're developing. Is that going to be a choice like being a vegetarian, or like choosing not to eat at all?" There's also a short piece about DRM and Linux, which is a follow-up to Linus on DRM.
If you opt out (Score:5, Insightful)
How will I know for sure I am out?
Re:If you opt out (Score:5, Funny)
Your probably closer to the truth.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sean D.
Re:If you opt out (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll tell you this much: I don't trust Microsoft and Intel not to completely screw up the system in one way or another. They've both turned out some seriously buggy stuff over the years. Remember the floating point bug? Remember the latest Microsoft vulnerability? Remember the Intel chip-ID brouhaha? I don't trust either company. And, AMD is playing along too, so where are we going to turn?
I'm telling you guys -- stock up on fast systems now, while you can. Get all your computer purchasing out of the way this year, and skip the whole DRM thing entirely. If you're *really* forced to, you can always buy a cheapo, 500.00 box/appliance down the road (just for DRM purposes) and code on your *good* pre-Palladium machines.
Re:If you opt out (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If you opt out (Score:4, Funny)
ideally, while performing this operation, you'd pretend you're Arnold in Total Recall pulling that tracing device out of his nose. :)
Re:If you opt out (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If you opt out (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If you opt out (Score:4, Funny)
And thank you, Mr. Grove. Trying to get your volumes up this quarter?
Re:If you opt out (Score:4, Interesting)
> stock up on fast systems now, while you can.
> Get all your computer purchasing out of the way this year,
> and skip the whole DRM thing entirely.
Here's where I think the dividing line is on Wintel.
I'd be grateful for corrections.
Disk drives - CPRM
- No CPRM-mandatory products in wide distribution.
BIOS - TCPA
- no data. Anyone know which ones have TCPA support
already built in?
Processor - La Grande
- current P4 dice don't have La Grande, CPU IDs can be disabled.
- Prescott-design processors due "in the third quarter
of 2003" will have La Grande
Chipset -
The hot intel "Canterwood" chipset seems to work well
with non-La Grande processors. Will its successor?
OS - Palladium, EULAs, etc.
- Windows 9x is not an operating system.
No actual security of any kind is really possible.
- Windows 2000 is a real OS, albeit kinda klunky.
but it doesn't have the hooks to make DRM mandatory.
Up to SP2 the EULAs were acceptable - then the EULA for SP3
had that scary clause about agreeing that MS could download and
install updates without your knowledge or further consent,
(now it looks like that was just CYA for the "auto update"
feature, which can be turned off). But I think that you can
run Windows 2000 at SP 2 or 3 and be in the clear, especially
if you don't rush into any further service packs or updates
without careful scrutiny. Withdrawn from market, but still
available e.g. on ebay.
- Windows XP is the same OS as Windows 2000, with a whole
lot of minor annoyances fixed. Big improvement in backward
compatibility with Windows 9x: it's a far better gaming platform.
But it was designed to be the carrot that lured people onto
Passport and MyWallet, and to support Windows Media DRM.
May already be some Palladium or precursor under the hood.
Currently being shipped on all new OEM boxen.
- Longhorn, or whatever the next generation is codenamed:
it will be possible for someone to configure it to make Palladium
mandatory. Will the owner of the HW be allowed to configure it?
- You don't own any data; you pay
a monthly fee for access to certain data, some of which you
may have created. If you quit paying, you lose acceess, and
the data might go away.
Windows Media Player
Trojan Horse. Introduces DRM, and each update locks it down tighter,
gives the user less control. EULAs and built-in DRM already
onerous and unacceptable in 7.1. People who download and install
the current WMP 9 are drinking the kool-aid.
Real Player, Quicktime, etc.
I have no knowledge. Anyone?
So, I conclude that if I wish to continue with Wintel
and still have control of my data, I *must* buy a new box
with a fast P4 on a Canterwood chipset, and I must do
it this summer while I still can.
Re:If you opt out (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, since 99% of Windows systems get fitted with a r00t kit at the first possible oportunity, Microsoft have decided to fit their own by default for your convenience
I'm betting on the fact that Sun, IBM or _someone_ (maybe the Chineese) will carry on making TCPA-free hardware for a while at least, which should give OSS types somewhere to go when all the rest hav
Re:If you opt out (Score:5, Interesting)
Heck. How many Joe Users know right now if their Unique Chip Identifier is turned on in bios? (ala Pentium III UID technology).
