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Draconian DRM Revealed In Windows 7
TechForensics writes "A few days' testing of Windows 7 has already disclosed some draconian DRM, some of it unrelated to media files. A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version. With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark). This may be the tip of the iceberg. Being in bed with the RIAA is bad enough, but locking your own files away from you is a tactic so outrageous it may kill the OS for many persons. Many users will not want to experiment with a second sound card or computer just to record from online sources, or boot up under a Linux that supports ntfs-3g just to control their files." Read on for more details of this user's findings.
Re — Photoshop: That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: Noting that Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine. Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
Re — media: Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
Re — Photoshop: That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: Noting that Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine. Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
Re — media: Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
For the sake of civil liberties, culture and sanity and as weird as it may seems I am not joking. Laws are made by the people for the people and some disconnected tenants of some ivory towers need to be reminded of it.
Even we can't defend you any more. If it happens in our computers, we're going to record it.
Fuck you.
Love,
All of us.
My cut&pasted title got truncated and it looks awful now.
so your application stopped working after you fucked with the dll's, and it's microsoft's fault?
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Let them! It will only help doom Windows. Younglings especially are not going to like when they can't rip their own version of their fav youtube music video, etc. "Web-tops" that don't run Windows are becoming increasingly popular, and those that offer less DRM are going to sell better.
Table-ized A.I.
Repealing the DRM clause of the DMCA would suffice.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Linux has gotten "good enough" on PC hardware that I just don't see any reason to even play the game anymore with Microsoft. Time to get off the ride. All of the "windows only" apps that I use seem to work under wine. The rest all have some open equivalent (firefox/thunderbird/openoffice/etc).
*shrug*
Boy am I glad that I finally took the plunge. Learning about the mac, messing with ubuntu. It took a long, long time to wean myself off but I've finally kicked the habit. I'm just so grateful there are alternatives. Up to recently I felt like a battered wife, hating Windows but still using it. Such a relief. (not trying to troll, just stating how I feel. For those who want to stay on Windows, my condolences.)
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
After Vista drove me to Linux, I was considering giving Windows 7 a chance, but news like this means I'll probably skip it and wait for Windows 8.
I guess I'll have to keep the XP machine I use for games running a little while longer.
It seems that the problem was that Windows was cooperating with the app vendor to lock out such hacking attempts.
Who owns your computer? You or the ISV's?
maybe this will get more people to switch to linux or at the very least get more people to download the latest Ubuntu 9.x live cd (the one that supports natively supports ntfs).
still better than linsux.
Can we just go ahead and admit that the broken windows economy doesn't work.
Seriously, I don't think that it will take long for this to make Windows 7 as popular as Vista is. All we need to do is tell people that Kubuntu is Windows 7 and everything will be fine.
I jest of course. We really should tell them that the one that works is Linux, and the one that looks like it but doesn't work is Windows 7. I'm truly perplexed at the pace with which this one company tries to put itself in the red. There isn't much to say that doesn't come out as MS bashing when I hear this. Lets just throw it away and pretend it doesn't exist... quickly.
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
It's almost as if Microsoft just "doesnt get it". I wonder if being in Bed with the RIAA is worth the money a second "Vista" is going to cause them to lose.
It's not like politicians have really cared that much about what the constitution has had to say for the past few decades anyway.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
That's the question. There are two kinds of DRM:
1) The kind that people do care about, like the Sony Rootkit or Spore's DRM. That's the kind they take notice and take exception to.
2) The kind that people accept and don't really notice, like iTunes DRM.
Microsoft is banking that their new DRM will be 2), as long as they don't do anything overt, like disable users' MP3 collections.
Still, with Linux getting easier to use to the point where regular people are willing to try it, this DRM could be the final nail in the coffin for a lot of Windows users.
This space left intentionally blank.
You should really consider reading this. It cracks me up and I have use the dreadful stuff every day
http://adobegripes.tumblr.com/
Watch those corners
Unfortunately, I think you misunderestimate the capacity for not caring by the Public at Large. This will only affect a certain percentage of folks, not enough to make waves, I'm sure.
I'm beginning to think ... and hope ... that the "True Name" for Windows 7 is really going to be "Windows Chapter 7." Wouldn't that be nice?
Teen Angel - a Ghost Story
Can somebody post a readable, reasoned summary of this submission?
Um, forget I said "summary." This would need to be longer than the original. Maybe "commentary" is the right word...
Are you adequate?
Am I blind or is there no link? Any source?
Not that I don't believe this guy, but can we have some screen shots and some evidence before we scream and yell to the rest of the world?
If indeed Windows 7 does this, I know a lot of people that will get a "rude awakening" from DRM and they will not stand for it.
For the sake of civil liberties, culture and sanity and as weird as it may seems I am not joking. Laws are made by the people for the people and some disconnected tenants of some ivory towers need to be reminded of it.
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties. It regulates the powers granted to the Government. If you don't like the DRM in Windows 7/Vista/XP/whatever then vote with your feet and wallet. It's not like there aren't alternatives available.
You want to amend a document that's only been changed 27 times in ~200 years over computer software? Just think about what you are advocating for a minute.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
As much as I want to believe this, I'm not so sure that these effects are intentional.
First of all, can anyone duplicate them? Secondly, is a binary really the best way to test this? I would think that one would want to interact with whatever APIs control the recording process. In any case, I think that more investigative work needs to be done.
This is more like locksmiths complaining about the state putting better locks on their own houses.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Given the firewall issue and the sound card degradation it seems like windows 7 is begging to be run inside a Linux virtual machine so it can't get so cozy with the hardware.
Of course I have reason to believe they are already two steps ahed of me on that. When I run windows XP pro inside virtual box (host is Mac) then when I plug in my windows media device in the USB, windows media player only sees it as a USB disk not as a windows media device.
So i suspect that windows only sees those DRM devices if it can have direct hardware access. Presumably this is to prevent someone from making a software windows media device emulator.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Honestly, this is one of the worst-written front page stories on I've seen on ./ in quite some time. No citation, no proof, nothing. Not even a fucking link to a story? Please.
Win7 might very well be Evil Incarnate. But it's not like your gonna convince anyone with 'journalism' that reads along the line of "yeah this one guy I know says that win7 totally sucks".
How are you all commenting on an article that has no link? How is it that one here has RTFA and yet everyone has an opinion?
Oh, right.. this is Slashdot.
Did any of us honestly expect anything less than this from the next garbage release of windows from Microsoft? As if Vista wasn't a piss poor enough example of how they've completely sold out to the RIAA, MPAA and could give a shit less about the end user experience / integrity of the operating system as a whole. I'm surprised they haven't built in and made public a software back door for your local government agency to spy on all desktop behavior.
Only morons buy / trust / rely on / bother with new Microsoft operating systems. I have been spending, an incredible amount of time teaching my family and friends how to use Linux, and making them aware of how effective and efficient open source software truly is.
People still 'pay money' to take it in the ass from Redmond? You've got to be kidding me...
If you want this kind of absolute fucktarded nonsense to end...stop wasting your money with these twats.
That's it, I'm leaving MS forever. I can't take this, any problems I suffer with Linux will be negated by reading the printed copy of this article.
Ok, it will generate some bad PR from the knowledgeable folks, like Vista. Some will avoid it. Most you notice that the compatibility problems are gone and you can find almost good drivers for almost everything.
What percentage of users are capable of hacking a dll? What percentage of users know what a firewall is, let alone check its configurations?
What can have some implications is the audio recording thing, if it does stop users from downloading videos from youtube. Most teens I know do this. And hell to microsoft if it messes with their sacred youtube, facebook and msn.
What worries me is that large corporations will like these features. "Hmm, a nice locked-down unhackable desktop. Yes, it will keep the network safe."
For me, their behaviour was outrageous enough in the XP times. I've switched to debian and never looked back.
entropy happens
I wish I could just blame them, but the various industry organizations have infiltrated the people at Apple as well. The new Macs with MiniDisplay port can't output DRM encoded files to non-compliant monitors, like many of the monitors and Tvs out there today. This is just the first step folks.
Hunh?
Does he mean capturing with an audio program? Does he mean that I can't use the same program to capture audio and then use as a player? What does this even mean?
Again, wha??? Does this mean I can't rip a CD? Or that I can't do an audio mix? What hardware is this person using?
Not that slashdot has ever been a paradigm of reporting, but to but one user's incoherent ramblings on the front page as news is just irresponsible. Wait until a semi-reliable tech sight posts something that makes sense, has some screen shots, and has a modicum of citation to back it up. I mean, holy shit.
Thanks,
Bruce
i stopped reading right here "replacing a DLL with a hacked version"
That explains why you missed the part that says this:
"That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: ..."
Don't worry, I won't ruin the surprise for you.
It's actually worrisome to see such measures. If they go this far then how long will it be until Windows 7 detects video or audio file downloads over bittorrent and throttles or kills the connections? If PC's throttle file sharing applications themselves it takes the burden off of service providers. Win 7 now with MP/RIAA user monitoring!
While most casual users won't be bothered by this, the more tech savvy or people in the audio visual fields will be concerned.
While I fully understand the reasoning behind DRM, and while I may even agree with the principle (protecting your work), draconian DRM will send people the other way. It is now 2009. Generations are getting more and more tech savvy and educated. The internet is a huge social network. To not be able to record something and manipulate as you want can send people the other way.
So this is where Linux needs to step up. Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot and Linux has the ability to take a big step forward. If you can record on Linux with no interference and you could be able to watch DVD with no interference on Linux on an out-of-box install, Linux could easily take over. Now we need the big Linux distros (Suse (shut up novell haters), Red Hat, Ubuntu, etc) to get on the software market to distribute versions for Linux. I don't mean it has to be open source, I mean it has to run on Linux. Natively. Without going through this config and that config to change things just to get it to run. Linux is on the right track, and with more and more being handed to it by Microsoft, it needs to get on the ball and make changes. Distros need to agree on where they put config files, on all distros. There would be nothing wrong with one main (but others available) package managers and packaging style. And there are other examples. And all this could be easily obtained.
That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.
This article is seriously short on details.
So you replaced a DLL and the application stopped working? What DLL? What evidence do you have supporting your theory that it is the OS's fault?
So you can no longer record application's audio? Are you using the same drivers? On my system the sound card has to specifically support such functionality.
Windows 7 might contain tons of scary DRM but unfortunately this article contains no real proof of that. In fact it is so vague that is sounds almost like voodoo.
... the company sponsoring this article is ... Microsoft?
Well, at least, that's the ad I get every time I reload the article.
I forced my self to go 100% without Windows. I did this specifically because I had a hunch that after XP things would just get worse in terms of annoying restrictive crap. Vista came out after I made the switch and I was really happy that I had broken free of the MS habit. I put Ubuntu on my laptop and desktop. It took a little time getting used to. Granted I keep a copy of XP in a virtual machine just in for that occasional Windows only program I have to run. But I'm very happy now, some things I like a lot better. It rocks having a full Bash shell just a click away. If Windows diapered I wouldn't miss it one bit. The best part is the freedom of knowing I don't NEED Microsoft.
You deserve what you get!
1. What Photoshop CD4 dll? Does it do this with Vista? Does it do this with XP? Why is this attributed to Windows 7?
2. What sound card and driver? Does it do this with Vista? Does it do this with XP? Why is this attributed to Windows 7?
3. What build of Windows 7? Who is the testor? Why is two paragraphs of incomplete information hitting the front page and it's not an "Idle" post?
kdawson, you are truly an idiot.
It's not intuitive, but you can get access to ANY folder. You just need to give yourself ownership first.
Open a Windows Explorer window, navigate to the directory, right click on the it, select Properties, go to the resulting Security tab, and click the Advanced button contained there.
Click Edit, select "Administrators" from the list of potential owners, click the Replace owner on subcontainer and objects checkbox, then click the OK button.
After a couple minutes you'll be presented with a Window informing you that you need to close all property dialogs for the ownership changes to be visible. Follow this advice by clicking the OK button in the File Properties window and you should now be back at the Windows Explorer window you originally opened.
Right Click on the directory again and select Properties one additional time. Go to the Security tab, and click the Advanced button again also.
Click the Add.. button in the Permissions tab, type in Administrators as the name (ensure your Local Computer domain is selected), and select Full control from the list of available permissions. Click OK out of the Permission Entry dialog, select Replace all existing inheritable permissions on all descendants... then click OK from the Advanced dialog.
After a couple minutes you should once again be back at the File Properties dialog. Feel free to click OK and close Windows Explorer.
had to install the vista driver for my sound card. http://i39.tinypic.com/213gr3k.png
Wow! I really think Microsoft is in for a surprise if they think they can even get away with this. If I'm understanding correctly, Windows 7 is by default assuming it's owner is untrustworthy and at the first hint of DRM violations, will shutdown and lock you out of the supposed violated software. You get all this and get to pay heftily for it too!
I long ago left the MS world and am a very happy GNU/Linux user that has converted my family and most of my friends to Kubuntu. After the initial learning curve just about everyone I switched over couldn't be happier. That being said, I really don't have a problem with Windows and unlike a lot of Linux zealots, I don't bash or put down MS products every chance I can get. Truth be told, I actually really like XP...but I don't need it as there isn't anything it can do that I can't do with GNU/Linux.
Getting to my point now, the average MS user is going to become entirely dissatisfied with Windows 7 and the ridiculous DRM controls they are ever creating and enforcing. I've found it's been easier and easier to convert Windows users and if TFA is accurate, I may just be able to make a living doing this exclusively. So will every other half knowledgeable *nix user too!
We buy software to perform tasks for us and want it to be as pain free as possible. Now MS wants the general public to pay for their software that caters more to the media industry rather than the end user. Worst of all, the real pirates will still easily get around this while generally the average user will be hugely inconvenienced. All I can say is thank you MS...I expect to pick up a lot more business in the future because of this!
What do you mean?
This is a total "make-work" operating system, designed to get the economy going.
You need to:
-buy another FireWall program to block apps going through Windows built-in FireWall
-buy a program to enable to you access the files that the Windows GUI is preventing you from accessing
-buy a program to route audio to a file (like what WireTap Studio does on Mac OS X)
I am surprised, because I really didn't think MS could/would go further with their DRM lockdown than totally giving in to the big media labels (both audio and video). But I guess, this is just 4 more years of ideas from the labels, with some added input by the big software publishers...
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
It certainly made it illegal for two parties to sell liquor to one-another in the early 1920's. That's a private-party transaction if I've seen one.
- Sometimes you're the pidgeon, sometimes you're the statue.
Why? Just kill DMCA and at the very least roll copyright back to its original duration of 17 years.
What?
Are people really surprised by this? Think about it: IIRC, some laptops were locked out of using their stereo mix and even mic ports a while back using the drivers. You're surprised that Microsoft didn't blink at doing it? I'm surprised they they haven't done it with an XP or Vista patch. The one thing that I'm disappointed by is that even with the title of "Administrator" I don't have the same privilege of deleting my own files as a normal user on Linux. It's not unexpected though... The admin account can't actually do much more than install programs or regedit by default.
If this is true (where's the link/evidence?):
What does this mean for users who want to edit their own (as in produced by them) video and audio? Perhaps in the future only Mac and Linux users will be able to produce media on their machines. Windows users just won't be allowed.
That's what DRM is - it's software that takes ownership of your computer away from you, for as long as you use that software.
It's like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, where you ask to do something core to the basic function of the hardware, and the software denies you access in order to fulfill the wishes of another. "I'm sorry, I can't do that, Dave," is replaced with disabled dialog elements.
Because as long as DRM is active, it really isn't your computer. Try to use it, and for reasons that aren't on a functional basis, it will refuse in favor of the wishes of another. Try to break those protections, and you've broken the law. By running DRM, your computer no longer exists to execute your instructions, but to execute the wishes of the DRM creator. That's what makes it "Digital Rights Management" - your rights and computer are being managed against what might be your intentions.
Ryan Fenton
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties.
If one of the parties is a convicted monopolist, the government does get involved.
Retard installs hacked DLL and breaks installation. Story at eleven!
Seriously, I like Slashdot better when there is at least some substance to the slant.
- No valid article referenced here
- Posted by kdawson
- I've known several geeks over a very long time taking the effort to differentiate the words cracking and hacking. This joke of a slashdot posting laughs at me.
So an idiot used a pirated DLL to get rid of a nagging screen and somehow this means Windows 7 has draconian DRM. Jesus Christ...I meant to say, fucking idiots. Being in bed with RIAA? What sound card? what drivers? what the fuck?
Younglings especially are not going to like when they can't rip
They might not like it, but it's not going to push many to switch away from whatever plays GTA4.
What does Xbox 360 have to do with Windows 7?
