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UCITA By the Back Door
InfoWorld's Gripelog airs a subject that should interest this community — involved as we were with efforts against UCITA back in the day. One main aim of the derailed UCITA initiative was to give software manufacturers and content owners a degree of control over users' computers. Gripelog's Ed Foster informs us that UCITA is sneaking back in, under the cover of an anti-spyware bill, S. 1625, now making its way through the US Senate. One clause in this draft bill would legalize what the BSA calls "electronic self help" — i.e., the ability for commercial entities to cripple or disable software or networks on your computer if they believe you are violating their property rights.
"(10) detection or prevention of the unauthorized use of software fraudulent or other illegal activities."
When I hear of something like this, the first thing that occurs to me is how valuable the keys or mechanism or whatever that actually does the "preventing", how badly the criminal element would want to get hold of that information, and the inevitability that this will happen when the right price is found for whomever holds the keys.
In other words, this kind of thing will eventually, inevitably, be used for nefarious purposes.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
That's the best euphemism I've ever heard for legitimized corporate spyware and DRM. Big software companies will finally be able help themselves to my electronic devices.
steampunk web design
So if an entity (any virus writer, for example), incorporates, then it's legal for them to mess with your computer? All they need to do is claim that they have evidence that you are infringing some property rights of theirs?
Is Congress insane?
The real answer is that they don't tend to think of consequences. Rather they are more interested in rewarding their friends and financiers.
You know what, give the lousy ba$tards what they want! They more than anyone else deserve it, and once they start disabling computers willy-nilly it will only beat a path to the OSS door. Why would any company in their right mind turn their entire company over to the trust of a greedy software vendor? They might as well hand over their bank-account numbers and power-of-attorney to BSA while their at it.
It will frankly create a situation ripe for software-license blackmail and extortion.
If they're so intent on shooting themselves in the foot, all the better for the rest of the world. Enough is enough.
cat sig >
GPL Violations is allowed (with author's permission) to break into the boxes of all GPL violators. *That* could be interesting.
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
consider provisions of this bill "do not apply to any monitoring of, or interaction with, a subscriber's Internet or other network connection or service, or a protected computer, by or at the direction of a telecommunications carrier, cable operator, computer hardware or software provider, financial institution or provider of information services or interactive computer service..."
and "(10) detection or prevention of the unauthorized use of software fraudulent or other illegal activities."
Well clearly, as per the article they are slipping in "any enforcement we choose" actions regarding the ability of the BSA (etc) to pry into your computer with spyware like tools...
But worse, the spyware perpetrators themselves gain free immunity to all their spyware actions if they can proved they are "a provider of an information service" which, in fact, they are. They provide my information to their paying customers.
Now not only is spyware made penalty free (by accident) but Auditing Trojans that "accidentally" destroy all your data while "trying to detect" whether you have stolen Barbie's Big Adventure
The corporations, both legal and illegal, now own your computer in every way that matters.
Ta Da!
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
They are certainly interested in rewarding their friends and financiers, but they are mainly interested in sound bite politics. It's an election year.
But being GPL'd it would be just as easy to go into the source and take out the back doors and recompile it.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Point the first: If they think this won't get hacked, they're out of their freaking minds. You think spyware is bad now, just leave a huge hole in your OS where other people can come in and change stuff. This proposal will make the problem worse, day one. Or should I say 0-day.
Point the second: Accountability. Assuming this could get implemented and be magically unhackable, what all are they actually allowed to do, and who will oversee this?
Put another way, let's say I release an email client that is legal to use for non-commercial purposes. May I read all of your email to see that you're sticking to the EULA? May I delete the ones that are commercial?
How far can this go, and what checks and balances do they propose?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
There is something deeply ironic about a lot of the hyperagressive IP enforcement stuff going around. Orrin Hatch's self-destructing computers, Fritz chips, and now "electronic self help". All of these things are deeply antithetical to the notion of private property; but advanced under the banner of protecting private property.
I'm surprised(but not too surprised) that this sort of thing doesn't get more attention from the free enterprise and private property crowd; it is, after all, a much greater threat than any of the pitiful remnants of Communism that still survive. If this sort of stuff persists, it will, in effect, be illegal to own almost any computerized device(sure, you'll own the actual hardware; but the software and firmware will be licenced-revocable-at-will from dozens of different firms, all with the authority to poke at your device whenever they want). I'm sure that some of the true believers will comfort themselves with the fact that it isn't the State that is to blame; but private property will be just as dead as if it were.
It's not like WoW is more important than due process rights.
(Not that that's what the bill actually does, but I'm kind of horrified to see someone supporting what the article purports that it to.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
what this might mean (if it actually comes to pass as a body of new laws) is that people will hard partition their various activities.
...I really hate the way laws are mostly just BAD, these days ;( I can't think of a single GOOD LAW they've passed in, well, YEARS.
ie, a work machine (or even many discrete ones), a home machine, a machine that can be task-related and shared, a machine that is ONLY private stuff and no commercial software, etc etc.
so if there has to be 'crap' installed on some box, don't let it invade on ALL your boxes. partition the systems so that you limit exposure or damage potential. contain the 'viruses', so to speak.
there was a slash story about nokia and their 'bright lines' between GPL and private code. same basic idea here but translated to keeping info on separate boxes and limiting what kind of programs get installed on each 'type' of box.
PITA to have to think in those terms, though!
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Maybe balanced with anti-bullshit legislation.