I tend to not like this optional feature. It will take one hour for someone to release a worm that turns it on without knowledge, turns it off without knowledge, or reports all sort of fun info without Joe User's knowledge.
Re:If you opt out (Score:3, Insightful)
No OS related restrictions, no serial numbers, no phoning up for activation, no being treated like a criminal.
Ok, so you can run windows on it unless you install an emulator, but i think that's something of an advantage.
Rephrased (Score:4, Insightful)
It is going to be a choice like eating cheese at midnight on Tuesday.
The technology (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The technology (Score:4, Insightful)
The technology is going to be like cars. You don't need one but not having one is a restriction in itself.
Really? I mean, I personally think of automobiles as a huge technological breakthrough, the culmination of a lot of extremely signigicant technologies. It is one of the things that most impacted the 20th century. Do you REALLY think DRM is like that???
Get a grip, people. If you wanna use windows, keep using windows2000 or xp, then you'll be safe in your drm-free world. And then when this MS bumble fails like so many other MS things have, everyone will see it for what it is. Is passport used the way MS said it would be? No. I could go on, but you're all too busy running for fear that the sky is falling.
TIP: The world is revolving around the US less and less every day. There will be more than plenty of places you can get things from that do what you want to do, even if all of windows gets drm-locked-down. They're a whole world out there - check it out.
Re:The technology (Score:2, Informative)
I want to buy a new laptop and put Windows on it. I currently have a laptop, and that came with Windows 98, but it's impossible to find a laptop that I can install that on, because it came as an image restoration CD. I have an original Windows 95 CD, but then I couldn't use the USB ports. So, my only option is to get a Windows XP laptop. In 5 years time, the story will be the same, but with different version
Alternatives (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The technology (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The technology (Score:5, Insightful)
Way to miss the point. He didn't say he thought that any more than he said he thought that DRM had wheels on the bottom.
You are also free to carry on using Windows 95 today... oh, but it's been EOLed, so no more security patches - hope you don't need to access an untrusted network, like, say, the Internet.
TIP: It's not just in the USA that Microsoft has a monopoly in computers.
Re:The technology (Score:4, Interesting)
>other MS things have, everyone will see it for
>what it is. Is passport used the way MS said it
>would be? No.
That doesn't always happen. Microsoft is inserting more and more "creeping featuritis" into Windows. Do you really want to trust MS's assertions that they won't use it? Remember Amazon's privacy policy changes? (Today: Give us your personal information; we PROMISE not to sell it to spammers. Tomorrow: We changed our minds, and we're sure you'll love these eight trillion emails from bukkake.com.)
Let's say we all roll over and accept DRM as a harmless, unusued feature. Who's to say that buried in some EULA for Windows 2006 XP won't be a clause that using Windows Update authorizes MS to turn on DRM? With the flip of a switch (well, the toggle of a BOOL), MS becomes Hollywood's bestest pal.
I don't want to let MS embed a bomb in my system. Thanks, no.
>TIP: The world is revolving around the US less
>and less every day.
TIP: Network effects are powerful forces. Sure, we can switch, if we don't ever want to access our old Word documents or run 90% of the software that's commercially available.
David Stein, Esq.
Re:The technology (Score:2)
No, Passport hasn't caught on the way Microsoft (which should now be called Macrosoft) wanted it to. So now it's building a hardware dongle to enforce Pa
Re:The technology (Score:3, Funny)
Yes automobiles are dissimilar to DRM. That's why an analogy can be made between the parts that are in fact similar.
Re:The technology (Score:3, Insightful)
2003 Server includes DirectX 6 but WMP9, BTW. This is hilarious, since sound and graphics acceleration are off by default, and if you *DO* play a media file or a CD with media player, all the visualizations are on and completely handled by your CPU.
Anyway, through the linkages that have a tendency to happen with Microsoft programs, probably 20 minutes aft
MS Rackettering similar to Auto Co. racketering (Score:5, Interesting)
I would love to sell computers with 2000 on them and not XP or whatever the next boatware is gonig to be - but I can't since M$ no longer sells licenses to old OS's. Sure, individuals can buy old licenses 2nd hand and install themselves, but that's an extremely small percentage of people. 95% of people buy their machine with a pre-installed OS, and that is going to be the latest M$ bloatware because you can't run a PC business scavanging old licenses here and there. You have to have a reliable supply of licenses.
