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Gates on Digital Restrictions Technologies

Posted by michael on from the and-in-the-darkness-bind-them dept.

doormat writes "According to this article, Gates says you can choose not to use the new secure PC technology that they're developing. Is that going to be a choice like being a vegetarian, or like choosing not to eat at all?" There's also a short piece about DRM and Linux, which is a follow-up to Linus on DRM.

5 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sounds like starving to me... by mrpuffypants · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not a single online resource that I use is tied into Microsoft resources that use Windows technologies.

    Passport? Never signed up, almost every site that uses Passport also has another login method except Starbucks....so I'll buy from Peet's :)

    Windows Media? Realplayer, MPEG, Quicktime are some other options you may recall...

    On my Mac, with Safari I have no problem using the Internet or other "Web Features" like XML, RSS, or other technologies. On my WinXP PC I use Firebird and have zero problems as well.

  2. Re:Is this the same Slashdot that loves Apple's DR by jeffhot · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apple's DRM applies only to music that you have purchased from them, and it's not too restrictive except for obvious things like giving it away for free. In this case you actually have a choice to not buy the music. Gates wants no one to have a choice. He wants to have limits already built in when you use anything: DVD, CD, Game, whatever. Can you see the difference? I suspect that the only compensation Apple has provided to /. "editors" is making available bad ass laptops with a sweet GUI and UNIX underneath.

  3. Re:The technology by PhilHibbs · · Score: 2, Informative
    If you wanna use windows, keep using windows2000 or xp, then you'll be safe in your drm-free world.
    I want to buy a new laptop and put Windows on it. I currently have a laptop, and that came with Windows 98, but it's impossible to find a laptop that I can install that on, because it came as an image restoration CD. I have an original Windows 95 CD, but then I couldn't use the USB ports. So, my only option is to get a Windows XP laptop. In 5 years time, the story will be the same, but with different version codes. "Keep using Windows 2000 or XP" isn't an option, due to planned obsolescence.
  4. Re:Security! Security! Security! by RatBastard · · Score: 2, Informative
    The whole Palladium/DRM issue is about trust.

    If that were only true. It's not about trust. It's about control. It's about Bill thinking he has the right to tell what you can and can not do with your computer.

    The important thing to remember about Bill Gates is that he is a comlete control freak. He feels compelled to control everything he can. He is acting out the nerd's revenge against the world that shunned him as a teen.

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
  5. Just wait until it breaks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    No point in "end of world"-ing about it right now. We're nowhere near the final release date. A lot of this stuff is just speculation.

    Wait until it comes out, and someone finds a bug. It's already near impossible to get Joe User to download a small software update for major problems. Imagine needing a hardware update, or a BIOS update. All it takes is one easily exploitable flaw and a little bit of press. Can you imagine every last DRM box needing a hardware update?