How well did that work out again? ;)
If you think you can get 38 states to sign off on a DRM banning amendment then I guess all the power to you. Personally I think the GP's was a rather absurd suggestion. A better suggestion would be encouraging people to vote with their wallet and not give Microsoft the business. I certainly won't be buying it if the summary is accurate.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Microsoft keeps feeding people crap and people keep right on eating it. Just enough crap to make people feel somewhat sick to their stomachs but apparently not enough to switch to something else.
Yes, yes, I know, Linux is doomed because it doesn't play the latest game or run Photoshop natively.
OK, time to go, gotta edit some more sound files with Audacity under Linux (no rebooting necessary, as the article implies)...
It might not let you...
Also, what is preventing a malicious app from calling it self a "copy-protected" program?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Fuckem'
--- its time we man up and quit suckin the M$ dick. And ubuntu is so awesomely usable, just in time!
And they repealed it.
I'd like to know what the original /. post refers to, but perhaps it was posted from Windows 7, which did not approve the "unauthorized" posting of a critical URL.
Anyway, with Linuxes getting better and easier to run every day, more data and apps in the cloud and Apple leading the usability charge, let's hope Windows continues its agonizing death spiral.
There's an Ubuntu for that...
Sure, over a tied in internet browser. If you think the Government is going to get involved over measures theoretically designed to protect media from all those evil pirates then I'd like to remind you that half of the Democratic Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hollywood. The other half doesn't understand the issues well and does what the first half tells them to do.
Vote with your feet. There are alternatives available to Windows.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
After reading the article I feel fairly pissed off but before I get my underwear all in a bunch could not allowing a modified dll from running be a way of preventing Trojans and viruses from compromising the user's computer?
If this is any thing but that we should all scream long and loud but let's be sure.
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
I think there is a limit to the amount of DRM the average person is willing to accept in their OS.
And I don't think we're anywhere near that limit. For decades, gamers have been content to use computers whose operating systems are designed not to run any program that isn't approved by the computer's manufacturer. Think something like the iPhone App Store, except you have to have an LLC or corporation, dedicated office space, and a past published title on another platform, just to get the SDK.
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties. It regulates the powers granted to the Government.
DRM in the US is not a transaction between two private parties. Instead, it is the *government* offering to step in and put legal force behind one party's interference with another's right to use their own property.
I suspect that the user upgraded to Win7 beta from XP - because ever since Vista there has been no "Local Settings" folder. In Vista, the old "Local Settings" folder which existed in XP was relocated to AppData\Local.
In the location of the old Local Settings folder is an NTFS junction, which merely redirects to the new AppData\Local location. Windows Explorer doesn't handle these junctions correctly and instead of redirecting you, will erroneously give you an "Access Denied" message.
Also, programs have always been able to insert themselves as exceptions into the Windows Firewall. Many applications which require internet access and which are blocked by the firewall will ask you if they can create a firewall exception for themselves. So programs have always been allowed to insert exceptions into the firewall - it's not a requirement that the program has to ask you first.
If a program is already running on your computer then it means the firewall is no longer responsible for stopping that application in any way - the firewall only protects against outside threats.
It's also far more likely that your modifications to the DLL broke something, which would explain why CS4 no longer worked. Why jump to the inane conclusion that Microsoft/Adobe are plotting against us all in some wild conspiracy?
I thought this is why no one wanted Vista. Lessons not learned it's just Vista II. DRM posing as an OS. Windows is just less capable than Linux. It's limited in what file systems you can use. You have to use there FAT-n-FLABBY gui interface. I bet you need a quad core processor and 1 TB of ram just to boot it. I say FOO!
precious, my little cupcake!
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
You need be a admin / useing UAP off / run as admin to be able to fully set permissions.
If you have a pci / pci-e (better then on board) sound card then your on board sound is the second sound card
as for apps insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Do you really want to have to deal with a allow or cancel of each little thing that a installer does?
Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL seems to based on the apps coding not the windows system doing the lock out.
> then vote with your feet and wallet. It's not like there aren't alternatives available.
Yep, there are pretty much two: Linux and BSD. Apple has it's own coziness with hardware lockdown, lock-in, and DRM. If more people would just explore the alternatives and request support for alternatives from software and hardware vendors... well... then.... those alternatives would become even better.
Kinda like the economy- if people believed the economy is better, it will be (funny how that works).
If the DRM is disclosed up front and you still buy the product then you have no one to blame but yourself.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
capturing audio is blocked on some of the new Vista computers already.
if only they would fix the USB on Reactos
Honestly. As a corporation, they act like their head was cut off a few years ago, but the body just keeps doing the same old things out of reflex, and refuses to fall over.
I am reminded of that newer TV show about the DEA, called "DEA".
I absolutely refuse to watch it. The DEA is fighting a war it LOST over 30 years ago, but that fact hasn't reached its brain yet. So it keeps stumbling around, doing the same old things the same old ways for the same old reasons, acting like it can cure societal ills through force.
They are both pathetic.
Exactly!
If I wanted to create and market a brand new mountain bike with square wheels, there's nothing in the constitution or laws that say I can't try to sell it to you.
The point is, you don't have to buy it.
I say don't drink and drive, you might spill your drink. Before you get behind the wheel just stop and think.
You know if think fast enough, I can post opinions that agree with the OP and I can ignore common sense!
O SHI--
Vista sux, cos it sux!
PS: Erm, anyway, the fact you're trying to "mess with the PS dll's" pretty much voids your argument. What were you expecting?
PPS: I'm also fairly sure you're a retard, win7 lets me record stereo mix under audacity fine, without any issues at all, the analogue hole is alive and well!
PPPS: Posting opinions on slashdot is pretty fun, isn't it!!!
This refers just to XP. You can achieve the same thing in Vista, its just that by default the Wave Out Mix is disabled and by default disabled recording sources are hidden. Annoying, yes, but also only 2 clicks away from being fixed as long as the soundcard supports it (my newest mobo has integrated sound and under XP and Vista it does not support this).
Based on this post, it sounds like that functionality present in Vista has been removed. Has it actually been removed? Because this whole post looks like mindless fud.
And, as far as Photoshop CS4, I've experienced the same sort of behavior in Vista, XP and OS X. I don't understand why they are targeting Windows 7 with it. Can someone with a level head that's used Windows 7 in combination with a CS4 product confirm that Windows 7 is doing something that isn't just part of the Adobe protective measures that are present on any other supported OS?
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
You will be called a troll...but I know you are saying the truth.
...Without going through this config and that config to change things just to get it to run. Linux is on the right track, and with more and more being handed to it by Microsoft, it needs to get on the ball and make changes. Distros need to agree on where they put config files, on all distros...
Now that's the truth...thank you!
But remember fellow slashdotter, Linux needs a beautiful interface. One that everyone or the majority of folks will look at and say "wow!" But when I suggested that Linux (read distros) needed a commonsense standard, one that will enable software to be installed from distro to distro, I was called a troll.
I am passionate GNOME user but I have looked at KDE 4.2 and what can be achieved with the QT toolkit. I must say QT is very capable and KDE 4.2 has lots of potential. When you look at the capabilities of the upcoming QT 4.5 release, you realize that Windows Vista and 7 can be given a run for their money without a lot of effort. So I supported KDE and have switched to it ever since.
Then the bombshell landed: I was informed by Linux zealots that what I call confusion on the Linux world is a feature that they, that use Linux, love to death. This is not helping us defeat Microsoft. Why is it so difficult to get?
It amazes me that folks that do the serious coding in Linux, create software that worries Microsoft and the like but cannot agree on a meaningful set of standard.
Thank you for your comment.
Vote with your feet. There are alternatives available to Windows.
Dude, you're preaching to the choir. And the government hasn't just gotten involved with the browser tie-in. There was/is that stuff with the EU and publishing specifications for their smb protocol.
more pedantically, it gave congress the right to legislate alcohol.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I mostly agree with your point. The quickest way to kill DRM is not to buy OR pirate anything that supports DRM.
My "fix" is to revoke the copyright for any programs that have DRM.
No DRMed program will ever enter the public domain in any real sense (in that it could be modified/built upon/etc.)
Who elects those politicians?
That's what happens when religious nut jobs get control of your government.
What does the EU have to do with a discussion about the US Constitution?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties.
Except for the 18th Amendment.
Local celebrity and all around gadfly Count Dracula has seemingly developed a penchant for biting the necks of his acquaintances. When asked why he began this, he replied:
"Well, I was over at Bill's house (and what a house, I might add), and he mentioned sucking the life out of the computer industry. I just put two and two together. Bill's my hero!"
Unfortunately, if you are a gamer, there aren't alternatives available. :(
after blasting away indiscriminately with a shotgun for decades, MS has unloaded at point-blank range into its own testicles.
I'm pretty sure 2009 will be the year of the Linux desktop.
Only his tendency toward a dazed stupor prevented him from screaming aloud.
Oh, please! Stop whining!
Windows 7 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The most secure and fastest O/S Microsoft has ever released.
I, for one, am going to celebrate its release by dancing in the streets naked burning all my Linux and MacOS CDs/DVDs and upgrading all my systems to Win7. I, for one, welcome our new Microsoft overlords.
Large, well funded and powerful interest groups.
Oh, you said elected and not selected. Well obviously the masses elect who they're told to. Can't have one of those crazy third party candidates who aren't all ready bought and paid for get into office.
It seems patently obvious that is merely a file protection system (as per pervious versions of Windows since way back) and not any feature that could be confirmed as DRM. I'm not certain of this as I'm still tinkering with Windows 7, but it seems that the file protection has now been extended to applications that opt-in.
.dll file changing is most often an indicator of a virus/trojan, malware etc. Least often it is some power users patching a binary. This feature existed in some form in previous versions only for system files. It was pretty badly implemented but it did protect XP/2003 from some degree of attacks.
A
Largely this feature would be a good thing if extended to applications.
Application gets exploited: Windows cans it.
Unfortunately TFA goes straight to the assumption of DRM. They also don't really attempt to circumvent it or even to actually go see if you can turn SFC off in Windows 7 (looking for it now)
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
That guy should really consider some medication. It's only Adobe. What is he expecting?
However, if it is true that certain companies get a 'freebie' pass on the firewall, I expect all hell to break loose in corporate-ville. For one thing, companies that can't bribe Microsoft to get a pass are going to be annoyed. Admins trying to lock down their networks are going to be annoyed. I don't really understand what they think they are going to get out of this....
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Of course; having an amendment that says "DRM is bad" would be pretty silly.
The idea would be to neutralize the government's ability to back up DRM and similar tech (like Trusted Computing). DRM would be a noting but a waste of money and a fun challenge if not for the DMCA. Similarly, no one's going to waste their time and money on TC hardware unless they are forced to.
So I'd envision it more like:
"Congress shall pass no law limiting the rights of persons to manipulate, operate, or otherwise utilize as they see fit any of their possessions or effects, nor the sale or trade of tools to be used for such purposes."
There ya go, "The Hacker's Amendment". And it leaves plenty of room for interpretation, just like the rest of the Constitution...
The masses. Who thinks that even if we were living under Stalin but still had CNN and lived in the good old US of A that we were the most free country on the face of the planet ever and ever to be in the future. The masses don't care about DRM, in fact, the *AA would rather they not even know it existed. As long as people can point to a country and say those people there are oppressed and we look somewhat different then them, they will think they are free. As long as the media can throw out various human rights violations in China the masses won't think that its happening here.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
What's wrong with those people?
For the last 3 years "killer commercial apps" are getting crappier and crappier and more bloated than ever before. Take for example Adobe's Suite, Autodesk's Autocad (don't get me started on 2009 version "improvements") and of course Vista with it's bloatware and all those "click here to give M$ more money by buying a useless piece or crapware or service you don't really need".
And now this?
Those people should understand that piracy is one of the two main reasons of their success. The fact that the words "photoshop" and "autocad" have replaced the phrases "image manipulation software" and "CAD software" in our every day vocabulary is because of 2 reasons:
1. the widespread pirated use of this software
2. the "magic" new versions of proprietary file formats that don't open in the older version and "need" an upgrade for no apparent reason.
This is how you become the industry standard. If you can't open dwg or doc properly (ie without paying Autodesk or M$oft) you can't take the lead in the market.
Now, do they honestly believe that they can retain this lead by having some drm scamware forbid you from installing the pirated copy of their program?
Up till now the model was this:
They put some not-so-elaborate pirate protection on the software in purpose.
Let everybody enjoy their cracked copy and produce a volume of files with our format. Also make sure that people are trained in this software without bothering too much if they train on a legal copy as long as they learn to use it and depend on it for their work.
Go only after professionals that actually make a lot of money out of their software and make sure the fines are high enough for them to be scared enough to actually buy some licenses.
Have an insane price on the software so that this balance of legally bought copies by professionals and pirated ones from "gen pop" can keep the cash flow high.
Become the leader of the market and make every new version more bloated than the previous so people need to buy new hardware to cut the hw vendors a piece of the cake.
If people need thousands of Euros/Dollars just to learn the software and use it without actually making money out of it who is going to keep using photoshop instead of GIMP? (except for those who need to print CMYK in high quality but they already fall into the pros category)
This thing will not kill only windows if it stays this way. It will hurt the big Software Companies more. I really think that the ones who will be the most unhappy from this M$oft "innovation" will be them.
PS: i am installing windows 7 just to check this and if it is really there i will be advising everybody i know to keep it away from their systems, as any sane person would.
PS2: I am a happy Debian user for almost 3 years now. Decided to switch when i saw what vista was.
Um no, the Constitution is for underlying all governing principles not your pet cause. I hate DRM more than most and have switched my OS away from windows primarily because of DRM but that said writing this stuff into the Constitution doesn't show the gravity of the DRM issue it shows how little you value an inviolate Constitution.
Interesting stuff about the sound quality degradation. I guess once again OS X takes the prize for recording artists' OS of choice. In my studio, I sometimes record up to 8 analog inputs simultaneously while playing back (an) already recorded track(s). Guess I won't be switching to Windows 7 for any of that.
From what I've seen, there are very little changes in the audio layer from Vista to Windows 7. Now in Vista, all the audio DRM stuff relates to protected audio path and only matters if you are playing a DRM's file through a player that uses it. It has no effect, whatsoever, on media you produce. I say this as someone who has actually done plenty of audio production on a Vista system.
Now as for the audio thing it sounds like one or maybe both of two possibilities:
1) Crappy drivers. Windows 7 is still in the beta stage, and thus so are drivers for it. Some companies are rather fast with drivers for that and they are essentially release quality. Other companies suck at the drivers and thus have poor (or no) drivers out. Check a hardware board and you'll find all kinds of people saying "Where can I get Windows 7 drivers for my soundcard?"
2) Crappy hardware. Not all soundcards are created equal. You will find professional soundcards on the market that can handle 96 simultaneous inputs, 96 simultaneous outputs all at 24-bit 96kHz without dropping a sample. You'll also find cheap consumer cards that can't even do what they claim on the box. One thing that cheap cards have problems with more often than they should is operating full duplex, meaning outputting sound and inputting it at the same time. Some just plain can't do it, others can do it but have to cut the input or output sample rate, others are just flaky. Just because a soundcard has inputs, doesn't mean it deals with them well, since that is a feature many users don't make use of.
So I'd want to see this done in a properly controlled setup: It a quality, current, soundcard that is known to have good input and output quality, and known to have no issues doing both at the same time. Also ensure there are beta drives out from the company that don't state any major problems. Put it in a system and try it in Vista and make sure it works. Then Put Windows 7 on that same system, and try it again. If there's a problem, ok well then maybe there is something to this (though I'd still be interested in drivers). If not, and I suspect not, then this guy needs to STFU.
I get more than a little tired of morons who have a problem on their system and instantly run and blame the OS. No, it is often NOT the OS's fault. I get even more tried of all the FUD surrounding MS and DRM. I heard all this crap about Vista's audio DRM and how it was going to not let you control your own music. Well guess what? It is all 100% bullshit. You can record in Vista, you can mix and master in Vista, you can encode to non-DRM's format, including MS's own Windows Media format (which has no DRM by default, you have to set it up yourself). Vista doesn't at all mind or interfere.
This really strikes me as more of the same. I mean the guy is clearly a moron. He goes and downloads a crack for CS4, let's not play make believe like that's what he wasn't doing, and it doesn't work. So he blames Windows? What the hell? Then a random rant about audio. Ya, I'm thinking no.
I can't for sure say he's wrong, I've not yet test Windows 7 my self, but his story has all the markings of BS.
DRM in the US is not a transaction between two private parties. Instead, it is the *government* offering to step in and put legal force behind one party's interference with another's right to use their own property.
Once again, it's not property: it's information.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
9/10 things posted by this arsehole turn out to be fud.
It especially doesn't make sense as MS's yearly net profits exceed the entire gross revenues of either the recording or movie industries.
What's with the tail wagging the dog here?
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Is DRM really what we're talking about here?
A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version.