As a seller I'm forced to put whatever the latest Winbloze is on the machines I sell. Actually, forcing people to buy something they don't want or need is illegal. It's called racketeering and it's what the auto companies got smacked down on for in the 60's/70's. They were required to publish the specs for any car they no longer sell/service. M$ should be forced to publish the source for old OS's it no longer supports. M$ also shouldn't be allowed to prevent the use of such old OS's. To do so and force people to buy a newer version is racketeering.
Re:The technology (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd say the same thing, but for the adoption rate of the XBox. Microsoft is already a household consumer electronics name, and people trust names that they know. It may not reach 80-90% market penetration right out of the gate, but give it 5 years and a few billion in advertising and it might just get there.
--Jeremy
Re:The technology (Score:2, Insightful)
> don't need one but not having one is a
> restriction in itself.
>
Saying that is like saying your choice is to use a computer or not to use a computer. I think it would closer to say that it would be more like Gas to a car then having a car or not having a car.
Keeping on the Car angle, You can own a car, you can tweek it out all nice and good, put on a "new this" and a "high performance that" but without the Gas your car isn't going to do that much
I'm sorry, I'm offtopic... (Score:5, Funny)
Digital Rights Management
Digital Restrictions Masochism
Same diff really.
Oh, and as an opinion, he expects us not to eat.
Another (Score:3, Funny)
He wants us to pick between Krusty's deadly Rib-wich made of animal-like products and starvation.
Sure...we can use pencils (Score:5, Interesting)
Fine for a lot of people here, but what will happen is businesses will still want windows and office, so they'll buy into this, and hardware makers will look at the other stuff as a non-profitable niche market.
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:5, Insightful)
I think a big problem with this is the companies are trying to use hardware restrictions on a primarily social problem. It's not the big companies that are providing their movies and music on a digital format that is being distributed. It's regular people who are taking camcorders into theatres and recording the movie, then downloading it onto their computer and sharing it. How can a hardware restriction effect a user created file if the user doesn't apply rights to it? You would have to disable all file mobility.
Trying to lock down the movie and sound formats won't work either because people will either (a) use older formats or (b) create their own players to be shared with the movies and music.
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:4, Interesting)
I think the big question is why would consumers choose to buy DRM-crippled Windows versus non DRM-crippled Windows? Who, exactly, would want to buy hardware or an OS that gives them less control over their machine than they have now? And if people don't buy into Microsoft's scheme in sufficient numbers, the non-crippled version of Windows and hardware will quickly fade away - unless Microsoft wants to cut their own throats, which seems unlikely.
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:2)
Your point is proven. (Score:3, Interesting)
One word: iTunes.
Right now people are downloading songs at a clip of a million a week. And these are Mac users with MacOS X only. When this makes its way onto Windozers...look out!
Steve has proven that if people are given a value-added service at a reasonable price, without the spyware and security hazards that P2P seems to be ridden with, they will choose t
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:2, Interesting)
Surely even the most PH of PHBs have realised by now that this isn't always (and hardly ever these days it seems) the best business solution?
And from the article:
Secure documents created in Microsoft Office, for instance, could be unusable on other operating systems or with other office productivity suites.
How convenient. But yet, at the same time, how is this, say, any mo
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:2)
Technology is a tool which should serve those that buy it not those that have sold it. If I buy a hammer I want to use it any damn way I please, it should be no different with a frigg
Re:Sure...we can use pencils (Score:5, Interesting)
Windows isn't great - it's just popular (think Brittany Spears). When you are that popular, you don't have to care. Listen to our friend Bill, after saying that some Office documents might not work with other programs: In the interview, Gates said it's up to other companies to ensure interoperability. So if enough people buy into this crap, and I have to share files with them, I'll have to cave in, buy into MS
Oh, come on! (Score:3, Interesting)
Like... Mac OS X
Like... Linux
Yes, it sucks if the majority platform becomes stupid, but there are still workable alternatives.
Of course, if Microsoft decides to drop Office support for Mac, then we've got another problem
Or maybe Apple will see this as the opportunity to finally release OS X86... I'm joking!
Re:Oh, come on! (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps this would cause the apple stuff to be less pricey for us people moving in droves to PPC Linux.
