Vista And DRM - The real Issues

[GhostShip]

This is a 5 page article folks so I suspect only a few of you will read it but its well worth a read .

http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9005047&intsrc=hm_ts_head

If you ask five veteran Windows users to explain Vista's take on digital rights management (DRM), you're likely to get five different answers that have just one thing in common: Whatever it is, they know they don't like it.

In a nutshell, this is the dilemma Microsoft faces as it prepares to launch Windows Vista. By any standard, Vista's new DRM capabilities -- aimed at protecting the rights of content owners by placing limits on how consumers can use digital media -- hardly qualify as a selling point; after all, it's hard to sing the praises of technology designed to make life harder for its users.

Microsoft itself defines DRM in straightforward terms, as "any technology used to protect the interests of owners of content and services." In theory, it's an easy concept to grasp; in practice, however, modern DRM technologies include a multitude of hardware-, software- and media-based content-protection schemes, many of which have little or nothing in common.

Vista's DRM technologies fall into several distinct categories, all of which are either completely new to the operating system or represent a significant change from the technology found in previous versions of Windows. The Intel-developed Trusted Platform Module (TPM) makes DRM harder to circumvent by extending it beyond the operating system and into the PC's hardware components.

TPM is used with Vista's BitLocker full-drive encryption technology to protect a PC's data against security breaches. A TPM microchip embedded on the PC's motherboard stores unique system identifiers along with the BitLocker decryption keys. If a system is tampered with -- for example, if the hard drive is removed and placed in a different machine -- TPM detects the tampering and prevents the drive from being unencrypted.

There's plenty more of the above information including the DRM in the graphics path and other systems that will please the content industry and no one else.

If your not planning on getting Vista, well done but please read on as its best to know your enemy 

[SamSeeSam]

Nothing comes up when I click the link....
Just a blank page with some things on the top and side...

Cheers

[Scyre]

Very interesting reading!

It looks to me that not only is M$ not gonna do well with vista, but they are also gonna make newer formats less acceptable in the public eye. It means one thing: The cheaper chinese hardware that gets pumped out will be making more of an impact than it already has. As it is, you can trust chinese hardware more already, as they are not interested in big media DRM models. The american hardware manufacturers have been shooting themselves in the foot for a while now trying to make everything live up to the hollywood expectations.

This all leads me to wonder though... What fear would M$ have had of the media companies not supporting them? Sounds like BS to me. M$ got where it is by playing on it's on ballfield...Why do they need support from anyone? Especially when it digs their own grave...

Just seems strange that much of the news reports I have read recently cast M$ into the light of being a victim, forced to do what it is doing. Something bigger is going on than what has been publicized, you can bank on that.

But let's say for the moment everyone is dumb enough to climb onboard with this...How long do they think it will take for rootkits below the OS to be created that lie to the DRM protected Hardware, and say "Oh yeah, you are in a DRM friendly environment." and the hardware will not know the difference. After all, that's how programs like anydvd work. They intercept the information between Windows and the hardware, and strip the protection so that other burner software cannot refuse to copy protected media... The same can be done in reverse to give the hardware false signals. Then the hardware's drm control can be manipulated through software.

There is an old saying: If there is a lock, there is a way to pick it.

So, all the billions of dollars being pumped into taking away our fairuse rights, and developing sneaky machinery, will only cost them more money. That article said it well: The consumers will vote with their wallets. So far, I know of no  one who will willingly vote to pay more and have less rights.

Thank you GS for keeping issues like this in the public eye, so that people can make more informed 'votes' with their money.



Best Regards, and Be Good!
Scyre

[SamSeeSam]

There is an old saying: If there is a lock, there is a way to pick it.

LOL
too true

Cheers