>>>>> "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
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