Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

Re: [News] Why Microsoft Fights for More DRM

  • Subject: Re: [News] Why Microsoft Fights for More DRM
  • From: LEE Sau Dan <danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:14:20 +0800
  • Cancel-lock: sha1:invcfd8JVLpol9C7uHd4ho+fkg8=
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • References: <8090403.zVjUqL8pmf@schestowitz.com> <bKmdnVaQPPcYBlPYnZ2dnUVZ_oPinZ2d@speakeasy.net> <eqo4pc$in1$1@tux.glaci.com>
  • User-agent: Gnus/5.110006 (No Gnus v0.6) Emacs/21.4 (gnu/linux)
  • Xref: ellandroad.demon.co.uk comp.os.linux.advocacy:493591
>>>>> "thad01" == thad01  <thad01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

    thad01> I'm beginning to think there is no such thing as workable
    thad01> DRM; 

I've realized that  some 6 years ago.  At that time,  I was working in
an R&D institute, and the neighbouring  team was trying to do some DRM
thing.   They were digging  into those  cryptographic things.   I told
them: if you  can view it on  the screen, how can you  prevent me from
copying it from the screen?  I  could use a (chemical film) camera, or
a  digital camera, or  a screen-capture  program, etc.   They couldn't
give me an answer!


    thad01> as long as there is a way to legally unlock the content,

Then, there is a feasible way of retrieving the unlocked content.  You
don't  want me  to copy  it?   Then, you  shouldn't reveal  it to  me.
Period.


    thad01> someone will eventually find a way to illegally unlock it,

Of course!  We  could run those viewers in  emulators, debuggers, etc.
Then all your cryptographic secrets will be revealed!


    thad01> and then that spreads across the net and all that
    thad01> expensively deployed infrastructure is useless.

Exactly.  Look at CSS and deCSS.  :)

(Of  course, CSS  is not  a strong  enough encryption  anyway,  and it
doesn't protect  against copying of  the _ciphertext_ at all.   So, it
isn't a copy-protection method at all.)


    thad01> Really, I don't buy this whole argument that we need to
    thad01> use technology to stop piracy or the world will implode.
    thad01> It implies that almost everyone will pirate given the
    thad01> chance, and studies show that is just not true.  Also, if
    thad01> everyone really felt that way, wouldn't that just mean we
    thad01> should rethink our intellectual property laws?

I can't agree more.  Such laws lag behind technology a lot.

Come to think about it.  Why do we have "intellectual property"?  That
was created  with the  aim of protecting  and promoting  invention and
creativity.   But what  happened before  the concept  of "intellectual
property" was legalized?  Did  ancient China fail to invent fireworks,
umbrellas, etc.?  Did Europe  fail to invent clockworks, because there
were no patents at that time?  And how about Shakespeare's works, when
copyright was still something unknown?

Now, think  more about it: do  those IP laws  really protect inventors
and  authors?   Or  are  they   *practically*  just  a  tool  for  the
capitalists to squeeze money from the inventors and authors?


-- 
Lee Sau Dan                     李守敦                          ~{@nJX6X~}

E-mail: danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index