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A Legal Analysis of the Sony BMG Rootkit Debacle
YIAAL writes "Two lawyers from the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology look at the Sony BMG Rootkit debacle: 'The Article first addresses the market-based rationales that likely influenced Sony BMG's deployment of these DRM systems and reveals that even the most charitable interpretation of Sony BMG's internal strategizing demonstrates a failure to adequately value security and privacy. After taking stock of the then-existing technological environment that both encouraged and enabled the distribution of these protection measures, the Article examines law, the third vector of influence on Sony BMG's decision to release flawed protection measures into the wild, and argues that existing doctrine in the fields of contract, intellectual property, and consumer protection law fails to adequately counter the technological and market forces that allowed a self-interested actor to inflict these harms on the public.' Yes, under 'even the most charitable interpretation' it was a lousy idea. The article also suggests some changes to the DMCA to protect consumers from this sort of intrusive, and security-undermining, technique in the future."
"It's the USAs' military might that saved Europe in WW1 and WW2"
That's a subject for debate, not proclamation, as is the rest of your nonsense about soviet satellites. Plus, given the Iraqi mess and the despicable things your country asks of its allies, I'm willing to say we don't want your sort of protection. And we don't need it.
"Plus, we're talking theoretically about a science fiction novel."
And people are proposing it as a good model and a natural one. It's not, it's only in the US that the military are seen as some sort of gods. To much the rest of the world they are brave people but that doesn't necessarily make them smart or right about anything.