People keep complaining about how easy it is for viruses and malware to infect Windows PCs. Microsoft and/or Adobe figure out a way to secure Photoshop to prevent the executable code from being modified, and you bitch that they shouldn't have. Not only that, but rather than doing some research to try to find out exactly why it doesn't work with your hacked DLL (and whether this security feature can be easily turned off), you blindly assume it must be some new invasive form of DRM that Microsoft is pushing on the unsuspecting masses.
With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark). This may be the tip of the iceberg.
Is English your native language? If not, your grammar is definitely excusable. However, I think it's dangerous to confuse DRM itself (which is avoidable simply by refusing to purchase DRM-encumbered media) with attempts to close the analog hole, which are a pain in the ass for everybody.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Well, if they want to Vista-ize this new version, see where it gets them.
BTW, Linux sux! Go FreeBSD!
As you may notice if you read my comment, it was about the DRMs and not about Windows version X (which I don't really care because I don't use at all). The DRMs are starting to be omnipresent and this is really bad, just try by yourself to copy a scene from a bluray movie to include it in a report, a parody, a backup or any other fair use, you will find that there are obstacles in your way.
Even if you would settle for a downgrade of the artwork it will be difficult to find something to convert the HDMI ouput signal to something recordable because of HDCP feature of HDMI.
Content publishers, hardware manufacturers and software publishers are working hands in hands to lock the cultural content in DRMs. To all this insanity you add the american DMCA and patent office to it and you will find that there is an oligopoly protected by the governement which is impeding seriously in your access to culture.
I'm not an american, I'm not even a constitutional expert in my country but I would think that access to culture should be a civil right and that any civil right should be part of the constitution of every countries.
Just think of what you are not advocating for a minute.
No. It is a fundamental right of companies to be able to include DRM in software along with everything else they see fit. The problem is it is also a fundamental right for someone to have the right to take it out, to use it however they see fit, to modify it, to change it, to install it on their toasters if they can make the binary run.
There is nothing wrong with software developers using DRM, it however is outragious that us, the consumers cannot change these programs to remove the DRM or make unrestricted files.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
If the DRM is disclosed up front and you still buy the product then you have no one to blame but yourself.
Most DRM would be irrelevant if the government weren't willing to throw people in the slammer for disabling it or helping others to disable it. Without this radical government intrusion into your own personal affairs, you wouldn't have to blame anyone because most DRM would be hacked into oblivion.
umm, doood, why is PS not working when you swap out one of its DLLs with a "hacked" version some evidence of DRM? Adobe is perfectly capable of creating their own convoluted licensing enforcement without Microsoft getting involved.
And I must ask, if you are looping the output into the input of your sound card (which you seem to be doing) do you even have the competence to ensure you don't get good old fashioned feedback? This "story" really reminds me of some of the stuff I overhear from the seventh graders at the school where I work.
Do the Slashdot rubber stampers even read this stuff before putting it on the front page? Or is this some devious troll because we all quit reading idle?
"Proximity to wonder has blunted our perception and appreciation of it" --Tim Hartnell in 'Exploring ARTIFICIAL INTELLI
I'm sure these DRM measures will put an end to "piracy" this time. 20 years later, I guess all we needed was degraded soundcard input to shut those a55holes down!
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Just because the author does not know how to change something does not make it "locked".
Torrents, web browser, reads my old NTFS files, runs QEmu and VMWare if I get to that point, I'm making the switch.
I spent years reversing applications that ran on windows, learned about Windows API so I could make it do what I wanted, x86 assembly so I could debug windows (as well as shareware that was free for linux, paid for windows), documented IE6 bugs and Explorer quirks, figured out where the usesless registry keys are, and finally how to replace system files when they come with arbitrary limits (half-open connections) because of all the holes for the malware I spent years learning about so I could take it off friends', family's, and customers' computers.
I know a hell of a lot about Microsoft's shitty platform, and the only reason I know about it is because Microsoft kept pissing me off. Over and over. I'm making a list of why windows sucks. I'll paste it in here, after my VPN's computer g-mails it to my non-VPN'ed computer because I can't find my flash drive and VPN skips the router. My point is, if I had spent that time being able to accomplish something instead of being driven to fix as much of the turdpile as I could, if I'd had something that "Just works", I'd have turned out a different person. For good or for bad, the fact that Microsoft turned out year after year of mediocre dogshit affected my personality and life experience in ways I'll never truly understand.
I haven't re-read this, there might be some rough edges.
Why Microsoft sucks.
Bottom line, solutions are "good enough" and they let users deal with
it. Instead of spending the extra time to go back and fix an
obviously half-baked idea. Yes engineering large systems like the
dominant OS, Office suite, and development platforms can be difficult.
But making your products both hard to use and unavoidable is what
breeds so much hate from its forced user base.
Visual Studio
=============
If you exclude a file from build in ASP.NET, it actually renames the
file. Despite all of the project files and extra junk it creates, it
can't mark a file as 'do not build'. I realize this is a deficiency
in ASP.NET and Visual Studio is just working around the problem, but
why would VS have to work around something made by the same company?
It's a quick hack, and developers can appreciate it, but you're
changing the filesystem to suit your application. Particularly
annoying when using some version of source control, otherwise probably
not a big deal.
Internet Explorer
=================
Ignores cache settings on AJAX (Microsoft.XMLHTTP). If you're making
an AJAX call, aren't you specifically looking for the latest data? I
think this was an optimization to make it look like it worked faster
(either IE as a client or IIS as a server). But it's the opposite of
what should happen - developers should decide when to refresh and when
to not refresh, either by setting a flag or by only making the call
when necessary. As it is I have searched for tips and still have to
manually delete temporary internet files to see an update. The
recommended solution is to add a random string to the end like "&r=" +
randomnumber() or "&date=" + Now(). this bypasses smart caching
solutions, like the ASP.NET output cache, which requires re-creating
the page output even when the server knows the file hasn't changed.
Setting request headers does not work, since AJAX decides whether to
load from cache before putting the request together.
Largely ignores web standards, team was disbanded and work suspended
for 5 years while countless developers banged their heads against the
wall trying to implement standard code while the dominant browser
required IE-specific hacks, often taking advantage of bugs in IE's
parsing to hide valid CSS from IE, or allow only IE to see it.
Windows
=======
Priority should be on what users want to do. Starting the "Run"
dialog by putting a request in a worker queue using threa
Funny enough piracy is just an excuse to implement DRM. Making people buy media >N times for N devices instantly dwarfs any profits lost to pirates. The pirates will still buy the media 0 times for N devices, and honest law-abiding consumers will pay >N times to subsidise the pirates. It benefits everyone except the honest consumer.
The trend is towards more piracy, not less, so ultimately there will be 1 person paying for 2-3 billion copies and everyone else gets it free. Of course long before then DRM will be gone and people will return to paying for things zero or one times.
Sam ty sig.
If the DRM is disclosed up front
Since when is that the case? Unless you're willing to do a lot of research up front, it's not as though there's a DefectiveByDesign label on it.
and you still buy the product
Then you should still have the right to reverse engineer it. The DMCA is what made this a government issue. Repeal that and I don't care about touching the constitution.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
DRM in the US is not a transaction between two private parties. Instead, it is the *government* offering to step in and put legal force behind one party's interference with another's right to use their own property.
Methinks you confuse "DRM" with "DMCA".
My hardware can operate on information, but the hardware is still my property.
So close, yet so far. I'll correct it for you:
This is like him putting proprietary locks on the axles, then you buying the bicycle and bitching that there are locks on the axles.
You may think the order doesn't matter; it does.
Here's an even more accurate version:
This is like him putting proprietary locks on the axles, forcing you to sign a contract acknowledging existence of the locks, then you buying the bicycle and bitching that there are locks on the axles.
Programs have been able to add exceptions to windows firewall for as long as I can remember. uTorrent does it automatically and I very much doubt MS gave them a free pass. Windows firewall isn't designed to keep programs from accessing the net, it's designed to keep external programs from getting in.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
Who elects those politicians?
The oligarchy appoints a set to choose from and mindless idiots pick the prettiest one.
Only his tendency toward a dazed stupor prevented him from screaming aloud.
Microsoft's revenue stream is shrinking. What do you expect them to do? There are alternatives out there that the stupidest person is capable of handling. So shut up.
And hey! Ubuntu! Microsoft is practically giving you the home-user and small business PC market. If you can't make some money now you need to go out of business.
And hey! Debian. Sweeet!
as for apps insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Do you really want to have to deal with a allow or cancel of each little thing that a installer does?
No it doesn't need to be a separate prompt for each action... but it should prompt with a complete list of system changes and ask for permission on the bulk.
Sadly,the DMCA precludes Linux distributions from distribution libdvdcss and the codecs required for this. The parts of DMCA that does this need to be repealed. I support the preclusion of pirating of copyrighted content. If an author want tolimit copying of his/her content, they should be able to do so. However, if I purchase a DVD or download content from YouTube or other sites that provide gratis content I should be able to view/listen to that content on my Linux box with the same (or better) ease than on a Windoze box. I also want more control over the services installed on my computer. The crap Windows apps stick all over the hard drive and bury in the registry is an abomination. All file/component identities and locations should be disclosed to the user.
If you're a convicted monopolist you are no longer a monopolist, JACKASS!
That's who's attacking the whole Windows-IE tie-in deal. It's the EU, not the US.
After all these years you're still not getting it, pal. This isn't an argument over creators rights, which present day IP has very little respect for. It's about government protected monopolistic distributors interfering with the rights of consumers. Everybody's more than happy to pay the creator for their work in the same fashion the rest of us get paid.
What?
Makes you wonder if the tail is really the *AAs and perhaps not some other group or agency that has friends in high places. Of course, it's conspiratorial for me to say anything like that. I have trouble seeing where the money is going with moves like this too, and sometimes think it's easy to say it's not money that is changing hands but perhaps a get out of jail free card or two.
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Honestly, how difficult is it to provide a reference to backup this claim. Not a single citation or screen shot. The poster is messing around with hacked DLLs to patch a 'legit' copy of an application? There's a lot of credibility in that statement. It's unfortunate, but Slashdot is quickly becoming the National Enquirer of the technology community.
I read the article and WOW. User incompetence is what passes for an article to attack MS now? Not one thing in the article had anything to do with DRM and LOADS to do with an incompetent user. I know their stuff is improving but surely we don't have to resort to this shit to attack them ....... oops I take that back I see it is a dawson special. nothing to see here move along.
I was looking forward to Microsoft possibly putting out an operating system that didn't suck awfully- and then it turns out that they deliberately introduce nonsense like degrading audio input quality while sound is playing. I beg your pardon, MS, but this appears to be _my_ machine and I'd like to use it to its full potential and not some RIAA-sanctioned subset that means I can't record my own speaker output or use a 3rd-party DLL!
Admittedly, I don't ever actually need to record speaker output, but that strikes me as one of those situations where it's none of Microsoft's business and I should be able to if need be.
Because there's no such thing?
Windows DRM is just signed code and an API to answer the question "is everything in this chain signed by trusted parties?". So your BluRay player app is trusted, can check the signatures of all the drivers on the way to the HDCP output, and will decrypt the disc, and play it over protected path (which is just a permissions thing - nothing sinister).
You can mess with this shit as much as you like and the OS won't stop you. You'll just break the signatures - and that means your WhateverPlayer application will refuse to play. That'll teach you to buy DRM content. Next time get unprotected content.
If you felt like it you can create your own chain of trust for Authenticode and DRM, etc. It won't be part of everyone elses trust chain - but then you can go make your own DRM content and tell Sony to fuck off. Bonus points if its porn involving a Sony executives mum. :D
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
A guy gets on here and makes a bunch of unsourced statements about MS and everyone laps them up like mother's milk.
It's funny how the most recent scuttlebutt has been about how Windows 7 is really just Vista SP3 and is no different from Vista and boy isn't it amazing how MS just keeps putting out Vista with a different name.
Yet apparently, this OS that is just another version of Vista is so radically different that it changes the very nature of hardware access.
Fully aware that the Nazi's will mod this down into invisibility, but had to post it anyway, for pete's sake people, get a life.
Wow! and some people think doing a "sudo chown -R me:me somedir" is hard. wait til you get a load of the hoops you have to jump through to do the same thing on win7!
Windows does to the idea of computing approximately what the abolition of indepently-owned cars would do to the idea of transportation.
You could very likely get to the top 60-70% of places that people tend to go very easily. You could go to the closest 98-screen multiplex and see a movie. You could be walking through the door of walmart inside of 10 minutes.
But farmer's markets? Going directly to your friend's house? Not a chance.
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
I would also presume that, unlike the story author, he's not a complete moron. Windows does have safeguards in place to protect users from themselves. There are folders that you shouldn't mess with that it'll deny you access from by default. You also can override any of it. Simply take ownership of the object and grant yourself permission. If an administrator doesn't have permission to an object and doesn't own it they can't change permission. However, they can change ownership. So just own it to you. At that point, you can change permission even if you don't have it.
This is how the NTFS security model has worked since at least NT4, and probably since NT 3.1 (the first version). If you don't know that, well then you probably ought not be mucking around in those folders. Windows also hides them by default to keep you from getting at them, but again you just turn that off.
Everyone involved with this article is pretending to be smart. Proof is that I can still record fine from Stereo Mix (and Mono Mix for that matter) under windows 7, but those involved here are too stupid to actualy enable that particular mixer line in the options specific to enabling and disabling mixer lines.
Control Panel -> Sound -> Recording -> Right Click -> Show Disabled Devices
FUCKING RETARDS.
"His name was James Damore."
The media cartel would still make it more worthwhile to Microsoft - who have their own interests - to do these things than not do them.
The only thing they will respond to is a mass boycott. And considering this is Windows, which is pretty much locked into most large scale networks as it is, not to mention end users' homes, good luck.
Let's stop dilly-dallying and just change "-1: Overrated" to "-1: Disagree" or "-1: Doesn't Subscribe to Groupthink".
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. If they put an amendment in there limiting how many times you can shake after you pee, then it's legally binding. What are they gonna do, rule it unconstitutional?
(Pedantic rant aside, I'm not advocating GP's idea.)
I had a teacher once to whom I mentioned the word "Linux." He said, "Oh, that's the new version of Windows, right?" That was 6 years ago, but we still might be able to fool people. Maybe it needs to be suggested more as a Windows *competitor* than a Windows *alternative.*
Then it is an issue for the courts to deal with, not legislators. (NEVER give congress something important to do, they'll fuck it up every time.)
Here's the thing - I've always known that you can find any song you want on youtube, right? So I'd just look up a song, loop an audio cable from my output to input, and receive the audio in audacity as I play the song in youtube. Now, it seems somebody has caught on to this as Windows 7 is degrading the audio quality through the input. wasn't planning on running 7 outside of a VM anyways, but it just pisses me off after I've told my friends how to do this (yes I have friends although this is /., yes I've told them about Linux many times).
In addition to that, Youtube is now killing the sound on "violation" videos like I mentioned, and I soon won't be able to even do this in Ubuntu, since it's being killed at the source, unless I just use up my Rhapsody trials. I know I'm kind of milking th system, and this is just what DRM/RIAA is out to stop, but come on - I have stacks and stacks of legitimately bought CDs and LPs (from back in the day) of most of the songs I'm recording like this, so its not like its 100% bad, right? If it keeps up I might just have to start loading up all those CDs one-by-one (don't ask about the cassettes, 8-tracks, LPs and few laserdiscs I own).
Kdawson always posts complete and utter bullshit, but this really is over the line. I've been reading Slashdot for a long long time, but if this is seriously what makes it on the front page these days, there's really no point in even visiting here anymore.
It's been real everyone, last one out hit the lights.
If you don't like the DRM in Windows 7/Vista/XP/whatever then vote with your feet and wallet. It's not like there aren't alternatives available.
Actually, Microsoft has been found by the US and European governments to be a monopoly. There are not reasonable alternatives available if you want to use their proprietary file formats and run most computer software.
For this reason, the government is responsible for stepping in when the monopoly is abusing its power to sell customers' rights to the highest bidder. The customer has no option in the PC market except to bend over and take it.
Weird, none of the stuff in the article above is true on my Win 7 install. None of it. CS4 works like a charm, no hacking required. Capturing sound is really easy too, this whole thing is not just FUD, it's a bare-faced pack of lies. Shame on you /. for just accepting this utter nonsense because it speaks to your biases.
Windows 7 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The most secure and fastest O/S Microsoft has ever released.
Oh come on.. They only released a beta recently. You can't really tell if it's that bad yet.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
Hi, can I have an article with that posting please?
No? How about some facts...like which DLL was replaced, what audio card they tested with, some steps on how to replicate the "being locked out of your own local settings folder?"
Oh, wait...another high-quality kdawson posting. Move along, nothing to see here.