Perhaps Apple would talk with Intel or AMD, who I'm guessing are not in MS's world domination plans, and like you said, migrate to X86, which would probably help keep the plat
Re:Oh, come on! (Score:3, Insightful)
Again, let me repeat another solution to their very weak DRM:
The CD-R you just burned is not a waste either...you can p
In *exactly* the same way.. (Score:4, Interesting)
What's with all the hardware anyway? Can't Gates begin with introducing mandatory access controls, for instance? Or is Microsoft software inherently flawed, unlike various Security Enhanced/Trusted Operating Systems on offer from competitors?
Classic multi-vendor finger pointing... (Score:5, Interesting)
Normally I'm not as hard on MS as most of the /. crowd, but gotta give a "boo... hiss..." on this one.
Re:Classic multi-vendor finger pointing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Look at Windows in today's market. You can either use Windows and WinApps, or be a marginalized user, even in those areas where lockout isn't intentional. It just happens, due to market forces being prone to go with the mainstream because that's where the money is.
And what happens when ISPs start requiring that you use a "secure" OS to access their servers??
I generally prefer Windows as my OS, but all too often I'd like to drown M$ in some of their own ideas -- and this is one of 'em. Bah, humbug.
Strong-arming (Score:5, Funny)
The technology has raised eyebrows not only for the absolute control it would grant such creators of digital content as music and movie companies but also because it is being driven by Microsoft, which has a reputation for strong-arming the computer industry.
And the next nominee for "Understatement of the Year" is... Matthew Fordahl, of the Associated Press!
Sounds like starving to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
"They just don't understand," Gates said. "That's like saying because we make a word processor, that reporters write what we want them to write or something. I can give you examples to prove that's not the case." (About antitrust fears with DRM)
Wow. He sure allayed my fears. What he meant to say is, no, they don't have to write what he wants, but they do have to write in the FORMAT he wants, or get left behind. This whole DRM off-switch issue is the same quandary. Turn DRM off and watch your access to many online resources, that are becoming more and more integrated with daily life, vanish. Not to mention the suspicion that very well may come with shunning DRM. "What do you have to hide?", say Mr. Poindexter and Mr. Ashcroft.
Re:Sounds like starving to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
"You may not use the software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services, infringe any intellectual property or other rights of these parties, violate any state federal or international law, or promote racism, hatred, or pornography."
?
For more info try this article [infoworld.com]
Re:Sounds like starving to me... (Score:3, Informative)
Passport? Never signed up, almost every site that uses Passport also has another login method except Starbucks....so I'll buy from Peet's
Windows Media? Realplayer, MPEG, Quicktime are some other options you may recall...
On my Mac, with Safari I have no problem using the Internet or other "Web Features" like XML, RSS, or other technologies. On my WinXP PC I use Firebird and have zero problems as well.
Re:Sounds like starving to me... (Score:2)
Sounds probable to me. Look at the Apple Music store. It has limited DRM by today's standards, but you still stand to lose all your music if you really f*ck up.
This DRM debate, by and large, isn't about the present stat
Terrorist tool? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe it's just me, but I would think that such a system would also enable terrorists to send "sensitive files" to each other, with the full confidence that law enforcement could not read them.
Consider the above statement reworded a little:
Creators of top-secret documents, terrorist plans or other sensitive material could assign rights to sensitive files, allowing them to be viewed only on trusted computers running the system. Anyone else -- FBI hackers, law enforcement and malicious programs included -- would be locked out.You mean....????!!!! (Score:2)
Where do I sign up? I'm no terrorist, but daaayyymmmn! With the way laws are changing, I'd love to be able to lock them out of my computer with the full confidence of the law. Without moving offshore of course.
Complete nonsense! (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, wait, you didn't read any of this. It never happened. Go back to sleep.
Re:Terrorist tool? (Score:4, Insightful)
FBI perhaps but Microsoft or the NSA is still locked in. I highly doubt that MS can design such a secure system without beeing forced to provide the master keys (eg like Crypto AG did years ago) to some evil agencies. Either they give or the drown. Same with XBox-Live where IMHO MS had to unscramble the VoIP stream (game data stream is still encrypted).
Re:Terrorist tool? (Score:2)
Oh look, the encription key is "I love being sodomized by Big Bad Billy
You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
And we're supposed to believe someone who has a pretty good grip on the OS situation, and would do anything to keep that grip? Personally, I would rather have the chance of being hacked but also have the ability to do anything I want on my computer. I don't want a company telling me what I can and cannot do with my own computer. If we allow them to do this, who knows how much farther these guys will go?
is it just me ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Its amazing how the quote from Benjamin dude works so well here.
