Virtualization May Break Vista DRM

Nom du Keyboard writes "An article in Computerworld posits that the reason Microsoft has flip-flopped on allowing all versions of Vista to be run in virtual machines, is that it breaks the Vista DRM beyond detection, or repair. So is every future advance in computer security and/or usability going to be held hostage to the gods of Hollywood and Digital Restrictions Management? 'Will encouraging consumer virtualization result in a major uptick in piracy? Not anytime soon, say analysts. One of the main obstacles is the massive size of VMs. Because they include the operating system, the simulated hardware, as well as the software and/or multimedia files, VMs can easily run in the tens of gigabytes, making them hard to exchange over the Internet. But DeGroot says that problem can be partly overcome with .zip and compression tools -- some, ironically, even supplied by Microsoft itself.'"

Comments

Re:Said before

[Microlith]

In short, piracy only exists because the original media is disproportionately priced compared to its production cost.

Correction: It exists because people are cheap, and will pay exactly zero if they can get away with it. I like your post, it's full of missteps I see often in slashdot posts. For instance:

And yet content producers want to charge the same or more for this cheaper to distribute content?

The expense ISN'T in the distribution. It's in the initial production but recouped at distribution time.

Why not sell a product/service that cannot be easily reproduced, such that your actually providing value for money.

So only physical things have value? Anything that can be copied easily has a value of zero? Please, go tell all the artists and production companies out there that their work is worthless, please.

Movies shown in a cinema spring to mind, the cost of a cinema size screen and sound system is beyond the means of most people. And then there's live concerts for music.

Congratulations, the old "concert" defense. That only works for music. And what's this I hear about people hating cinemas because they're a bad environment. People like to set up home theaters with their own equipment. Never mind that it'd be a real hassle going out to watch a 30 minute or hour showing of something (and good luck if what you like isn't hugely popular, those theaters will be showing American Idol every night...)

DRM is a poorly planned, knee-jerk reaction to a very obvious message from the internet community, namely that they will treat the internet like a Hong Kong market where everything and then some is warezed. Making DRM unnecessary would require effort on both parts, which considering the attitude of most slashdotters who love to suck The Pirate Bay's cock I doubt is forthcoming.