I know kdawson is an incompetent moron. but really this is getting ridiculous.
how about you do some basic research before you display your incompetence to the world.
heres a few hints,
a) look up windows permissions and specifically file ownership permissions
b) look up windows file protection.
I know that this is gonna shock you but neither have anything to do with DRM and lots to do with your incompetence.
Windows is getting so user-unfriendly...
I'm happy I can just become root (either log-in to X as root, or open a terminal and do su - both are acceptable if you are knowledgeable enough to start messing with dlls) when necessary. And that Linux just allows me to mess around, no questions asked.
While certainly a commendable course of action, it bears recognizing that a legislative revision is most certainly in order even if not at the level of a constitutional amendment, as it is currently, and rather ridiculously, a federal offense to work around such DRM, even if no copyright violation takes place. So, ostensibly, under the terms of the DMCA, even the act of installing a second sound card to try to get around this obnoxious and unconscionable crippling imposed by Microsoft, which impedes even the copying of a user's self-produced media, would itself comprise "circumvention" and put such a user at odds with the law. This is truly a ridiculous and untenable state of affairs.
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
wow..lucky that is so easy and fast...
goodbye linux and your confusing, lengthy "sudo chmod +777" process...im off to the greener pastures of windows 7!
In the math for Windows TCO, how much you pay to get it, is included "Your computer"?
Yes but similarly I would be allowed to switch the wheels for round wheels, (or triangle wheels if I felt like it) but with the DMCA it is equivalent to mandating that all bikes with square wheels cannot be swapped for round wheels.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
MS's yearly net profits exceed the entire gross revenues of either the recording or movie industries.
Aha! Proof that you damn kids with your pirating and your torrenting of bits and your, your, your... downloading... are costing them googles of money. Once Microsoft implements their perfect plan to keep you kids off the RIAA's lawn for good, their revenues will triple, or quadruple, or gazoople... or something.
Insightful and funny are really the same thing, except one has a punch line.
No it would not. It would help a bit, but it's not enough. You should have access to the media files you buy, not just the ones for which someone has figured out a way break the DRM.
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
Yeah, yeah. Fine, fine.
I like Linux too.
But this sort of thing isn't new in the Windows world. Managing file ownership and permission hasn't changed much since NT 4.
It hasn't gotten worse since then. The problem is that it hasn't gotten better, either.
Kid-proof tablet..
What about using Grooveshark? [google it]. It probably has better audio quality than YouTube anyways.
Install your sound card drivers - stereo mix appears.
I have a legal version of CS4, it works fine and requires no hacking to make work.
Firewall? Why do you care that it's opening Bonjour ports? Maybe the part about contacting Adobe to activate?
The DRMs are starting to be omnipresent and this is really bad
Says who? Apple and Amazon both offer DRM free music for download.
Content publishers, hardware manufacturers and software publishers are working hands in hands to lock the cultural content in DRMs
Again, says who? The only reason DRM is at all successful is because people continue to buy it. Stop buying DRM'ed products and they'll disappear pretty quickly.
but I would think that access to culture should be a civil right and that any civil right should be part of the constitution of every countries.
You can access culture. You just can't access some parts of culture because of the intentions of the publisher of that culture. Don't do business with him and he'll stop doing it or go out of business. Problem solved.
Just think of what you are not advocating for a minute.
I'm not advocating changing a 200 year old document over a software issue.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
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The US Constitution already makes it explicit that the purpose of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and any other intellectual property law is "to promote the progress of science and the useful arts". All it takes is a judge to rule that a law making DRM enforceable is hindering scientific progress (or not time limited), and the law is unconstitutional, thus freeing people to circumvent DRM as appropriate.
Downloading the flv (with Flashgot media or otherwise) then using FLV Extract is faster and will result in better quality audio.
For the sake of civil liberties, culture and sanity and as weird as it may seems I am not joking. Laws are made by the people for the people and some disconnected tenants of some ivory towers need to be reminded of it.
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties. It regulates the powers granted to the Government. If you don't like the DRM in Windows 7/Vista/XP/whatever then vote with your feet and wallet. It's not like there aren't alternatives available.
You want to amend a document that's only been changed 27 times in ~200 years over computer software? Just think about what you are advocating for a minute.
Whoa, I don't know how often you use a computer gramps, but like most people nowadays I use a computer 90% of my waking day, which is worth a constitutional amendment if its a positive one.
tl;dr
Oh, we are talking about just the US, aren't we? (Insert sheepish grin) In that case, you're right. The US government won't do shit.
and you use Windows?
What is...?
All you zeolot idiots are so fuckin one-eyed! The guy is trying to replace a dll for a start. Who in ordinary userland would know how to do that, you have to admit its kinda 'out there'.
And when Windows hinders him because it detects something amiss you all cry foul and Micrososft is trying to control my life whaa whaa!
Imagine if the system let you randomly replace dll's of applications with whatever you wanted. Then all you fucktards would be up in arms about the poor security, and you can't believe Microsoft is so inept, and unix would never allow such a travesty blah blah...
I know that no matter what Microsoft does you will always assume the worst, but this is ridiculous!
I bet the clown was double-clicking the 'Documents and Settings' junction in the root of the C: drive.
Hmm, nice tip, and seems DRM-proof as far as TFA is concerned, too. Could easily be blocked by MS, I'm sure, but hey.
We know DRM exists and what it does. What is interesting to me is how few technology people know what it is. One of my older brothers makes his living supporting Microsoft apps and runs his whole home on various Microsoft technologies and when I mentioned to him about DRM, he asked me what that was and he thought I was crazy when I told him.
All of this stuff being written into the operating system sounds like a HUGE and CRAZY conspiracy theory... and yet we know it exists and whose interests it serves. How many other crackpot ideas get written off because they sound too far fetched to be believed? It isn't in Microsoft's interests to include what is there, so whose interests are they serving and why? We'll never know the answer to that. We only know that pure Open Source will never be able to hide those things.
gaming just milk kids to support the development of raw power for USEFUL stuff, talk about CAD or desktop publishing and companies with a finger in their ass because the inventory of tax software just runs on Windows.
Even Ubuntu has a long, long, way to go before it reaches the level of "just works" of even Windows.
What is wrong with most of the posters here? Yes, you dislike MS and their practices, Open Source is great, hurrah hurrah!
This article is vague and offers no proof. It's posted by kdawson. Have there been any other similar reports?
I've been using the beta builds 7000 and 7022 without any of the troubles experienced by the OP. I've recorded streaming audio, I've used both authorized and unauthorized software without problem, and I've had no working with protected or system files.
Am I worried Microsoft is going to put draconian DRM in Windows 7? Oh yes. But I'm going to wait for proof before I raise a fuss and sling dirt.
I wish I had stopped to consider this earlier, but why are we taking this at face value? The post contains no proof of his claims.
"Its on the internet; it must be true!" really shouldn't fly, even if it is Microsoft we're talking about.
This will kill hobbyists, like amateur speaker designers, who rely on simultaneous high-quality input and output, to collect data in response to an output from the audio jacks. I guess the days of using a sound card as a cheap analog measuring device are gone.
Well, that depends on how far you're willing to stretch interstate commerce. It would be hard to argue that selling software these days is not interstate commerce.
Maybe 7 works a little more smoothly, but the DRM and firewall behaviour is not any different from what Vista does. The moral of the story is that if you want to edit multi-media, then you have to use a Mac (or Linux) and it has never been any different really.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Worked out pretty well against weed in 1937. It only failed with Prohibition because it was an attack on alcohol... not on private party transactions.
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams
Why not, since booting to Linux is (provided all the hardware support is happening) guaranteed to let you do whatever you want with your media, files, and software?
This seems like as good a jumping point as any. With any luck, enough people will realize this and make said jump and we'll all have Microsoft to thank for it.
Just think that for at least a decade now the main bullet point on the glossy full color box of the computer-as-toaster has been "create and share your own multimedia!" One by one users of Windows 7 will discover that they can't actually do this to their satisfaction anymore and abandon ship for Linux or, more likely, Mac.
Sounds like a winner to me.
You took a beta operating system, installed a cracked program, and then after some stuff went completely screwy, started blame Windows for all of this? I haven't really tested Windows 7 but I seriously doubt it locks you out of Local Settings folder. Adding Exceptions to Firewall has been around since XP and Vista but I believe if you have UAC enabled, it will complain about that. Usability vs Security and Microsoft compromised with UAC if I remember correctly. Besides, hoping your firewall picks up some nasty and prevents it communicating outbound after you have executed is little much.
Then, you took some Audio recording program which probably hasn't been updated for Windows 7 (and that's possibly cracked since your so willing to crack Photoshop) with beta quality drivers and ended up with some crappy quality audio. Instead of ruling out drivers, operating system compatibility between programs you were using and lack of any form of nasty payload on this cracked software, you have determined that Microsoft is completely in bed with RIAA and Adobe to completely screw everyone over.
This article doesn't even count as news, it looks like shit you would find on digg and kdawson should have his editor privileges revoked for letting this be cleared for publication. Next article cleared for publication by kdawson: "Black Helicopters seen over Redmond, Washington. Microsoft in bed with CIA and developing brain reader. Get your tinfoil."
He just needs to find a better crack but seriously /. is posting a story about a dude using a crack on a "ligament" purchase of software which is BS on its own but anyways the dll hack to bypass the nag works I've been using a version of it for over a month this is a Classical PEBKAC.
If anything based on things I've found on my own this is most likely Microsoft's more aggressive Data Execution Prevention that is in Windows 7. It breaks a lot of the no-cd cracks people use cause they're badly done and trigger the DEP in Windows 7 one just needs to find a better one.
Why all of you are so frustrated?! That's great news! I even cross my fingers for Micro$hit. Let them do what they wanna do. After Vista it seems to be another opportunity for Linux/Unix based OS'es to gain a grip around Windows throat. Wouldn't you like to see the fall of a Goliath again? I'd love to.
This is about order! Who rules!
if by "just works" you mean "just works to RIAA's satisfaction"
Really, the best way is to send mails to Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc and tell them to support LINUX and NOT Windows. If we can get them to stop putting Windows on every system they sell, Microsoft would be open to listening to those they are hurting by including DRM.
True Apple Story -
I bought my wife an iPhone. First Apple product I've purchased in a LONG time. Makes for a lovely phone -- but we can't access the "Apple Store" and also can't put media onto the device. We use Solaris and Linux.
I get iTunes running under Wine, and sign up for the Apple Store. This allows my wife to buy from the Apple Store. Yeah!
Now, my wife wants a case for the device. She purchases a case; all seems good for a couple of days. But... the phone begins to behave "oddly". It turns the screen off, but leaves calls connected, and other (more minor) ailments.
We book an appointment to the Apple "Genius Bar". We are told we MUST attach the iPhone to a computer at least once; that the problem is the "old software". Ok, we explain that we have no computer capable. Answer: well, then use someone elses.. "Will you do it?". Answer: no.
My wife works as a librarian -- she has a circulation desk computer with Windows XP. Downloads and installs iTunes, plugs in the iPhone, and is asked "Do you want to sync automatically or manually?". That's really it! She chose "manual", because she didn't want to put all of her personal photos on that computer. Bad mistake... "Are you sure you want to upgrade?" "Yes" --- and BOOM! All the data is GONE. Just... vaporized... She calls Apple Support "Oh, yes, that would happen; there is nothing that can be done".
Miserable, miserable, miserable... Complete data destruction without even a "are you sure" dialog. And it's all iTunes fault. Why do we use it? DRM. The Apple iPhone databases CANNOT be updated without anything else. We have a perfectly servicable application (Amarok) that we use for playback, but it no longer works to load music. Gotta use that iTunes shitware. Even a self-booting DOS or Linux disk for updating, *or* a failsafe firmware updater...
And, as a final added insult -- the Genius Bar was wrong. The problem was that the iPhone 3G requires specific cases, and the case being used was wrong (it was an iPhone case). Go figure. I'm still buying a "Mac Mini" as an accessory to the iPhone, but still -- this is what DRM does. Locks out people who could possibly do a better job of it.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
First of all, let me just say that that last bit ("I would think that access to culture should be a civil right") was spoken like a true Quebecker, and in a good way.
Secondly, and this is a legitimate question, I think (I really want to know!) - isn't it possible to make a little recorder box to plug in as an intermediary between your speakers/monitor and the computer? Have it record what gets piped through the wires, rather than trying to do it via software, which is apparently getting locked down in increasingly effective ways. Or is there something that would prevent this from being as easy as it sounds?
What's this? Another weblog? On transit?
All those defending Windows, Adobe and dll signing have missed this...
That said, there needs to be more thorough checking of what has been done, by all parties.
Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
If enough folks wanted to, certainly a constitutional amendment is possible! Better yet, amend the constitution to make illegal the criminal conversion of ideas into so called silly property ('intangible property'). Then make it also require the unanimous vote of both houses of congress, the president, and the unanimous vote of all the state legislators in all of the states in order to change or eliminate this amendment.
"Funny"? More like "Insightful".
Just because some idiot makes it does not mean than another idiot hast to buy it.
Boycott Microsoft.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
Makes you wonder if the tail is really the *AAs and perhaps not some other group or agency that has friends in high places. Of course, it's conspiratorial for me to say anything like that.
It's the lizards. It's always the lizards.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Yes people are generally stupid and will say stupid crap that goes along with your agenda. As the stupid Mojave experiment proved you can go onto the streets and find people who know jack about good software or hardware and have them say good stuff about a product they played with for 15 mins. If insulting windows users intelligence was their goal then they succeeded just like with those stupid Seinfeld commercials. If only people were not so retarded for windows MS would have to make a product better instead of worse to resell it.
"Congress shall pass no law limiting the rights of persons to manipulate, operate, or otherwise utilize as they see fit any of their possessions or effects, nor the sale or trade of tools to be used for such purposes."
So I can build my machine shop right next door to your house, put in a runway for my private jet, and start work on assembling my nuclear weapon. Of course, we don't need any of those pesky electrical standards or fire regulations either....
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
Except being a monopoly isn't a crime. Abusing the position is...and no, it doesn't mean you're no longer doing it...it just means you need to be more careful...
Why don't you do something about it You call yourself Pictish Prince but you sit around moaning about stuff on /. Shouldn't you get all William Wallace on the oligarchy or something?
"They can away the built in Admin account's right to write to Local Settings, but they can't take our Freedom!"
Or for that matter the built in Admin account's right to change the permissions on Local Settings. Hint Hint.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
I think Windows is officially in the fading phase of its existence: Adobe has FINALLY (After first announcing it way back in 2003) released a 64 bit Flash player - and it's for Linux, not Windows. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a major release of anything coming out on Linux first.
Now we can go on and on about the suckitude of Flash and it's overuse, but I still think this Linux-only release is a great turning point for Windows and Linux. Especially now that word about worse DRM is in place on Windows 7. The latest flop of a dying fish.
I'll make a list.
I begin to see why people block kdawson articles.
Summary: Blaming Microsoft for behavior of third-party code, can't take 5 minutes to figure out where Stereo Mix recording has moved to, and declares that a folder that has been locked since Vista for compatibility reasons newly locked once he did something completely unrelated, without checking to see if it was related. Yup, sounds like fail to me.
Makes you wonder if the tail is really the *AAs and perhaps not some other group or agency that has friends in high places. Of course, it's conspiratorial for me to say anything like that.
It's the lizards. It's always the lizards.
You anti-amphibites make me sick.
And nothing of value was gained.*
Win+R %APPDATA%\Local
* Obviously I mean just this specific folder, when you have other drives this is useful for fixing permissions set in another OS that are not valid in your newly installed OS.
Did Windows firewall also do all that other stuff?
ie: "locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled! "
No sig today...
'Windows Genuine Advantage' is not an advantage but a pain in the ass to deal with. Having to change settings just so I can see file extensions and my own files is a pain as well. I've not tried windows 7, but it sounds like it's built for people who cannot be bothered to ever actually learn about their computers. Let me guess, the Premium Ultra Mega Business Edition will actually allow you to access all of your files in all of the directories. Microsoft is going to annoy those people who know nothing about computers with all the crap it does without telling anyone, and those of us who know anything about computers will get frustrated when the operating system we paid for locks us out of portions of drive. . and then messing with the soundcard so it does not function as intended?!? Who's brilliant idea was that I wonder. I do a bit of amateur music production and because I'm a broke single parent/college student I use my laptop as a recording studio. I use guitar FX pedals connected from the sound output through a mixer--because I hate using a mouse to move sliders--looped back through the audio input. . It seems like such a stupid way to 'stop' the pirating of drm'd music. Those that want to do it can either use an older machine, or use multiple soundcards. This will only really serve to annoy the casual user once again. I wonder if this also would degrade the quality of a non-usb headset mic/headphones. Gah. . Microsoft seems to want to turn computers into a glorified console where the normal user cannot do anything that is not 'allowed' by them. Well, if this is their strategy I'm going to be keeping my XP for many years to come.