Those who are willing to trade freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security
Seems like there always was , will be people trying to take away freedom under the pretext of security - even in computing !
Re:is it just me ? (Score:2)
This quote works amazingly here. Your average-joe computer user has no idea what DRM can and could do. Bill Gates' flaunting of it as a means of security can be used as a veil to eventually control the entire computer, and market.
Yeah yeah... (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you Microsoft. No need for comments here.
It's usage that matters (Score:4, Insightful)
What matters is whether it is used A) to protect specific things whose owners feel they need protecting or B) to just generally exclude software and data transfer that doesn't have corporate approval.
I must say, it looks to me as if the influence of Microsoft may well be somewhat lower by the time this technology (or similar) is released than it is now. So it'll be no so much 'Microsoft technology' as 'global corporate culture' that determines the level of restriction we eventually experience.
You can choose ... (Score:3, Funny)
Then you've got a really big ugly paperweight, but again, this is your choice.
Choice is a good thing.
Re:You can choose ... (Score:2)
what happened to 'end-to-end' ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:what happened to 'end-to-end' ? (Score:2)
The internet was built from whole cloth to allow communication. Applications were built for the 'net, not the other way around.
. for example, suppose i'm building software for a PDA - is it wrong to import address/contact info from outlook express? with palladium, i'm sure only 'trusted' applications will be allowed to do that (i.e. the company that paid MS for access). no doubt this will allow MS to control the pace of innovation and guide its development....
You're right, it would. And do
The Arrogance (Score:2, Interesting)
Thank you! (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you Bill Gates my master borg!
Can I choose not to use Windows(tm) too ?
Re:Thank you! (Score:3, Funny)
Resistance is futile.
No (Score:2)
Now get back to your assignment, 106 of 257 Unimatrix Adjunct.
Bill will sway the public (Score:5, Funny)
However, I can predict that M$ will make a valiant effort to try to persuade the public into thinking that not being part of their Next Generation Secure Computing Base will put them at some kind of immediate risk. The only real risk I can think of here will be the credit given to you if you choose not to run a trusted operating system.
"Hello, I'd like support for M$ Cock-In-Yo-Ass V6 please"
"Are you using NGSCB?"
"No"
"We need you to be running a trusted operating system so that we can remotely assist you, sir."
*Dial tone*
This movement won't be a good thing.
Opting out. (Score:3, Funny)
With MS' monopoly on the world, opting out might very well turn one into a modern day TechnoAmish(tm).
Security! Security! Security! (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't have a big problem with Windows being insecure, because data can be backed up and restored painlessly, but if their brand of "security" extends to my hardware then I may have to be forced to constantly replace hard drives that spin at 40,000 RPM because of "security" flaws befor a patch can be released.
The whole Palladium/DRM issue is about trust. They don't have it for me and I don't have it for them.
Re:Security! Security! Security! (Score:3, Informative)
If that were only true. It's not about trust. It's about control. It's about Bill thinking he has the right to tell what you can and can not do with your computer.
The important thing to remember about Bill Gates is that he is a comlete control freak. He feels compelled to control everything he can. He is acting out the nerd's revenge against the world that shunned him as a teen.
vegitarian? (Score:2, Insightful)
Shouldn't it say, be a meat eater, or choose not to eat? I mean, a meat eater can eat everything a vegitarian can eat, but a vegitarian cannot eat everything a meat eater can eat.
Re:vegitarian? (Score:2)
Re:vegitarian? (Score:3, Insightful)
You get the choice to eat only non animal products. Quit bitching you don't have choices.
I choose to live as a Christian. I don't whine when I tithe. I don't whine when I choose not to do something morally wrong. I don't whine when I go to church on Sunday.
You see, I made a choice (theological arguements aside) to be a Christian, I accept the consequences and do not tell the world to change for me or give me more choices.
[/offtopic]
[ontopic]
Now to return to on topic. I choose to only use w
Shakes head in frustration (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Shakes head in frustration (Score:3, Funny)
Is DRM security? (Score:2, Interesting)
It's funny how Microsoft is quick to claim that the ultimate burden of security does not lie with them, and accepts no responsibility for the flaws in their code. They then turn around and push DRM like there is no tommorow. It's obvious that this is a power grab.
