Recently I have been viewing a selection of DRM stories that seem to forget who the consumer is or their rights.
for those unfamiliar with the term DRM it stands for Digital Rights Management (AKA electronic extortion capable devices).
http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050720_191403.htmlHarddrives using perpendicular recording are on track to hit the market in early 2006 with capacities of up to 160 or even 200 GByte in 2.5-inch form factors. Consumer electronics using these devices could follow soon thereafter - but Hollywod may have a say in how quickly these monster drives make their way into portable audio and video players
So they may want to control our hard-drives ? but wait .. theres worse to come :shock:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000143050582/The successor to Microsoft’s rarely-mentioned COPP (Certified Output Protection Protocol), PVP-OPM (Protected Video Path – Output Protection Management) is the first play in Microsoft’s game plan to ensure that protected content stays protected. PVP-OPM performs two main functions. First, it detects the capabilities of the display devices attached to the computer. For instance, does the DVI LCD monitor that you’re using have HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)? Second, it manages what, if anything, gets sent to those devices.
If you’re one of those rare people whose display is equipped with HDCP, you’re fine. However, in the world of computers, those users are few and far between. While HDCP has become the de facto standard for display copy-protection in televisions, its penetration in the computer display market would be pleased to merely be called anemic. Whether you’re plunking down money for one of the new ultra-fast LCD displays with 4ms response times or you’re becoming the envy of neighborhood with Dell’s UltraSharp 2405FPW widescreen display, you’re buying a monitor that won’t play nice with premium content in Longhorn.
So folks it looks like they are trying on the old monopoly tricks to tie you in to their brand of goodies, which will fail to work with anything else they dont get a cut of the profits from no doubt .
We as consumers can stop this nightmare of greed dont bother with stupidiy like Longhorn, whats it really offering to us anyway except another round of expenses, and as for upgrading my cash into the "friends of microsoft" Cartels pockets, I suggest they take a flying leap, as I would rather just move over to linux, which is so hard to install these days ...not.