Insert witty sig here.
I been saying it and saying it that the DRM in Win7 hadn't been turned on and that is why they are getting good performance out of it now. Vista Beta 1 ran great for me too, but that was the pre DRM version. All of this DRM crap has to monitor you to keep "criminals" like the owner of the PC from doing as they like 24/7/365. All of that monitoring takes up CPU and RAM that could have been used for your stuff.
Mark my words, what we are seeing here is the tiniest tip of the turd iceberg that is Win7, AKA Vista the second edition. It will go down in flames as folks find out it is a big pile of stink just like Vista. That is why just yesterday I had a customer literally throw money at me saying "make this %^&^&$ POS Vista go away! I don't want to see this thing again until XP is on it!". So mark my words, Linux guys. Be getting your A games ready. Be doing everything you can to fix the little irritants like Winprinters because when Vista7 goes down in flames you are going to have a LOT of POed folks looking for a new direction. And Apple is just too damned expensive for John Q. Average. So this is your shot, make it count. I doubt seriously after Win7 goes down in flames that Ballmer will have a job and the next guy they bring in will probably be one of the MS Office guys and he will go back to dull and boring business OSes(Oh,Lord,please let it be so!) so you guys probably won't get a third at bat.
I for one would like some healthy competition to make the marketplace more fair so don't miss your shot,make it count. Because a moron as stupid as Ballmer only comes around once in a lifetime and you don't want to miss it.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
In the case of audio, as long as digital connections aren't mandated, fine. Once they are, you'll need to open up the speaker, and solder into the lines where the speaker gets the ultimate analog signal.
In the case of video, no. HDCP specifically encrypts the signal to keep you from intercepting it. You'll have to open up the monitor, disconnect the LCD panel from its controller, and simulate the panel itself with your box - which means, your box will be specific to one specific model of monitor, and even then, possibly only one revision of that monitor - and, once your box is released, that monitor might lose its HDCP key, meaning that everyone with that monitor would have to buy a new one, because they all got their keys revoked.
Honestly, I truly believe that the entire editing staff of Slashdot just doesn't give a shit anymore. They're like a bunch of coked up fallen rock stars going through the motions until their next shipment of heroine comes in.
It's really sad to see the absolute shit that's posted here nowadays.
It especially doesn't make sense as MS's yearly net profits exceed the entire gross revenues of either the recording or movie industries.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who's noticed that. I have long found it perplexing that the music and movie industries get to call the shots for the vastly larger software industry when it comes to legislation. I can only assume that the software industry must have some incredibly shitty lobbyists. It's not like it doesn't cost Microsoft money to pay developers to engineer their operating system to RIAA/MPAA specifications. If there aren't some large checks being written to MS to get this done, then Steve Ballmer is an even bigger meathead than I thought -- and do not underestimate how big of a meathead I think he is already.
It's more than the money, too. Our civilization would trundle along just fine if music and movie production ground to a total halt, but we have long since passed the point where we could operate without software, even Microsoft's buggy, insecure software.
Oh well, it's no skin off my nose. Ever since it became possible to run CS3 under WINE, the only reason I haven't switched completely to Linux is that I just haven't had the time to shift everything around. Time to get cracking, I guess.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
The quickest way to kill DRM is not to buy OR pirate anything that supports DRM.
"Well, the sales aren't very good but at least we aren't pirated as much as [non-DRMed software]."
Unfortunately, you'll never get manufacturers to ditch support for Windows like that, it quite simply has critical mass, and... Linux isn't ready for the mainstream yet.
No, but I'm guessing they were barking up the wrong tree. Here's a look at my User folder on a Windows 7 machine:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2cna2k5.png
Notice that a lot of the folders have shortcut arrows beside them? Well, they're not real shortcuts you just click on, they're just there for legacy programs. If a program tries to dump a file into "Local Settings", it will automatically be redirected to a different folder (Probably AppData/Roaming). Trying to double click any of those shortcuts bring an "access denied" error box, even the "My Documents" one, but I can access My Documents just fine by going to Documents as normal.
If the user in this case just did a bit of research, they'd probably find that the data they want is in AppData/Roaming/Adobe or something.
The only reason Windows doesn't let you change this is because it WILL break things and there's no reason for you to.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
If this is true
It's not true. It's a load of bollocks.
Get busy and install Linux. Either that or get lazy and buy a Mac. Final solution, keep using what you have and be happy :)
Once Microsoft implements their perfect plan to keep you kids off the RIAA's lawn for good, their revenues will triple, or quadruple, or gazoople... or something.
No, they will grow logarithmically.
Every time you use the analog hole you lose fidelity - that's the real kicker.
Been there, done that, paid for the T-shirt
and didn't get it
I think they prefer to be called "neoliberals".
I never apologize. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am.
what we BADLY need in the constitution is some privacy rights clauses.
those didn't even make sense 200+ yrs ago but they sure are relevant now!
basic freedom to point-to-point communicate, untapped and unencumbered. no wiretapping - EVER - for ANY reason (yes, it should be that strongly worded). privacy should be fundamental like air and clean water. even our most hated 'terr-a-wrists' get air and clean water. I'd like to see personal privacy assured as a fundamental right.
DRM is anti-privacy and so it DOES relate.
DRM is also enslaving and THAT is what the constitution also deals with.
damn - there are morans who fought to change the const. just for their anti-gay agenda. those are the nutcases; but adding electronic-FREEDOM to our law set is actually long overdue.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Just load a non-DRM-invested Linux desktop underneath VMware - one machine - multiple functions! Amazing!
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
It's nice to see how easily a half-baked posting with vague "details" about theoretical "draconian DRM" makes the anti-Microsoft vitriol flow freely. "we replaced a nag dll with a hacked one and now it won't work" and "we can't find stereo mix" isn't news.
Oh, so I can sell myself to you then? Man, this whole time I thought the 14th amendment prevented that particular transaction between private parties.
Please, before telling Microsoft's lies for them again, get the facts.
As always, all IMO. Insert "I think" everywhere grammatically possible.
Here's my analysis of the situation: Microsoft isn't putting these features in at the demand of the RIAA/MPAA. They're putting them in to try to get a leg up on the competition. Media is increasingly becoming digital; music/movie download sites, streaming content, etc. Microsoft realizes this. So they decided to build the most appealing (to the RIAA/MPAA) content distribution platorm. This meant locking everything down at the OS level, so that users "cannot under any circumstances" copy the content. Of course, this isn't going to stop the hard-core pirates, who will always find a way around it. The only way to stop the copying of music and movies is to fully plug the analog hole, which is absolutely impossible without some sort of brain-computer interface that streams the content directly into the viewer's skull.
I'm with you, but you really should have put the start of the first line of your post in the subject to illustrate your point.
Bullshit, it's not even remotely close in the opposite direction.
M$ - $50 bil http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY07/earn_rel_q4_07.mspx
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:hee_LWB259IJ:adage.com/images/random/mediafamilytree07.pdf+paramount+pictures+%22net+revenue%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
brandelf -t FreeBSD
You want to amend a document that's only been changed 27 times in ~200 years over computer software? Just think about what you are advocating for a minute.
While I for the most part agree with your post; altering the constitution of the United States over computer software still seems more reasonable then to change it because a possibly real or fictive deity might possibly have told some possibly real or mythical person(s) that marriage should be between a male and a female.
The Long Now Foundation
But not either the video game nor porn industries. Which makes one wonder who's driving technology anyway.
What's with the tail wagging the dog here?
Quite.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
You misunderstand me. I wasn't "moaning", that was the gp. I don't think it's the place of the government to make DRM illegal. Not that it would make a bit of difference: Our fearless leaders don't give a flying fuck about the law anyway. The market will (eventually) decide that FOSS is simply better.
I was just correcting the parent, who thought he was posing a rhetorical question.
Only his tendency toward a dazed stupor prevented him from screaming aloud.
That is the crux of the matter.
In the US the powerful lobbies (which exist in an incestuous relationship with government agencies, with government employees and officials jumping happily to the lobbying side of things), paid by industry cartels, make sure laws are passed that favour their clients.
Once the cartel decides on a course of action you have no choice in the matter. Oh wait, you have an option: to break the law. Great option we have been left with there.
The system of government in the US is currently broken, and this matters worldwide because the US still has the muscle to push through its own vision of the world when dealing with international treaties (with the helpful aid of the cartels that do as much as they can for their cause elsewhere).
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Electrical and fire regulations are found at the local level, not Congress. That's why people who are inclined to build things generally choose to do so in the rural areas, since there are very few or no zoning laws.
Actually I think I can explain that. if you look at the emails in the Comes VS Microsoft case they are all, including old evil Bill himself, collectively shitting their pants over Apple and the iPod, talking about how the WMP "scenarios" just suck ass when compared to iPod+iTunes. So what is their answer? More DRM! Lock down as many media outlets by offering cheaper and nastier DRM than Apple has and hope to lock in the customers to WMP and Windows, no matter how shitty the experience. What I think we are seeing here is those emails bearing fruit.
But don't believe me, read them yourself, especially those by Jim Allchin. As someone who has built, repaired, and sold MSFT products since the days of Win3.x even MY mouth dropped. How guys that have no fucking clue can get to be that high up in a company? Who knows. Maybe it is that "rise to your level of incompetence" thing. But I swear these guys actually BELIEVE they can beat the iPod by cranking up the DRM and then Creative and Dell(BWAHAHA!) will take the market. I shit you not. They have completely lost touch with reality and what the consumers want. At least in the past we could avoid their home shite by buying business OSes like WinNT and Win2K, but with Vista and Vista SE we are all stuck in the suck.
Oh, well. At least I will get to make money hand over fist as folks throw it at me to make Vista and Win7(Vista SE) go away and XP reappear. Because I have YET to have a customer that actually wanted the turd that is Vista. I have even been having my custom builds pick up, in spite of the economy, once I pointed out you can still get those with XP drivers. But I'd be happy to trade the extra business for a low resource business OS that would work with all my hardware and software. But it looks like until Ballmer is told to clean out his desk all we are going to get is DRM wrapped in shiny. Meanwhile my customers are hanging onto their XP discs I get them like the fat lady hangs onto the buffet bar.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
it has to be lizards -- have you ever cut off a lizard's tail? **It grows back...!**
If you think you can get 38 states to sign off on a DRM banning amendment then I guess all the power to you.
The relevant section is Article 1, Section 8: To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.
Why cure the symptom when you can cure the disease? These "rights" no longer "promote the progress of science and the useful arts" so they are no longer justified. The text of the amendment is simple and clear: "Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is repealed."
How is this change not to the public benefit? Shall our future ever be held hostage to the patent troll? Shall expression ever be limited by the ??AA? Are we done exploring the undiscovered countries of creativity, mathematics, science and cleverness? I think not. Do you?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Not that I'd be surprised if the findings of the OP were completely correct, but this "article" really has no proof of it's claims. For all we know the OP is a bad programmer who doesn't know how to use the sound mixer.
Hikery.net - The best hiking site ever. Made by yours truly.
At work, I can accomplish 80% of my tasks using Linux alone. 20% of the time I need to run a windows or mac only application.
At home, I can accomplish 20% of my tasks using Linux alone. 80% of the time, I need to run windows to play a game I enjoy.
I really hope this increased DRM sours windows users to the point that Linux/Mac market share increases such that it makes business sense to support cutting edge hardware and direct 3d type technologies within a unix variant.
Aww, c'mon .... I just got my Karma Positive ...
Indeed. It is time to stop making more laws, and remove the ones we already have. The law is being abused to support the goals of various interest groups.
Stop pretending criminal law can protect DRM, remove the penalties for hacking it, and you won't need to make DRM illegal. The community of users will neuter any DRM so badly it will be worthless to try to implement it anymore.
An OS is supposed to make things easier...windows is effectively committing seppuku with moves like this.
My only regret about it is the downtime before another/existing OS takes its place. (I use windows for games.)
One step at the time.
A friend of mine had her Win laptop infested by malware, she could not even access the net (the net was live, IE was infected by something that was making it act up as if there was no network connection).
I installed Firefox and then proceeded to download all the software and information needed to leave the machine in a passable state.
Now my friend knows about Firefox and Opera.
With the cost an intrusiveness of Windows and Office the time is now to help people take the plunge.
In a course I am taking I challenged the orthodoxy of using Word for everything. I told people about OpenOffice and now we are interchanging documents in OpenOffice native formats.
Now all my classmates know MS Office is replaceable.
It will take time and effort, but we will eventually get to the goal of having a free computing platform for all, free from government and big conglomerates interference (ironically big conglomerates that are not involved in the software industry are beginning to wake up to this realization, any visit to a modern data centre will attest to this).
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Why cure the symptom when you can cure the disease? The cure isn't an addition. It's a deletion. The section is Article 1, Section 8.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
I think Windows is officially in the fading phase of its existence: Adobe has FINALLY (After first announcing it way back in 2003) released a 64 bit Flash player - and it's for Linux, not Windows. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a major release of anything coming out on Linux first.
Could this perhaps be because no one on Windows actually uses a 64-bit browser? Mozilla doesn't even offer official 64-bit builds, and while Microsoft gives you a 64-bit Explorer, no one uses it. In the *nix world, people who use compile-from-source distros or distros which like to keep down the 32-bit binaries actually have 64-bit browsers.
That aside, in another moment of rejoicing for 64-bit browser plugins, Java 1.6 update 12 with 64-bit support is finally officially out for both Windows and Linux. Hurrah.
Who's this "rest of us" you're talking about? There are a tremendous variety of compensation types. Which model would you force on someone else? And how would you force it?
I think the features of the OS are misunderstood. The way I see it, it's very clear how computer security needs to function.
* Your own files, meaning files you create, files you purchase, etc., should be locked away from you in such a way that you cannot copy them without filing a form reminiscent of a government tax document with the OS maker and paying them a fee. Random people will be audited by a special department within OS maker that checks for illegal copying of copyrighted files. This will be very similar to a government tax agency. This should apply even if you're just trying to copy a file from one directory into another in order to work on one of them and have a backup prior to your changes. It will usually take several weeks to obtain the special digital key which will allow you to copy the file. Most users will find this adequate.
* However, all files on your computer should be open to free access over all network connections, provided they are being accessed by someone other than yourself. The software should include a mechanism to ensure that this functions correctly.
Here, let me google it for us
I'm going to have to assume that it's the same Grooveshark as was mentioned in the story summers "(tested here with Grooveshark)".
Seriously, I just posted this because I like that Letmegoogleitforyou site. but the program you mentioned was tested and blocked or degraded per the story. It sort of sucked that there is not s link to more detailed though.
It works for what I need, which is essentially music, Firefox, and Word.
*pulls up his belt and adjusts his pocket-protector for maximum volume*
I am ready, captain!
And where if the proof of these claims?
Or are we just going by the word of some retard who just wanted to have his internet name plastered on the front page of slashdot?
Yea, thought so.
ASIO drivers (an audio protocol developed by Steinberg that bypasses the kernel for minimal latency) thwart this (if this limitation does exist)?
EVERYTHING. Absolutely EVERYTHING in this article is incorrect.
* What kind of idiot blames the OS for "disabling a program based on a modified DLL." The OS has no such support, this is the APP either crashing or doing its own integrity check.
* Lots of apps ask you if you want to add the appropriate firewall rules during their installers. This has nothing to do with Adobe being a "large software vendor" - Stardock's apps do this too. Go read the API documentation on MSDN if you want to know more.
* The "sound degredation" thing is just unsubstantiated FUD.
* Microsoft in bed with the RIAA? Since when?
* Anyone can browse into their own Local Settings folder. Either this is further idiocy, or ::gasp:: someone hit a bug in a beta OS.
* "Stereo Mix" is a feature of some sound drivers.
And Slashdot proves again that it doesn't matter if something is true, so long as it makes Microsoft look bad.
You haven't "found" any DRM in Win7 because there isn't any (other than the same support for DRM'd WMA and WMV files that has existed in Vista and XP).
Can't have one of those crazy third party candidates who aren't all ready bought and paid for get into office.
I've bolded and italicized the most important reason why we don't need one of those candidates elected.
I'm looking at you Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
Keep in mind that the worst forms of crazy aren't the kinds of crazy that have you wandering the streets mumbling to the lampposts, mumbling to yourself, and shitting all over yourself. The worst forms of crazy are those that no one sees until it is too late. And by too late I mean "there's a madman shooting everyone in the classroom" or "where are they taking us in this cattle car?"
I mostly agree with your point. The quickest way to kill DRM is not to buy OR pirate anything that supports DRM.
Although one of the most attractive features of pirated software is that the DRM in it is already killed. As usual the anti-piracy DRM efforts only stymie legitimate users.
