Palladium, TCPA, Big Brother and the future of computing
I just read this FAQ about MS's Palladium technology:
<a href="http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html"; target="_blank">http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html</a>;
It REALLY sounds like Big Brother. I predict that MS will be able to do the following within the next decade or two:
1. Make open source standards and software either unusable or illegal.
2. Make non-Windows computers illegal.
3. Make a law requiring that people pay them to upgrade their OS, similar to the way that you must pay the state every year to get new license plate tags.
4. Institiute an approval process that requires software developers to submit their work to MS before it can be sold. MS either approves it or tells them what changes are required, and then they are allowed to sell it. Obviously, the approval will cost money to the developer, and they'll also have to pay royalties to MS for each copy of the software that is sold.
5. Encourage and get congress to pass a law stating that any digital content on someone's computer that isn't illegal (and thus removed by Palladium) is now the property of MS. Authors, music artists, and filmmakers beware.
6. Start having a program where rather than buy a PC (which really is no longer a "personal" computer anyway), you rent it. It has a very small hard drive, a high-speed internet connection built in, and all your data must be kept on MS's servers.
I might be going a bit far, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these ideas were implemented to at least some degree. Where will it end?
<a href="http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html"; target="_blank">http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html</a>;
It REALLY sounds like Big Brother. I predict that MS will be able to do the following within the next decade or two:
1. Make open source standards and software either unusable or illegal.
2. Make non-Windows computers illegal.
3. Make a law requiring that people pay them to upgrade their OS, similar to the way that you must pay the state every year to get new license plate tags.
4. Institiute an approval process that requires software developers to submit their work to MS before it can be sold. MS either approves it or tells them what changes are required, and then they are allowed to sell it. Obviously, the approval will cost money to the developer, and they'll also have to pay royalties to MS for each copy of the software that is sold.
5. Encourage and get congress to pass a law stating that any digital content on someone's computer that isn't illegal (and thus removed by Palladium) is now the property of MS. Authors, music artists, and filmmakers beware.
6. Start having a program where rather than buy a PC (which really is no longer a "personal" computer anyway), you rent it. It has a very small hard drive, a high-speed internet connection built in, and all your data must be kept on MS's servers.
I might be going a bit far, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these ideas were implemented to at least some degree. Where will it end?
Comments
p: dude, I betcha that if M$ does do this, they're going to be sued by a lot of people
A: they will shake them off or buy them off or kill them off
A: they always get off with a mere slap on the wrist
p: yea
A: they turn the tables on the enemy and give them an offer they can't refuse
p: I say to bomb M$ and bill fake
A: in short, they are invincible
p:
A: I don't think there's anything that MS could not achieve if they threw enough work and money into it
p: yea
...
A: I could just see secret hidden colonies of Mac-using Rebels all hanging out with their various primitive TiBooks and iBooks and Pismos
p: lol
p: all undergroun
p: d
A: yep
p: in a cave like place
p: with a really powerful genterater to power it all
A: they have a vast wireless network that has never been cracked that allows them all to share music, movies, and other stuff
A: a huge underground server room
p: hehe
p: that'd be sweet
A: yes
A: it wouldn't be all Mac users though
p: yead
p: *yeah
A: there would be guys with various PC laptops, running Linux and older versions of Windows
p: I'd be down there too, with my TP
A: yep
A: running Linux
p: hehe
Kinda funny, totally unreasonable of course, but still lots of fun. It does really remind me of Big Brother and 1984. I am not too concerned about it preventing piracy of music or software - it's fun but it's not legal, and I can't really complain about being forced not to do something that's illegal. What really scares me is how much power and control MS and the government could have over people. They could pretty much pry into your lives however they want to, and they could censor anything you have. Stupid stuff like porn or vulgar lyrics, or serious stuff like controversial articles criticizing the government.