Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Trusted Or Treacherous Computing?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the eyes-in-the-dark dept.

theodp writes "Just because Richard Stallman is paranoid doesn't mean Microsoft's not out to get you. For a hint about the possible end-game of Microsoft's Trusted Computing Initiative, check out the patent application published Thanksgiving Day for Trusted License Removal, in which Microsoft describes how to revoke rights to render based on 'who the user is, where the user is located, what type of computing device or other playback device the user is using, what rendering application is calling the copy protection system, the date, the time, etc.' So much for Microsoft's you-should-have-control assurances."

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Tin foil hat by NineNine · · Score: 0, Troll

    Anyone who has ever believed any of Slashdot's many conspiracy theories about Microsoft is so naive they shouldn't be allowed out of the house without a minder.

  2. Re:RTFP people - this is FOR the user by petrus4 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Sadly, the DRM overlords have probably already won -- they've beaten people like you by getting you to think of the issue in their terms, instead of your own. And you don't even realize it!

    Yeah...as opposed to thinking of it in RMS' terms, which is just sooooo much better.

    The entire situation with DRM is fucked all the way around...and not just because of Microsoft. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. DRM/Microsoft is to Richard Stallman what Osama bin Laden/Al Qaeda is to George W. Bush. Namely a bogeyman...a means of scaring the hell out of people to such an extent that they lose both the capacity for logic and any ability to stand up to corrupt individuals who want power over them.

    Stallman IMHO has actually become *more* evil than Microsoft in my own mind for one simple reason:- Microsoft do not pretend to be anything other than what they are. Ballmer wears his sociopathy on his sleeve. That's called honesty, and while I don't respect amorality, I'm going to respect someone who is direct about what they are.

    But sure...once Microsoft have been dealt with, enshrine Stallman in the position that he has long coveted. Then you will find out whether or not it is any more preferable to have him as your master.

    "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."