You wrote this tongue in cheek, but that's probably how the MAFIAA sees it, and how they present it to their bought-and-paid-for CongressCritters.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Honestly, I truly believe that the entire editing staff of Slashdot just doesn't give a shit anymore. They're like a bunch of coked up fallen rock stars going through the motions until their next shipment of heroine comes in.
Taco, man, what the hell happened to you? It used to be about the news for nerds, the stuff that mattered, man, but now its its just about the next hit, the sourceforge blow. How the mighty have fallen, man, how the mighty have fallen.
I really thought I'd upgrade from xp to 7 but MS seems to be hell bound to piss of their customer base. My kubuntu install will get even more usage then it already does. Nobody owns my own files but me.
No, this is like you turning up to Hockenheim and asking to ride your homemade motorbike around it. The track marshals say "No, your bike is not approved to ride on our track". Then Bill turns up on his $uzuki (heh $), and the design is approved (by their stupid rules) and he can ride it. Their track, their rules.
There is nothing stopping both of you from going and riding on a different "free as in freedom" track. Theres nothing stopping you from building your own damn track and not approving anything that Bill owns (nice!). But you can't get Hockenheim, cos its copyrighted.
There, like with protected media path, is nothing stopping you switching the wheels on an approved Suzuki. You are free to do that! Just don't expect the Hockenheim track marshals to let you on the track with your modded bike. You can install whatever drivers you like, mess with the trusted certificates, whatever. It doesn't stop you. Just don't expect a "trusted" media player to accept your modified shit...
It does suck if you really want to ride Hockenhiem (slash watch Revenge Of Bond III), but like a movie - the track design is copyrighted, and the owner is free to allow access to it under whatever stupid-ass terms they like. If the terms are sufficiently stupid-ass, then nobody will ride on the track.
The massive butthurt in the original article just screams two things: "Guy fails to crack Photoshop" and "Guy fails to understand file permissions".
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
So you couldn't get your cracked application to work, and were using beta drivers for a beta OS and your sound came out like shit. /.
Where exactly is the evidence of massive DRM? Oh yeah, there isn't any.
This has got to be the dumbest fucking article I've ever seen on
After all that, surely I've done something more, like find a cause for cancer or something, right?
We only know that pure Open Source will never be able to hide those things.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underhanded_C_Contest
I'm not "forcing" anything. The "rest of us" get paid to perform. The performance is the tangible product the "rest of us" have to supply for our grub. You don't need to restrict distribution to get paid for what you create. You just need to create what people will pay for. Don't try to control the growth of the plant. Just keep feeding the roots. The more widely distributed you are(and if you want to pay someone to help give you a little push, great, but exclusivity is no more. It's the same thing as this), the more demand there will be your performance, at a price of your choosing. I simply want to remove the authority of one particular industry to make its business model the law of the land. And I repeat...
What?
I'm so mad I decided i'm definitely not pirating windows 7.
I'll stick with my pirated XP :)
I was fine with a lot of the features in Vista -- it ran fine on a dual core machine, UAC wasn't really that irritating, and Aero was pretty nice. I used it and actually enjoyed it on a work machine. But there was no way in hell I would ever pay money to put it on my home machine, because it contains so many "features" that exist to take control away from you and hands them over to other people.
Microsoft is convinced that they can turn the PC into a glorified console, where it only runs what they allow to run. That's not right; it's my machine. It does what I say, not what somebody else says. And I don't think that's a completely geek stance, either. It's pretty easy to say to a layperson "a computer is meant to be a multi-purpose device, and Vista and Win7 lock down multiple functions and put them under someone else's control". I've tried it, and they do care. People will reject this nonsense if enough people raise a stink about the problem.
It worked for Vista, anyway.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
If VistaSE (Win7) doesn't allow (without intentional degradation) soundcard loop-back recording functions, this would seem to throw a huge wrench into using it to do multi-track recording/dubbing, would it not?
I'm a musician and create "scratch tracks" at home of new songs for band rehearsal purposes, etc by recording myself playing one instrument, then playing back that track while simultaneously recording myself playing another instrument, rinse and repeat until I've got the songs' basic instrument tracks recorded, essentially accompanying myself musically.
I know that there are dedicated recording soundcards for this purpose as well as dedicated DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), but I'm not looking to record high-quality tracks. I only want to create a "rough draft" at home quickly with minimal hardware expense.
If VistaSE kills that functionality, then it kills a major function for which I use a computer at home.
Does anyone know if this is the case, so I may avoid VistaSE like the plague and warn all my musician friends and acquaintances? Thanks in advance.
Cheers!
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
MS knows it's buisness model is doomed and they are DESPERATE to replace windows and office with a similar cash cow.
They need a new monopoly and they are smart enough to realize that computer based entertainment centers are going to be worth an immense amount of money. If MS can get the public to expect their media OS/media box (Xbox 3?) as a standard living room feature they've just captured as much revenue as windows & office together have provided. It doesn't matter what they sell the actual units for if they control the screen and sell ads for the indefinite future. Moreover, it provides the same kind of lock in and opportunity to leverage market share they've used so effectively in the past. I'm sure that the MS gaming system will be the only one that integrates seemlessly with the media center and MS's near field interface devices will make it way easier to get your media onto the media center.
They've been trying to muscle into this field since long before apple released the ipod and they've consistantly failed. They are deathly afraid that apple will capture the space the way they did the portable music player market. If they can't beat them on design and interface MS figures it can beat them on content by cozying up to the media companies so apple will be left out in the cold.
Of course it would be pretty short sighted of the media industry to help MS without some very long term guarantees. If MS succeeds suddenly the relationship will flip around and the media companies will live or die at MS's whim.
If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:
Windows didnt "do" anything here.
The poster is an idiot.
In Vista and W7 there are some folders that are locked down by default such that even admins dont (by default) have rights to change things.
But you know what? An admin can change anything in the system, so you just change the perms to allow yourself to do what you need to do.
The problem here isnt the great big evil windows coming to get you all, its that some windows users are idiots, and dont have a clue how the system works. So when something happens that they dont understand, they have a conniption and go screaming bloody murder.
This was pure PEBCAK, with some Adobe installer shittiness thrown in.
Thus the first phase of the project plan is to show that they can lock it up & retard copying (for most users most of the time).
The second phase will be to buy the content producers & the content. Then they will start seriously blocking YouTube, etc.
People think Google is just being cute with Android, but it is actually survival.
When the country falls into chaos, politicians talk about 'patriotism'. Lao-Tzu
Yo dawg I herd you like firewalls so we put a firewall in your firewall so u can block shit while u you compute
Draconian is redundant to describe DRM. It's like saying a painful toothache. Makes my FUD bells go off almost immediately. Is submitter playing up something for a personal agenda? If so then that's a good immature grammatical mechanism to choose for the purpose.
. . . surprised.
Who would think that they could even fit more DRM into Windows?
"That's not right; it's my machine. It does what I say, not what somebody else says."
Nice delusion, but totally false-to-fact. Maybe back in the day of the Altar or Apple II you could control the entire machine, but today you didn't write the OS, the BIOS, the device firmware, the drivers, the utilities, or the programs. You have no say in the matter.
And that applies to 99% of the Linux folk too. A single distro has millions of lines of code that no one person has ever read, thus you're placing your trust in others that all of that code is doing what you think it's doing. Maybe it is. And maybe it's not...
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I voted for the other lizard.
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
I see $100B in net for an entire industry vs $50B for a single software company (admittedly a large one). Add in just HP and IBM and the computer industry dwarfs the media companies. (I just checked and HP had a $28B net quarter last year meaning they alone are about as big as the entire media industry). Again why is the tail wagging the dog?
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
For real. I have legitimate, paid-for copies of both CS3 Production Premium and CS4 Production premium. Both are installed on my laptop which runs Win7. Photoshop seems to crash a bit, but I've never had it ask me to register after I simply told it to never ask me to register again. I didn't need to do any DLL voodoo for this. It hasn't nagged me, and the activation was completely transparent.
I realize that it won't *always* be this way (my copy of Premiere Pro 1.5 asked me on more than one occasion to re-activate, even though I'd replaced no hardware on my laptop), but for now both suites have been as painless as possible when it comes to the DRM, and as long as it stays out of my way, backing down when I show it my invoice for both the PC it's loaded on and the software itself, then that's as good a compromise as I can ask for.
My other question is how the poster has carried this out. We're all slashdotters here, so we know the scientific method. You say it's Win7, fine. Why? is this something that MS has documented? Is this something that you've been able to consistently reproduce on Win7? If this is consistent on Win7, what about Vista or XP? Do either of them have this phenomenon? If they do, then it's not a Win7 issue. Hell, you say that ADOBE PHOTOSHOP stops working. Why is this MICROSOFT'S fault? If the Win7 activation tripped, fine. understandable. But can you consistently tie this issue (which, we're assuming happens a Microsoft-Issued copy of Win7 with a legit CS4 install disc with an Adobe issued patch)? to the fact that it's running on Win7? *starts Photoshop* I'm hard pressed to agree with your findings.
The nail in the coffin is the fact that you're apparently trusting the Windows Firewall for security. I'm not one of these "Windows-is-swiss-cheese" fanboys, but even I know that at the very least a firewall router (NAT+SPI) plus freeware Zone Alarm or Comodo is the bare necessities for an attack-inhibiting security setup. Sure you can go nuts fort-knoxing your computer, but if the only thing between you and an uninhibited internet connection is the Windows Firewall, then you could have said that Win7 gave Adobe my home address for all I care, I wouldn't believe the writer of this "article".
Windows 7 degrades audio inputs when playing sounds? Um... yeah right. Lets just say you're the maker of a sound card and you build a kick ass high fidelity input... oh for something say like a karaoke app. Now windows in their newest version "degrades" your input so you don't function for your wanna-be pro singers. You guys don't think this isn't an actionable thing? Actionable as in lawsuit city?
Give me a break. I'm not a friend of MS, but you guys are willing to believe any thing thrown your way. First off, what's the benefit to MS here from this action that would clearly get them into tons of hot water legally and with consumer ill-will? A tiny payoff from the music industry? Like cash cow MS needs money from the cash poor RIAA. Access to media files? DRM is already gone fromt he music industry selling strategy so tell me again why they would do this???? "i'm going to play a DRM free mp3 file so I can record it as a DRM free mp3 file." ?????
Truly guys... WTF? I know we're all supposed to jump on the "i hate MS" bandwagon when we sign up for slashdot, but wait until this stuff passes the smell test before forming a lynch mob. You only come off as zealots and nuts if you don't.
d
all language nazi's will burne in heil!
or did someone shit on the keyboard?
Translation into unix terms: /some/path /some/path /some/path /some/path /some/path
ls -ld
chown -R $USER:
ls -ld
chmod -R u+rX
ls -ld
...maybe it's a form of virus protection? You know, virus modifies dlls, OS detects that the dll is not what was installed, and blocks it.
.dll. Suddenly, the .dll doesn't match its checksum, so the OS prevents it from doing any damage to the system.
This is just what I would expect to happen if you try to modify a signed
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
...no. Still sticking with XP.
My next PC will probably run Ubuntu, but XP is the last Windows I will ever use.
I recently bought the first season of Stargate, and later noticed a little icon on the back of the packaging saying that the DVDs were copy-protected. This was after I finished making ISOs.
You think Microsoft will ever make a version of windows I'll be able to upgrade to without feeling like I'm being ripped off and denied full use of my hardware?
Linux is becoming more and more viable solution for me when XP goes out of support.
it's = "it is"
its = "something belonging to it"
Can we just go ahead and admit that the broken windows economy doesn't work.
I jest of course. We really should tell them that the one that works is Linux, and the one that looks like it but doesn't work is Windows 7.
Define "work". Unfortunately there is still software (i.e. games, but also other very specialized software) that only works on windows.
I work on Macs and yet I have a Windows (XP) machine in my office and at home which only gets turned on if a certain program refuses to work on OS X. Running Cedega/Wine/etc. is often just too much of a hassle and/or doesn't work well enough.
Or take Office programs for example - you can't honestly expect all office assistants to learn to use something else than Word. I know a lot of assistants that had a hard time even learning that and still take MS Office classes every 2 years. Learning a new OS AND a new word processing program is going to confuse the hell out of a lot of people.
This isn't trolling and it doesn't make Windows appear better than it is of course, nor is it a justification for a broken OS. I'm merely saying that Windows will be around for several more years because of the software that exclusively exists for Windows.
Wow your math is about as good as your logic.
33.99
27.39
16.84
14.09
13.74
13.24
12.18
10.39
9.46
8.44
7.84
6.33
5.68
5.5
5.41
5.27
___________
195.79
And we are talking about M$ in this instance right? Last time I installed IBM software it didn't prevent from doing certain activities and HP doesn't produce a lot of desktop operating systems now does it?
Again, bullshit. The point I responded to was that M$ dwarfed anything in existence and is a modern day Wesayso corporation which is clearly a statement made up on the spot.
brandelf -t FreeBSD
AnyDVD HD, BDInfo and tsMuxeR (wrapped in an WinXP install under VirtualBox on top of Gentoo Linux) seems to be working pretty well for me.
With the above setup, I can strip out all but the main movie and English audio channels as well as remove any 'lower' quality video streams in about one hour. (LG GGC-H20L - 6X BD Read Speed)
Yes, they are obstacles. But in the end it WILL always get broken. It's just the way it is. They can try and try and try as they might to stop us, but we will ALWAYS find a way around it.
The BD+ protected discs are supposedly out and about now... but I personally have not come across anything I like to watch that I can't backup to the harddrive for easy viewing.
I actually read most of what you wrote, and to be honest most of it comes across as nitpicks.
The one I will agree with is new windows stealing focus, but you have to admit it's a hard problem to solve. If I open Word via a desktop shortcut, should the desktop retain focus, or should Word get it? What if I have Word open, I click on the desktop, then open Firefox via another shortcut? What should get focus, Firefox or the desktop? What if I don't click on the desktop first?
If an in-focus application has an error, should the error dialog get focus? I would find it extremely annoying to have to click or alt-tab to the error dialog before being allowed to press enter to close it.
The solution to the focus problem is either mind-reading what the user wants or needs (and that's not going to happen), or having the OS learn what the user wants or needs based on behavior (but I don't think any OS vendor will be willing to do that... it takes effort). TBH a lot of programs could use a hefty dose of learning from user behavior. (If I never use toolbar icon X during a ten-month period of active use, why is the application showing it to me? My screen space is valuable.)
Regarding your "open Explorer and go to \\server" problem... I've never had the issue, and I've never *seen* the issue, and this is something I do a lot (read: several times daily) in both XP and Vista on a fifty-computer network. I would guess you either have an odd (read: broken) network setup or a finnicky network connection. Try not to blame bad networking skills on the OS ;)
It's easy, they let the nerds run the casting couch for a few days.... Haven't you heard? Sex sells!
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
>> Oh come on.. They only released a beta recently. You can't really tell if it's that bad yet.
That, Dear Sir, is *exactly* what MS wants you to think till the time W7 is out to market.
Once you buy it, you'll realise that it's no better than a previously-used latex prophylactic.
And MS has a sale, and the world has another clueless specimen from the taxonomy "sheeple".
Vista and Windows7 disable Stereo Mix by default, but it can be easily enabled. This basically stops your average Joe. But then again if they know what Stereo Mix is, they can probably take 5 secs to Google how to enable it.
Go to Sound>> Recording>> Right-click in the window and choose Show Disabled Devices >> Enable Stereo Mix
Unless your firewall works at a lower level in the kernel than Microsoft's bypassing code, it won't get involved. I wouldn't put it past them to use rootkit technology for something like this...
Sorry it formatted funky in my Firefox window, only saw the first row of those hence the $100B. Even still the PC industry is definitely MUCH bigger and they stand to lose a bunch of cash in potential profit due consumers just not wanting to deal with this crap and giving up on computers for general entertainment and turning back to the consumer electronics industry.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
I could understand being given a choice between a safe and controlled PC (under Windows, for example), and a less safe and less controlled one (say, Linux ?). I'm not even talking about features, just safety and control.
The problem is
- Windows PCs are actually less safe than "free" (as in speech) PCs
- The only thing safer about windows PCs is the DRM of content vendors... it seems even of software vendors now, we won't even be able to solve to usual DLL hell by copying those manually ?
- The Governement is failing to rein that DRM madness in: at the minimum, we need interoperability, plus a (escrowed ?) way to remove it in case DRM servers are taken down.
I'm 100% on XP right now, but I think I'll give yet another try to Linux for my next PC. I never managed to get it to run as I want, though.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
The federal government would still do it under another means, and even if you removed the system from the federal government, it would revert to the state copyrights that existed prior to 1790, and even if you banned statutory copyright altogether, content owners would devise an even more effective system for which there would be no public recourse.