Pre-ban Computers (Score:3, Interesting)
learn to crawl before you walk (Score:2, Insightful)
Haven't they learned that one size doesn't fit all, yet?
Requires new hardware and software (Score:2)
So in order to use this people will need to buy new computers, applications, and possibly new displays.
Wintel branded, of course.
Be careful what you wish for (Score:3, Insightful)
I think this mistrust has provided the platform for Micrsoft(et al) and Digital media producers to leap on common fears and drive for acceptance of this new and excessive paradigm. So instead of being able to use our computers in a secure environment the security environment will tell us what we can do with our computers.
Re:Be careful what you wish for (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no such thing as guaranteed security.
The end game... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why is Gates the bad guy in all this? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Why is Gates the bad guy in all this? (Score:4, Insightful)
I can see it now (Score:2)
"Sorry Kip, I can't let you do that. You are trying to access files on an unsecure OS."
Hardware (Score:4, Interesting)
Wasn't the main argument by Microsoft that security would have to be implemented at the hardware level to be truely secure? The only reason this is such a big deal is because his plan is to more tightly integrate his software with hardware for security purposes. If so much of this could be implemented as only software, doesn't that already prove the point that this isn't a necessary technology (at least not the way they are portraying it)? I personally don't believe this tight coupling of secure software with secure hardware will be the panacea Bill's talking about, but this demo helps prove this hardware push is more about integration and control than security.
Oh the irony... (Score:2, Funny)
Hmmm...They finally have gotten uniforms in line with the corporate culture...
Forgive my ignorance... (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't understand why you would want some sort of hardware encryption. Because lets say AMD/Intel pr
Thank God... (Score:2, Funny)
Pushing the right buttons (Score:5, Insightful)
The people that respond to these buttons will be the government, content and software companies, corporations and joe dumb user. Most of these people either don't think about or care about the hidden agenda chained to M$'s master plan. This agenda includes:
Hmm (Score:5, Funny)
Let's not forget about the DMCA folks! (Score:5, Interesting)
So in 5 years, all AMD and Intel chips will have DRM enabled, and Windows will have it on by default. There is absolutely nothing to prevent this from happening. Now in this scenario, if you find a way to disable the DRM, either in the chip or in the software, you can be prosecuted under the DMCA. Or maybe detained without a trial under the Patriot Act as a threat to national security. (if they succeed in getting it made permanent)
Maybe I am creating a "worst case" scenario, but it is certainly plausible. Who would have thought 5 years ago that the US would be able to hold a few hundred people captive without a trial. Or that a college student would be sued for creating a search engine. Or a programmer would be arrested and held in jail for speaking at a security conference. Or a printer cartridge manufacturer would be sued because they are making generic cartridges. Or any of the other BS that has come out of the DMCA. Some people said "Oh, if the DMCA get abused, it will be repealed because the people won't stand for it." Here is a hint: it has been abused repeatedly, and it is nowhere near being repealed. Things are getting worse.
One thing people arn't considering... (Score:4, Interesting)
Would they do this? Sure, in a rats ass moment they would... first, it would bring them revenue from companies who want to get software published (CHARGE THE DEVELOPERS!!!)... second, they would have to certify it so they would require the source code... hmmmm... look at what they're doing in this chunk of code (SUE!!!!) or ... hmmm, look at what they're doing in this chunk of code (STEAL, PATENT AND SUE!!!!). And consider someone perhaps M$ doesn't like... guess what, it doesn't pass certification... period.
As an independent game development company [tqworld.com] without the resources of the giants, this type of move scares me shitless.
I'd say aloha in leaving, but I have no aloha for the likes of bill gates and his ilk.
Opt different (Score:3, Insightful)
We have opt out, but what about opt-different
Will I have the option to USE the DRM hardware to enforce my own security policies? Will that be made easy (freely available documentation and utilities), hard (flash my own BIOS), really hard (get out the soldering iron), or nearly impossible (crack this massive key or cut this connection in the CPU's core).
That's the real question. Unless it's easy, they're just making the consumer pay for things they don't necessarily want.
Choose MY company's alternative! (Score:4, Funny)
Mikreausauft Corporation
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (EULA)
1. By us having written this license agreement, you have agreed to be bound by its terms. Such bondage shall commence at the instant this document is written and shall persist for all of eternity or until the universe self destructs, whichever happens last, and applies even if you are unaware of such application.
