__/ [ Martha Adams ] on Thursday 21 September 2006 13:26 \__
> "High Plains Thumper" <hpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1158837021.57407@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>> Your data or your life
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | As unlikely and alarmist as this sounds, it could really happen.
>>> | Intracare is the publisher of a popular practice management system
>>> | called Dr. Notes. When some doctors balked at a drastic increase in
>>> | their annual software lease, they were cut off from accessing their
>>> own
>>> | patients? information.
>>> |
>>> | This situation is completely unconscionable. There can be no truly
>>> | open doctor-patient relationship when an unrelated third party is
>>> the
>>> | de facto owner of and gatekeeper to all related data.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1709
>>
>> This is perhaps one of the greatest reasons for use of an open source
>> database.
>>
>> That reminds me of an earlier medical records database management
>> system
>> called MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming
>> System), used because of its flexibility with variable records lengths
>> in
>> writing patient histories. It is still being used today, although it
>> is
>> quite old.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUMPS has a good treatise on it.
>>
>> This is a good indicator that a standard although old is still a good
>> thing.
>
> If you own a user's access to her records, then you can hold
> those records hostage. I've seen news items lately about a new
> virus idea, the virus encrypts your files and then you have to pay
> a ransom to find how to get them out again. The only difference
> I see between that and the below (and Microsoft's WGA and
> Digital Restrictions Management) is the one is "fair business
> management" and the other isn't. Maybe that happens because
> the one pays taxes and the other doesn't?
>
> Cheers -- Martha Adams
This things has been coined "ransomware", but it's another matter altogether
because it's usually an intruder that takes control over the data. Ransom,
however, is a good term to use in this context. The vendor holds you by the
balls and can threaten you by putting your data (your bread and butter) in
jeopardy. It raises exit barriers as well, if not make an exit impossible
(e.g. DRM), owing to legal contraints and obscurity (trade and
implementation secrets).
Best wishes,
Roy
--
For governments that eavesdrop, here is a quick list of tags: Communism,
Hawaiian shirts, China, Suitcase, Martha Stewart, Encryption, Prison,
Stalin. Thanks for tuning in.
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