The Need for Open Hardware

bwt asks: "With all the talk of DRM lately, it occurs to me that the entire concept depends on limiting the choice for computer hardware. OK, so the proper reaction to the copyright industry's attempts at PC market control is to be able to build a PC that they can't control. I know there have been some discussions on open hardware, but most if it was prior to the emergence of DRM as a real threat. In fact, Richard Stallman wrote an editorial in 1999 and said 'Because copying hardware is so hard, the question of whether we're allowed to do it is not vitally important.' DRM has perhaps changed that. Isn't the need for open hardware becoming critical? What is the status of the open hardware efforts?"

Comments

...And you lose some.

[Mulletproof]

Besides the words "open source" being a sure-fire way of being posted on Slashdot, it's really a non-issue. Sure, you can limit hardware, but in doing so, you limit it's flexibility. The only way you're going to get people to jump on this bandwagon is to somehow limit their need for flexible hardware, and if your life revolves around computers, that's a bad thing and it's never going to happen. Moreover, the RIAA and friends aren't simply fighting a local battle-- It's fighting the world standard. Are they seriously going to begin restricting the import of "unregulated" hardware? Are they going to embargo foreign countries? The ability to enforce such restrictive hardware against an entrenched worldwide standard is far beyond the scope and abilites of "The Man". Forget about it. They've already castrated themselves.