Omniscience Protocol

solidox writes "There is a new RFC discussing the Omniscience Protocol. It proposes that every computer be installed with an OP Client which would allow law enforcement ('Good guys.') and copyright holders (RIAA, MPAA) to remotely destroy the computer of any user who has been involved in copyright infringement ('evil-doer'). The client will be completely undetectable and unremovable by even the most skilled hacker. It also must be able to report to the server at any time. 'The OP must be able to communicate through uncooperative firewalls, NATs, and when the computer is disconnected from the Internet.' So if your computer randomly blows up in the next while, you can put the blame on this."

Comments

Hello? Check the date

[Theatetus]

It's the first day of April. Ring any bells?

Re:Hello? Check the date

[Em Emalb]

Did it ever occur to any of you humor impaired folks that some of us actually like to *gasp*

go along with the joke?

Or, as a certain AC around here is fond of saying:

No shit, sherlock! ;)

sigh

[Anonymous Coward]

The only news on /. I'll believe on April 1 are stories about SCO being scum or Microsoft being evil monopolists.

SPAM Mails are more believable

[bdigit]

The emails claiming to add 3 inches to my wang are more believable then /.'s april fools jokes.

Quit posting these april fools jokes.

[Eudial]

Quit posting these april fools jokes otherwise RIAA and MPAA might read this and actually implement it.

Re:Simply patheticc.

[hanssprudel]

Since when is this an April Fool's joke?

It's actually called Palladium, and Microsoft is rolling it out together with Longhorn. The necessary hardware modification, in the form of TCPA or the Phoenix DRM bios, are already around the corner.

Good Thinking

[Doesn't_Comment_Code]

Ok, we know there are terrorists who want to destroy America/the West. We've invested billions trying to slow them down and beat them to the punch. Now somebody wants to install an auto-destruct on every computer so that if (when) an exploit is discovered, someone could take down the entire electronic infrastructure of the country and parts of the rest of the world without even putting in the work to write an email virus?

BAD IDEA

Re:Oh purlease

[curiosity]

I can't decide what's funnier - the people who don't realize it's an april fools thing, or the people who just barely realize it, to the point where they feel the need to point it out to others.

Re:goddamn, this isn't FUNNY, it's STUPID!

[hesiod]

> would you say it's okay for me to be prosecuted for the rape, but my right to free speech means nobody should have the power to take the pictures down?

Except that a picture isn't speech. Even if you don't believe that line, the pictures would be of the commission of a felonious assault, and I believe, illegal. Since that is a stretch, let's step away from the actual subject. Photographers, to use their pictures, must have the consent of everyone in the picture to distribute it. Unless the rape victim did not consent to sex, but did consent to the pictures of it, the photos are illegal to distribute, AFAIK.

Yes, I know it was a troll, but it's still an interesting thought (the speech, not the rape).

Lame... So obvious

[glenebob]

What fun is it reading April fools jokes when they are so blatantly obvious before getting to the second sentence? Come on guys, where is the believability? Leave the obvious bull-shit to George Lucas, please?