Without copyright, ownership would be absolute and perpetual. You would not impair the *AA, but you would eradicate any semblance of expiration, fair use, and personal use.
That doesn't even get to the fact that you have utterly failed in parsing Art. I s. 8, as it is the system of granting exclusive rights that itself promotes science and the arts, and not the individual grants therein, as there is a longstanding legal tradition of not getting involved in determinations of aesthetics or value. Your statement is a circular one, as you've reversed justification and implementation.
What about the possibility that the DLL launched a trojan, which restricted explorer.exe functionality? I've noticed some cracks do restrict access to certain files and folders. CS4 is new.. if the DLL "hack" was written for Vista and kept working in Windows 7, and so created the problems reported.
In Soviet Russia ^H^H^H America, The bank finances YOU!
No evidence of any kind; not even any repeatable steps "system configurations, build numbers, etc".
The only time Windows ever degrades anything multimedia is when you play HD video (BluRay for example) and the vendor specifically states they want the output protected (so far nobody has set this flag) AND you don't have a secure-path display. Microsoft themselves admit this in clear and plain text; it's no secret.
This article here doesn't even explain how they themselves came to the conclusions they did; let alone any evidence from anywhere else. Complete and utter FUD, period.
throw new NoSignatureException();
Back in the day everyone was on barricades because of XP:s mandatory activation, which, if I remember right, only allowed a legal copy to be installed ~5 times. Everyone said they are going to stay with w2k or move to Linux. So how did the story end? Please stop underestimating the amount of ass-rape a normal user is willing to receive, if they get a nicer smiley theme in exchange.
The "not pirate" is an issue here.
It should be abundantly clear by now that if there were no piracy, industries which depend on copyright law (eg. commercial software houses, RIAA, MPAA) would be forced to invent it.
It follows that if piracy were to disappear overnight through nothing more than a lack of desire to pirate anything, something which could be made illegal would still be blamed for declining sales.
No need to reboot ?
There is a difference between "I don't know what this is doing so I cannot do it" and "I know exactly what this is doing and I cannot do it" one is lack of knowledge one is deliberate
It seems that Microsoft is going further an further down the route of "this is not your machine" ... well it is and formatting the hard-drive and installing something else will prove it ....
Puteulanus fenestra mortis
Actually, the problem there is that you assume MS does it to please the RIAA. In fact, it does it just to pwn their distribution channels. Sorta like the robber baron building two towers and a chain across a major river and putting up his own taxes: it's not as much for the benefit of the merchants sailing along the river, as for the baron's own benefit.
What MS is trying to do is make its own codecs the de-facto standard, and as impossible to move to another standard (e.g., to get that file recorded back as MP3) as physically possible. That the same DRM also makes the pill easier to swallow for the RIAA is just the icing on the cake. But in reality it's more like the KY Jelly on the shaft they're about to get.
Once MS owns the codec, it pretty much owns the distribution channel. It can launch its own Zune 2, car radios, etc, it can sell the music too, and/or tax anyone else who does with the royalties.
They're not the only ones who do. That's also why Sony made a big loss on the PS3 just to push its Blu-Ray format, or why it came up with the proprietary UMD, or why it stuck with its crap 48kbps music codecs even long after it started calling its portable crap "MP3 players." (You could transfer MP3s to them only via its own proprietary application, which actually converted them to the crap Sony codec, at a brutal loss of quality.) And you can probably find a couple more examples along the same lines.
But at any rate, it's not about pleasing the RIAA, it's about pwning another market. It's monopoly business as usual. Just incidentally that market happens to be the RIAA's distribution channel. Sweetening the pill a bit for them is good because you don't want them to say "we're not releasing anything in your format", but do note that MS would want DRM anyway there. They don't want you to get that DRM'ed music and then convert it to MP3 and play it on an iPod instead of a Zune.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
"Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!"
I believe the cause for this is far more innocent than you are making it out to be. This is caused by the UAC which MS has put into Windows 7. You'll notice that all files in the C:/Windows directory are owned by 'Trusted Installer'. Simply disabling UAC, rebooting and then using the advanced permissions setting to take ownership + resetting permissions to allow your administrator account (or any account of your choice) will allow you to take control over these files. If you turn on UAC, the permissions will be repaired and those pesky kids won't be able to crack their copy of photoshop.
Clearly this is in place to prevent people who know just enough to be a danger to their computer from deleting system files.
Also, I've been running Windows 7 since it was released to beta now and I haven't noticed any problem with the sound quality even whilst running multiple applications - including media player. Are you sure that you don't just have a crappy soundcard/speaker connections?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually one to push Microsoft and given the choice i'd be in an open source paradise, but I think you're jumping to conclusions with this one.
~Craig
No one is forcing you to use Windows anymore. As a matter of fact, according to marketshare statistics, one person out of every 10 no longer uses Windows already. Make that number go up. This bullshit will cease only when market share drops.
I agree! forget guantanomo bay and water boarding. And forget illegal wars, landmines, depleted uranium and huge backhanders to guys like the enron bosses.
The REAL cause for outrage in the USA is whether or not people cant copy DVDs.
Well said!!!
Welcome to slashdot, a perspective-free zone
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
It's not that hard. Software and any kind of media (books, films, music,...) is part of our culture. And therefore the information needs to be accessible kind of forever. So either it is published DRM free in a publically accepted standard format or the publisher has to take measures to make sure that the material is accessible forever. He has to build up accruals that allow to keep the information accessible for the next let's say 500 years. Including all computer architecture changes.
Windows DRM is just signed code and an API to answer the question "is everything in this chain signed by trusted parties?".
You forgot to mention the most important thing. You, as the owner of said PC, are not considered a trusted party and cannot easily become one.
the government is enforcing contract law, as it does EVERYWHERE. You arent fucking forced to buy Windows. Go use linux and stop bitching.
You are like the kid who decides to go see a movie he will hate, so he can complain the movie sucks.
Some people just like whining
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Even still the PC industry is definitely MUCH bigger
Well if the poster had said that I wouldn't have made my comment right? If this article was about hardware manufacturers capitulating on DRM, then I would be in agreement. As it stands, this makes perfect sense from M$'s standpoint.
M$ has a huge vested interest in making sure media doesn't start work well in FOSS. The minute FOSS OS's using multimedia in a comprehensive, and easy(as in OOBE) format to streaming stuff like wmv's, netflix, etc, it becomes much more attractive to the average consumer. Placating media companies with integrated DRM is an easy way to insure new technologies on developed on M$ products. So it is not so much wag the dog as it is dog chasing tail in a metaphorical since.
brandelf -t FreeBSD
how much googles of money actually is ? the same amount that there are sites on their servers or ... ?
-Deepone
Nice delusion, but totally false-to-fact. Maybe back in the day of the Altar or Apple II you could control the entire machine, but today you didn't write the OS, the BIOS, the device firmware, the drivers, the utilities, or the programs. You have no say in the matter.
Except you do, especially on Gentoo and LFS, where you can even make sure the code you're running is the code they say it is. You're not forced to blindly accept your OS, and that makes it credible. On LFS, you're encouraged to apply your own patches as you see fit.
DIY distros are fun, try it sometime.
Don't allow a retard like kdawson to make you leave - judging by your id surely you must remember how "popular" Jon Katz was?
I always make a point of noting who wrote the summary if it is kdawson I usually know the title and/or summary is going to be bullshit.
Why should you leave - Slashdot isn't perfect but compared to other sites it still better.
If anything kdawson should go - he is unpopular with many people here - if Slashdot potentially loses readers because of this then they really need to consider doing something about it.
DON'T GO!
Can somebody please explain how a hacked Photoshop install not working is somehow Windows DRM?
I mean, seriously, for fucks sake, they admit they "clobbered" a Photoshop DLL, and Photoshop stopped working, so they blame "Draconian Windows DRM"?.
There's something seriously wrong with this picture. This is pretty fucken weak, even for Slashdot.
Ever since it became possible to run CS3 under WINE, the only reason I haven't switched completely to Linux is that I just haven't had the time to shift everything around.
I was like you, just waiting for something to happen. Well, my system disk died early this month. Ubuntu is great ! And I'm surprised at how many critical (for me) apps run perfectly in Wine.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
The subject has to be somewhat germane to the body of the post. The opening sentence in a logically constructed discourse is germane to the rest of the conversation (see above for an example). And why is not just having "re: re: re: re:" not annoying in all the posts. Especially when the post has fuck all to do with "as a constitutional amendment" like yours.
Maybe the trend is there for a reason. You just don' like it because kids today are doing it.
...how many of you have completely switched to Linux.
I have three machines at home, the older two (laptops, both) of which are still running XP, but I only use them to fix problems caused by shitty Microsoft apps. The rest of the time, my silly wife, and daughter use them and leave me and my son to use Fedora on the *good* (purchased only a few months ago) machine.
I'd eliminate Windows entirely, but it's not worth the ear-ache I'd get if I tried.
How many of you are in the same boat ?
that would have serious problems - it would make the laws about not killing illegal, if you think about it: it is murderer's way to utilize their murder weapon that has been outlawed, which would not have been allowed by what you proposed. I assume this was not exactly what you wanted.. I hope.
-Deepone
Microsoft are protecting their own self interests. Whilst RIAA pressure, or perhaps a hope to move in as a media distributor themselves at some point probably helps push the DRM on music/movies things like the Photoshop problem mentioned here are almost certainly designed to protect products like Windows, Office and so on. The point is though, Microsoft would probably do this anyway without RIAA pressure.
Their whole business model for their software is built around selling for a small fortune software that is otherwise easily copied for free. Bill Gates and Microsoft invented the very model of software being something you pay for separately from the system itself, they created the idea of software as a product rather than something that came with a system. In a way, that's quite a good thing they did otherwise we may have had proprietary systems kinda like the Mac, but instead with only the software that came on the system originally! The problem is they take it to the nth degree and want to charge ever more for software as a separate product. I don't mind buying a $20 Usenet client if it's really decent but I sure as hell am not going to pay $70 for something like Nero, $200 or whatever for Office and $1000 or whatever for Visual Studio. This is essentially where the battle with RMS started, he had a similar idea- software being separate from the hardware, but under a paradigm of much greater openess.
I don't know anyone that had a legit purchased copy of Windows XP who built their own system or who'd upgraded an old machine, only those who got it with their system and even then if it's Home they used a pirated copy of pro instead. To be fair, they must have lost massive amounts of potential sales through piracy this way.
What Microsoft doesn't seem to have clued in on though is that these people pirating XP were also the ones who in their professional life were allowing for it to be pushed on the desktop in a commercial environment. I do not believe Vista was a failure because of bugs because despite the rose tinted glasses view of many, it was really no worse than XP at release and nowadays certainly isn't any worse. The reason Vista flopped is because people couldn't pirate it and still receive patches easily to use on their home computers and so simply couldn't be bothered to get their companies to upgrade to it at work because they hadn't had time to get used to it at home.
I think Microsoft severely underestimate the power of the technical hoardes that convince their managers or not to upgrade or tell their colleagues that they don't want Vista on their home PCs and so on. Ironically, this is why Linux take up is so slow IMHO- many people don't want to support an OS at work that they've never gotten used to at home to know the ins and outs. Linux has the additional hurdle in that it's very different to Windows so many wont even spend the time making such a big jump. The problem is, XP is showing it's age and Linux is losing it's sharp edges, and if Microsoft piss these people off again, they're going to make that jump.
To sum up, the reason Microsoft is doing this is because closed, locked down and paid for is their very business model and always has been ever since their creation. Perhaps what's changed is that hardware is fast enough for them to steal a few processor cycles and a chunk of RAM here and there to handle DRM without most users noticing coupled with the fact over the last few years they've upped the ante on DRM so that people are becoming less and less infuriated by it. Whilst people are ranting about the new DRM features everyone's forgotten the likes of genuine advantage and it's become something people now simply accept. Similarly, if Microsoft have their way, with Windows 8 or whatever, this kind of draconian DRM will simply be forgotten about and people will be ranting about the next big problem. The only hope here is that Windows 7 will be a flop because of DRM and such too and Microsoft realise their locked down approach simply isn't sustainable.
I'd started writing a proper rant about DRM, Win7 and how I'd not be upgrading. I even decided to read the article, only to find to my amazement, there isn't one. Who on Earth let this through? Two paragraphs of badly formatted, badly written prose devoid of any pertinant information.
You modify a DLL in an unspecified way and it breaks. I'm shocked.
Programs can add themselves to the firewall exception list while being installed (ie. having dealt with the UAC shit). I'm shocked.
The last bit? Apart from being nearly incomprehensible, it would appear the tester is using BETA software and has encountered a bug.
Also, telling us that all this started when you tried to crack Photoshop? Pure class.
You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
Nice delusion, but totally false-to-fact. Maybe back in the day of the Altar or Apple II you could control the entire machine, but today you didn't write the OS, the BIOS, the device firmware, the drivers, the utilities, or the programs.
Nice faulty logic... But I see what you did there. (Emphasis mine)
To control your entire machine, you do not have to write a single line of code. You just have to be able to choose which code gets executed on it.
You have no say in the matter.
So this does not follow from your previous statements.
In fact, it seems that you never heard of the coreboot project, or firmware updates. And hell, I did write my OS, drivers, utilities and programs... together with other people. I chose what kernel to put on it. I chose the patches. I chose the programs.
If I want, I can change the firmware of my DVD drive to play music for me, write my own OS so I can use my keyboard to control the music it plays, and flash it into the BIOS.
I have complete control over my computer.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
I think it's more likely that that "hacked" dll he used on photoshop was infected with some virus, and THAT is why he can no longer go into his own user folder.
If your computer starts acting up after you do something, blame yourself, not the computer.
The guy's an idiot.
Of course, this post is so far down the comments that very few people are going to see its wisdom...
A single distro has millions of lines of code that no one person has ever read, thus you're placing your trust in others that all of that code is doing what you think it's doing. Maybe it is. And maybe it's not
To a certain extent true but at least with Open Source Linux/Unix you can see the source and even modify if you can program or hire someone to do it. You can even replace it with a different distribution if you are not happy with the one you have and if you do it yourself he total cost to you is $0.00 and it is perfectly legal to do so.
:)
Placing your trust in others is no more different than driving a car. You hope it's reliable, you hope it's fuel won't destroy the engine, you hope that the road you are on has been properly maintained and you wish that slow driver in front of you would get out of your way
There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
So I'd just look up a song, loop an audio cable from my output to input, and receive the audio in audacity as I play the song in youtube.
Look up Download Helper. It works for every porn site I know too. That alone should be reason enough to have it installed. ;)
By the way: YouTube sound quality if far away from acceptable. I usually just click my self-made "Submit as query to mldonkey" button, and then download the thing there. Of course, with Windows and IE, you (including me in earlier days) do not even start imagining such possibilities.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Part of that is Hollywood Accounting. Another part is forced Windows/Office upgrades.
I'm not suggesting MS will fold; I hope not, as I work for MS. However, lean times may be ahead.
As to the tail wagging the dog: the Blu-Ray providers did not have to license their software to MS. The joke is that with SlySoft you can break Blu-Ray, and with VLC-Player and a few libs, you can skip the copy protection entirely. Licensing BR tech, which included the stuff that's holding me back on XP (PVP for example) was a checkpoint feature from both a marketing and a legal position.
Google "The Longest Suicide Note In History." I'm too lazy to make a link
Wow! I suddenly had the bad imagery (dream in a conundrum in an enigma, wrapped in a rimming.dll file) of a prophylactic saddle (named ms) attached to my ass, and that after YEARS of riding, it just didn't HURT any more. I mean, it HURT, but it doesn't REALLY hurt. But, then i woke up from that millisecond-mare and though of Pulp Fiction/Butch, and then realized, whoaa, that's not MY dream. That's the reality of those who are too chicken shit to stand up to microsoft.
(Yehe, yeh, i expect my stalker out there to mod me 0, offtopic or 0, flamebait..., but that fire up my ass doesn't REALLY hurt... it itches, it burns, not unlike s/he's playing veritable Ben-Gay... )
(NO, you cannot smave what i am hoking...)
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Oh please! Exactly what DRM are you talking about here? There is nothing in the original "article" that has anything to do with any DRM on Microsoft's part. Adobe's copy protection is mentioned, but how is the inability to crack it somehow Microsoft's fault?
Photoshop inserts itself into the firewall exceptions list? I agree that this should require a UAC elevation, but it is no different to how the firewall works on XP. It is not a Windows 7 issue, nor is it anything to do with DRM. Neither does not being able to move or delete a DLL that is in use. We had that problem back in the day of Windows 3.0!
It doesn't surprise me that someone would submit a crazy uninformed rant (especially the Firehose version of it - you have just got to read that version if you like a laugh). It also doesn't surprise me that kdawson would post it.
