Slashdot Mirror
Using Palladium to Secure P2P Networks
user555 writes "The RIAA and MPAA have seen Palladium as a way to prevent piracy. But this article argues that ironically Palladium may actually make P2P piracy more widespread (PDF). They argue that the security features of Palladium could be used to create P2P networks that are more resistant to attacks from content owners."
Actually, slashdot is a bunch of paranoid, whiny losers who fear the loss of rights that generally never existed in a legal sense, that are actually privileges. Some of the things slashdot readers seem to fear the loss of are illegal anyway, like copying stuff regardless of the copyright. Other things, like palladium, are not even close to coming to pass.
At all times the paranoia manifests itself most by grossly exaggerating the effect that whatever technological restriction measure being considered at the moment is going to have on everyone's lives. Especially considered that most of them only affect computers, which are hardly the sacred source of our most valued liberties, like freedom of assembly, speech, the press, weapons, and movement. Shit, you think things are getting bad in the world when we can log onto a site like this and say anything we want without fear of government reprisal? The cynicism found here is disgusting, and unjustified. I conclude that if anyone could see through schemes like the supposed massive restrictions palladium will put on computer users so easily, the probability of them having such far reaching consequences is terribly low. People here consistently overestimate the power of big companies and the government, and also, in their arrogance, the stupidity of the populace.
I've been blocking Your Rights Online from my frontpage for a long time because it is just a bunch of ranting lunatics who see oppression by more powerful forces everywhere because they feel powerless over their own lives. Their paranoia is just a viewpoint, and their constant fear is hardly the most rational take on things. Such people need to own up to the fact that if they feel trapped in a hopeless situation, odds are that it is because of their own actions, not some other entity that forced the circumstances upon them, through trickery or brute force or some other unfairness. Sadly, this is the last thing they would ever do, because they prefer to claim victimhood rather than failure. If they cannot make positive changes in their lives, it is because such a thing is impossible, not because they are deficient in real desire or ability.
I would also like to question the reliability of past consensuses on slashdot, in addition to all the Chicken Littles here. Remember the cynical conclusion Slashdot reached about the iPod when it was first released? Slashdot said, 'That's stupid' (collectively I might add) and was collectively wrong. Consensus on this site means nothing, it just means the herd is moving in the same direction, not necessarily the way the wind is blowing.
The paranoid people, in predicting an impending effect from a restrictive technology, are wrong proportionately to the severity of the effect. I know this because I don't even bother reading Your Rights Online, and despite all the gloom and doom predictions made there, my life has not changed at all. In any way. Even concerning computers. That it might is irrelevant, the sky might fall as well...
I don't know about you, but big media doesn't run my life, they just amuse me for a small portion of it. The idea that they could leverage the value I find in that amusement in order to control my behavior in a broader sense is absurd. Especially since it is such a non-essential product. I saw some post saying everybody was going to switch to palladium systems because their kid would want to play video games. Sometimes I think slashdot believes everybody not only has a kid like this, but IS a kid who just wants to play video games or something.
If you are like that as an adult, somebody else is already running your life anyway, and your paranoia and resentment of the situation will not help you. Stand up, look around, take control of yourself, and you will be free.