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The no-choice choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Bill's concept of giving Windows users a choice regarding security features is kind of like Senator Bob Dole's concept of giving U.S. citizens a choice of health-care.
For those too young to remember, Dole ran for president against Bill Clinton and lost. Dole repeatedly justified his vehement opposition to a national health-care system by claiming that consumers would lose the element of choice that they now enjoy with our wonderful corporate-controlled system. He actually said on TV, "Do you want a bunch of guys in suits deciding what your health care choices are?" I remember wondering at the time whether he was talking about some hypothetical big-government guys-in-suits, or the real-life guys-in-suits who run insurance companies and HMOs, who currently make those decisions for us. For most Americans with normal incomes, "health care choice" consists of whatever is offered by the company where they are currently hanging onto a job.
The idea that Windows users will have a meaningful choice about using Palladium security is just such a fantasy. Yeah, if you want to isolate yourself from all commercially produced content, go ahead and turn off Palladium. It's your choice. While you're at it, go ahead and disconnect from the power grid and the phone system. Like it's that easy.
I've been wondering for a while what in the hell Microsoft possibly thinks is going to inspire people to junk their PCs and buy new hardware so they can run Palladium Windows. Particularly the 40 million Win98 users who still haven't done that. Will MS invoke an obscure EULA clause that allows them to outlaw using the OS after a certain date? Will they simply stop supplying security patches and let virus authors do the rest?
I now believe Microsoft's deployment plan is to get content providers on board, with the promise of total copyright control and self-destructing documents that will force a subscription model on everybody. Of course, Microsoft won't be the bad guy any more than Grokster is the bad guy -- they're only providing a platform.
Bill and Steve know that most people want to be part of the world they live in. The teeming masses don't crave the adventure of living in a yurt with a solar panel and a shortwave radio. If major content providers announce a deadline after which all new documents will be inaccessible to older systems, people will buy new systems.
If Linux can be locked out by DMCA and other means, then the consumer computing world will be even more sharply divided than it was in the early Apple/IBM days. Bill is counting on most people wanting to stay in the mainstream, and I think he's right. It's called the mainstream for a reason.
At this point I don't see any way that anybody is going to prevent Microsoft from doing what it wants to do. The only question is whether it will actually work. Doubters can glibly forecast that the first time Palladium gets hacked will spell doom, but a constant stream of security problems hasn't stopped Windows so far. It's possible that Bill has already played his last card and sitting back smiling, waiting for everybody to realize that he has already won the game.
Hardware (Score:3, Insightful)
I choose not to play the game. I am happy to miss out on the latest DRM enabled whizz bang thing (as I have posted before). But let us assume that the mainstream hardware manufacturers go down the path of pandering to the DRM zealots.
Can we create open hardware. I mean, I know that there are certain open hardware products, but can we really create a "Free (as in speech) Hardware" movement, or is the capital barrier too high. Can we get the Fab plant to make chips/drives motherboards, can we even get the designs for hardware to use? If we cannot then are we screwed or is there market enought in the non-DRM world enough for the manufacturers to justify sales, will they even be permitted to manufacture the hardware regardless of the potential market. Will the Chinese come to our rescue by virtue by being big enough and ugly enough to tell the DRM driven west where to get off and proceed to make the un crippled hardware we require?
And even more important than all this, will the governments that are increasing the services they provide via technology based means (for example the internet) retain free standards that do not require their citizens to use a particular OS/DRM regime in order to interact with the organs of the state. It is this aspect of the whole thing that to me is most scary. Scary because it is the classic path to disenfranchisement. Which is a bad thing(TM).
It is the use of IP to restrain access to unencumbered hardware and similary access the services that my government demands I use that concerns me. Whether I get to use the latest online game or not really doesn't matter.
Re:Is this the same Slashdot that loves Apple's DR (Score:2, Informative)
Re:You guys are kinda pathetic. (Score:2)
Re:I can't believe people take MS seriously on thi (Score:3, Insightful)
If you really want to draw an analogy to international politics, just think about these points:
which nation is dominating international politics?
which government is at this very moment severely resticting its "users" (think citizens) rights "in their best interest"?
which government is taking the chance to secure profit while talking about security?
which government arguest that "peer review" (think United Na