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DRM Tinkering with Intel's PXA270?
putko asks: "Intel has a new line of chips with DRM built in. This appears to be the very first DRM-enabled chip to hit the streets. This microprocessor is unlike others available, because the user doesn't have complete control over the thing, and your computer can (theoretically) betray you.
For a while now, there have been computers (IBM ThinkPad) that won't boot unless you give the password, but you could always rip out the hard drive and read it, right? With this chip, the keys and RAM are on the chip, and the flash is encrypted, so this really looks locked up tight.
Has anyone worked with this chip, and is possible to build your own device that uses the Intel Trusted Wireless Platform to protect your secrets (like your software, perhaps)?"
"I'm reminded of this due to Slashdot's recent story on the iPAQ, which uses the chip (and has some neat security features too). Somewhat surprisingly, nobody brought up the Doomsday scenarios, there. It should also be mentioned that there are companies selling incredibly tiny boards for it. Maybe you can run Linux on them?
Wouldn't it suck if the chip had the capabilities and you couldn't use them in your own projects -- e.g. if that was just reserved to big companies like Microsoft? On the other hand, if you can use the features, you might see some neat applications. Assuming you can program the DRM stuff, how do you avoid locking yourself out of the chip while developing? What extra pitfalls may developers run into using it?"
Wouldn't it suck if the chip had the capabilities and you couldn't use them in your own projects -- e.g. if that was just reserved to big companies like Microsoft? On the other hand, if you can use the features, you might see some neat applications. Assuming you can program the DRM stuff, how do you avoid locking yourself out of the chip while developing? What extra pitfalls may developers run into using it?"
I have been writing/ranting on this topic for quite sometime on Slashdot (see here, here, and here). My worst predictions are coming true. In order for DRM to work it needs to be embedded in the OS, the BIOS, and various pieces of hardware.
Yeah, there is a possibility that non-DRM'd pieces of hardware (including LinuxBIOS) will have a market but the vast majority of people want stuff to work and work w/o problems. Microsoft, Intel, Phoenix, etc, will all tell everyone that they will end viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, etc if they just use their hardware solutions.
Yeah, well, that's great and all but you won't be doing anything on the net unless you are running trusted hardware. People's arguments that an "alternative" network will show up to solve that is bullshit. Just wait till your online banking, your taxes, and your foo are all on the "secure" Internet.
Nevermind that, but it may become illegal (through creative lobby) to own and operate an unlicensed/unprotected piece of hardware. Enjoy finding an ISP that will let you connect.
While this particular CPU might only find a niche market and may very well flop completely, I have a feeling that we will start seeing more and more of this sort of product coming out of the hardware giants. Who knows, maybe my paranoia will be justified?
... because this is nothing new.
First of all, this is an *EMBEDDED* processor, not an x86-class CPU. It may be used in PDAs and the like, but it is not going to be running your desktop anytime soon.
Secondly, embedded devices with encrypted onboard flash are nothing new - they've been around for years.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Can anyone say 'Clipper Chip'?
Remember what happened to that brilliant idea? This is it in a new guise, this time reborn to lock-in traditional media.
Never fear, either too many objections will be raised to make it viable in the marketplace, or some smart person will figure out how it tics...
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
You throw the toad straight into the pot of boiling water and it will jump straight out, but put it in a pot of cold water and slowly increase the heat, and the toad will be boiled to death.
;)
This is off-topic nitpicking, but real toads will jump out of the pot as soon as they get too warm. This is pretty much true of all amphibians and reptiles. Lacking the ability to thermoregulate internally, cold-blooded animals instinctually move toward and away from heat sources as necessary. When, for example, a lizard is too cold, it will move into the sun to bask. When it starts to get too warm, it will move back into the shadows.
It's warm-blooded animals that are susceptible to this trick because they lack the necessary instincts. If you want to cook a human for example, you put him into a hot tub and slowly crank up the temperature. Long before you reach the boiling point or even any discomfort, he will pass from heat exhaustion to hyperthermia, and finally into unconsciousness, seizures, and organ failure. Read the warnings in a hot tub owner's manual sometime, or ask your friendly neighborhood paramedic how often failure to RTFM requires them to fish dead guys out of their hot tubs.
So really, all this "how to boil a frog" nonsense really out to be "how to boil an end user".
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
How about leaving out the DRM circutry? That sounds like a pretty effective and easy way to get the part count down.