What does surprise me is how many people here accept the DRM claim without even thinking about it. Doesn't anyone wonder how Microsoft "allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine" without asking what it is that these large vendors can do that ANYONE with a compiler can't do? Why are people not pointing out that "Local Settings" is now stored as AppData\Local, and is still perfectly visible.
The XP system that I am using right now doesn't allow me to select 'Stereo Mix', probably because either the motherboard chipset or the drivers do not support it. Why jump to the conclusion that it is Microsoft's fault and not lousy hardware?
And if you claim that Windows 7 is faster because the DRM is turned off, what can you do in the beta now that you can't currently do in Vista?
we'll still be using XP until 2014, or even better, we'll finally start using Linux.
Before I disappear in a wall of flames, let me explain.
Can you imagine having to take into consideration all of this DRM crap evey time you wrote or modified virtually any part of any app?
Apple got it right with iTunes. Whether or not it was Jobs alone, (which I doubt), they finally got pretty much everything they wanted; both control of the end-user (they've got iTunes and the iPod), and now DRM-free music.
What does poor Microsoft have? No compelling device, (Zune, anybody? Thought not) channel, anything... I wonder what great stuff they could come up with if they told the MAAFIA to take a hike and instead concentrated on a Googlesque '20% of your time on zany ideas' approach.
Why the hell to they have to worry about DRM anyway? This is a legacy of 1990s thinking where everybody was worried about controlling 'content', (Sony buying BMG) etc. If the content providers want to control access to their content, then *they* should be the ones coming up with the secure apps and pathways, not the OS providers.
If you have the chops prove it or STFU and GTFO. Slap on a kernel debugger ( you dont even need a seperate PC, just emulate the COM port as a named pipe in a VM) and show us where these "checks" are.
For fucks sake. I dont ever see crackers complain that they dont have the source to a game or app. I dont ever see the people who break DRM / DVD Copy protection cry that they dont have the source. Yet they get the game/app/drm cracked within days of release. Is the F/OSS world filled with talentless rejects who freeze up when they dont have the source? Ever learn to use a disassembler? Ever learn to identify data structures by looking at a mem-dump? You crybabies better outsource all development to Russia and China.
Either show us explicitly in the NT kernel (enough with the handwaving) where these "DRM" checks are that are supposedly slowing down the OS or STFU.
To get more to the point, windows defender and other antivirus programs are starting to detect key generators and "hacked" programs. Maybe adobe has reported these modified dll's to the antivirus creators who made a signature for it.
Once a program is marked by antivirus your only option is to disable the antivirus or to whitelist the directory.
The poster fails to report what was actually the caae here so only speculation can happen. Hey this is slashdot! If there was a article....
ANd you can say this is BETA, well forget about it, they are pushing very hard now for RC, so you can tell that only real chash/BSOD/dataloss bug are going to be solved soon.
Don't automatically run antivirus on ALL of your PC, but based on a policy. The odds that all your pc's are disabled by a anti-virus mistake is equal to the change you get hit by virus that does the same thing.
Increased democratization leads to a more ineffective government, constitutionalism exists to remedy this problem and that is the reason why the rule of the majority will be restricted. The majority do not care about "petty details" like torture restrictions, as they can not relate to them in everyday life. Let's stop pretending that voters do not have a stake in this game, and rather face the reality that voters are quite fine as long as the promises are short-term gains.
This is the problem with politics, and as long as we keep believing that the public and the majority is right, we will keep seeing these things, and lobbyist groups will keep dominating.
See Zakaria, Tockqueville and other writers about democracy versus freedom and human rights for this.
And in terms of DRM, this is really the problem, it's a niche discussion with a major outreach, every single Windows user out there will at some point feel DRM restrictions, but seeing as they do not understand the problem they accept the status quo. If they did understand, Linux or at least another proprietary to Windows would have been the paradigm long ago.
These people should be discouraged from even using a computer, let alone 'decoding' the secret DRM of Windows 7. (Talk about bigfoot in the freezer again crap.)
Not only is almost EVERYTHING wrong, some of it borders on insanity or pure stupidity...
For example:
Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
WRONG!
Recording devices, Right Click, Hit Show Disabled Devices, Enable Stereo Mixer - you can even select it as your default input device for older software so you can loop record ANYTHING.
The other crap is either A) they don't under stand how audio works in Vista or Win7 or B) then have no idea how to use their freaking sound card.
Our techs verified on day one of both Vista and Win7 that you can Stereo Mix loop from even a DRM'd WMA or iTunes file and record it back to the same computer in another application with the built in 'Stereo Mix' device input once you enable it.
As for the 'Line In' and other crap from this article, it is pure crap...
----
Slashdot, how do you decide to run articles lately? Let the most computer illiterate person on the staff pick 5 articles, pin them to the wall, and throw a dead rat at them?
HOLY FREAKING FUD OF ALL TIME BATMAN.
(The troll authoring this crap, go back to your village, they can't find another idiot as 'good' as you.)
More like moral nutjobs, it might be religiously based but it's more an archaic moral guideline for those politicians that might any rational argument inoperable. Religion is just an easy way to point a finger at some biblical references that mean some very good things to a lot of people, and twist them to their own means. Organized religion has unfortunately always been good at that.
Not if you close the sessions, public sessions usually do get influenced by lobby groups but closing the session and the discussions until the very final vote will prevent a large part of the lobbying activity.
I installed the win7 beta to a 6gb partition on my (still working!!!) Inspiron_5150 P4M 2.8GHz 512MB ram. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron#Problems
The UI is snappy, the system as a whole is a little slower than XP, but the bitch runs! Sadly, I'm still looking for a driver compatible with my nvidia fxGO5200 64MB to see if Oblivion will still run as well as under XP or WINE.
CACLS at the command line got me access to all folders on the system with no difficulties...and no reboot iirc.
Ever notice that Cobra Commander sounds an awful lot like Star scream?
So, let me get this straight. We have an unknown person posting an unverified claim about a hacked bit of third party software not working, and some unknown sound problems with unknown hardware with unknown drivers on a beta operating system, and everyone is assuming this shows some great conspiracy to impose draconian DRM and prevent circumvention of sound recording?
This is flimsier than one of baldricks cunning plans!
It just goes to show, people will believe what they want to believe.
You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
that just screams tubgirl
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
And luckily it is not as bad as the IPhone. Imagine Windows 7 only allowing you to install things signed by Microsoft. People love their IPhones. Microsoft saw this. That is the result. It could have been worse.
I for one welcome our new corporate overlords. Hail to the Steves!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgFbqSYdNK4
I checked your comment history and you don't seem to be a troll.
Thus, I up-modded you.
Regarding your argument: I also used to have no problems with Vista: it didn't crash and I had no complaints either (I read lots of people criticizing it but I had no complaints).
Then, I installed Mirror's Edge (last game I will buy from EA, ever) and took two hours to get it running (it got stuck at splash screen), then I needed to restart the game every one hour or so as it either crashed, or it crawled at a snail's pace (5FPS or so).
I ranted about it for a bit, then installed XP over Vista and all of a sudden Mirror's Edge had no problems whatsoever. Also, my windows partition is much faster.
I guess you just didn't hit the right walls with Vista ... yet.
That's it for me. No more Windows for me. Look out Linux looks like you will be used on my box 100% of the time instead of the 45%. To think I am in the market looking for a new computer too. I am no longer fighting Windows. You can only take so much of their crap. I have dealt with plenty over the years. Time to move on.
So is THIS the year of Linux on the desktop?
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
PC Companies know they'll need Content. Only look at Apple.
Content:
- sells PCs
- is a reliable revenue stream
- they are trying to move us to a "software as content" model, with more DRM and subscription for software.
- has many synergies with PCs, OSes, Apps. They just know there money, or a wedding partner, in there somewhere.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
> Oh well, it's no skin off my nose. Ever since it became possible to run CS3 under WINE, the only reason I haven't switched completely to Linux is that I just haven't had the time to shift everything around. Time to get cracking, I guess
The only reason I haven't switched full time to Linux is there's no desktop firewall program which asks me before *any* program is allowed to either connect to the 'net or act as a server.
If there was a Zone Alarm for Linux I'd switch tomorrow.
And no. Playing about with iptables rules is *not* the same thing as a GUI which warns you when something is trying to connect to the 'net.
People are under the illusion that THEY are Microsoft's customers; they're not and never have been. Other corporations (and governments) are their customers, not you. Any DRM shit which gives them control is a welcome addition, specially if the end user can't disable it. Both Windows and OSX are built by corporations for corporations to be used by consumers. As an end user of these platforms your job is as a consumer, to buy the latest versions of their software regardless of whether you're getting any new benefits.
The term PC is used to help sell the illusion. PC stands for "personal computer". With both Windows and OSX, you don't own the OS, Microsoft and Apple license you the use of it for a fee, and restrict what you can and can't do with it. The idea is that you can customize it to your needs; if you need to edit photo's you install a photo editing application etc. Every PC can do that, regardless of OS (Windows / OSX / *nix) but that's just the start. Both Microsoft and Apple make sure they limit how much you can customize your desktop because they need their OS to be recognizable at a glance. This is a perfect example of corporate agenda overriding your ability to use your "personal computer" in a way that's personalized to your needs. It re-enforces the idea that your PC does not belong to you....it belongs to Microsoft or Apple.
Consumers have no power to influence either Microsoft or Apple, all feedback or criticism is going to be drowned out by their partners in the media.....their REAL customers. Your choice is to vote with your wallet; if you want a PC that actually fit's the definition of "personal computer" don't buy Windows or OSX. If you can't get one without Windows pre-installed, buy it and claim the Windows tax back. If you want to buy an Apple product, you accept the digital straitjacket built into it's DNA as a part of the "cool" package. If you're in a position of influence inside a company / school / local government do your bit to help people by trying to switch them away from Microsoft products.
It does seem that Microsoft, and to a lesser degree Apple, seem to have abandoned their end users. They are not worthy of your loyalty if they insist on shafting you more and more with each release. They see you as nothing more than a barrier to your wallet.
Did you write the bootstrap compiler you are using for LFS? Did you replace the BIOS? Chances are, you did not. So you are trusting someone else. That's fine, but you have to recognize that you do not control the entire machine, and that it almost a requirement for having computers that are so useful.
If we went back to the halcyon having everyone assemble their own circuit boards, write their own BIOS and multitasking OS, there would be little chance of having the programs we do today. How would something like Photoshop run on a computer where each one had a different OS and different function calls?
I think that was meant to be funny, rather than pure insight (the make-work comment), but I'll point it out anyways: breaking windows to make work for the window repairman just hurts everyone. Real "make-work" stimulus is infrastructure repair, because it has a lasting benefit to everyone.
No, I think you're the one with the weird definition of control.
I can choose to do whatever the hell I like with a linux system. I have more trust in it because the code can be (and has been) seen by multiple people, I can inspect it and change it to do what I like.
If I were to hear about a linux component pulling this sort of crap (and I would) then I would be free to remove it, disable it, alter it, break it, whatever. And I wouldn't have to hack or reverse engineer anything, because I have absolute control.
I don't know what your definition is, but by the sounds of it nobody is ever in control of a car (unless they built the engine, starting by smelting the iron ore)
That particular wording would affect many other things though, like allowing the creation of weapons and explosives.
If I have several tons of fertilizer and fuel in my posession, this kind of wording would make it legal to combine them without limit.
"Worked out pretty well against weed in 1937"
I don't live in the USA so I can't know exactly what it's like but as far as I can see it, banning drugs anywhere doesn't solve much. It only makes the drugs harder (more expensive and dangerous) to get and gives the dealers a lot of power over the users. As a result you get a lot of crime because of users that need money and dealers that fight over territory or against the authorities.
Of course, I don't see how this would apply to banning DRM, people wouldn't notice it's gone, they would probably use a lot of the now obsolete programs/methods out of inertia or ignorance.
ics
"...the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine."
Sounds kind of hot when you put it that way.
simple solution: DO NOT buy this product!
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Just sue everyone using draconian measures for infringing on Dark Queen Takhisis's intellectual property ;).
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
> echo -e 'global _start \n _start: \n mov eax, 2 \n int 80h \n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
An assembly fork bomb. You just forgot to execute it, but that's cute anyway...
You're probably right; still, it makes no sense.
As is, those draconian measures will drive people who do their own mixing and such away from microsoft and either back to apple or linux. IE it'll cost them marketshare, marketshare that they're losing anyways with the problems(real or perceived) with vista.
It's kinda like how the media section of Sony has hurt the hardware section for years by demanding all sorts of restrictions and limitations on the hardware - that other company's hardware simply didn't have.
I don't read AC A human right
It especially doesn't make sense as MS's yearly net profits exceed the entire gross revenues of either the recording or movie industries.
What's with the tail wagging the dog here?
They depend on the recording and movie industries to make those grosse revenues.
Of course it would be pretty short sighted of the media industry to help MS without some very long term guarantees. If MS succeeds suddenly the relationship will flip around and the media companies will live or die at MS's whim.
You give the recording industry too much credit. They still don't understand digital content and the Internet. There was a great opportunity to profit from new business models that incorporated digital distribution but now they have this uphill war against "piracy" and end up with crazy laws and DRM.
Unicode in Slashdot
This is evidence that Microsoft really is stupid or suffering from a massive brain tumor. How many people want to buy a crippled OS? Vista was bad enough and now we see this new crap being spewed. Microsoft may be too dumb to save.
Wasn't Windows 7 suppose to be the fix to Vista that we have all been waiting for? I don't understand how M$ can expect to market a product like this, so hampered as it is, to the business world (it's prime money maker). That is, after all, why XP is still around. Companies refused to adopt Vista because of driver issues, obscene hardware requirements, oh... and it's broken security features all-around (both "protecting" users from themselves as well as outside threats). If M$ is hellbent to make Windows 7 more of the same, just watch their business shares plummet. This ought to be good...
That works right up until it meets the second amendment. "Honestly officer, I was just using my gun as I see fit. The tactical nuke attachment is a tool to help me manipulate it."
Well, Ive been using 7 since the public beta release and i can assure you that i dont have any problem with pirated software - including Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Sony vegas. I also play pirated games, movies and music and dont have any kind of problem also. Actually its a quite better experience than in Vista, 7 in its current state is much better and more polished than Vista will ever be.
Sorry about my english
Yes and no. Not buying this product is a start, but the overall solution isn't that easy.
This works as long as there are interchangeable products. It kind of worked for songs in the last years. This really surprised me.
Buying intelligently might work for films too. Buy DVDs with "cracked" DRM instead of blue-ray discs. And there exist a few cable/satellite receivers that legally save encrypted films as plain unencrypted files. So choose wisely. But DVDs offer worse quality than blue-ray discs and keeping up with cable/satellite tv encryption (in legal ways) can be a hassle that "normal" people won't take.
But it doesn't work for software. Windows, Linux, Mac and others are not easily interchangeable. And unshackled windows versions do not exist.
And finally. Do we want our culture completely regulated by the market?
Windows clearly isn't ready for the desktop.
Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
kdawson, you are an idiot, please do your research.
this should save you guys some time....
These claims sound really fishy. So you replaced a DLL in Photoshop and Adobe's anti-piracy measures kick in? big deal, what do you expect for modifying files that you are not supposed to and is against Adobe's EULA. And how is that Windows 7's fault?????
And they found that with one particular audio application, their MP3s don't sound that great, and they somehow draw a conclusion that it's DRM in Windows 7?????
Get some better drivers, kdawson. I'm recording from Stereo Mix right now on the Windows 7 Beta.
:A DRM ban clause should be added as a constitution
you wouldn't have to go around fixing things... or sighing in dismay when bad laws are passed... and a constiution would become more of a living document... if new laws were required to pass a constitutionality test.
Except you don't own your copy of Windows. You purchase and own a license to use it. It is not your property to modify.
They thought their way around this one long ago I'm afraid.
If you're happy just browsing and emails maybe playing the odd game, have the time of your life, I'm sure it will be a great O/S. Me? Well I think I would like to keep the ability to view and listen to my media any way I choose, thank you very much Mr Gates. Listen Bill, I'm not having a pop at you, you have a company to run and make lots of filthy lucre, but getting in bed with the various **AA's is not the best way mate. So my friend, it's farewell and thanks for all the blue-screens!
Bullshit on the audio front. Vista had no stereo mix as an output device until proper audio drivers were installed - which initially they weren't because there were not many available that were properly supported. Install proper drivers for 7 from Realtek and you get Stereo Mix as an input device.
Failing that - just get Virtual Audio Cable and make some virtual sound streams to rip protected audio.
Congress shall pass no law limiting the rights of Jack T. Ripper to use his knife as he sees fit. Wait, what?
Great idea in theory, just need to work on the wording.
I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar...
-Lucy-
Bullshit on the audio front. Vista had no stereo mix as an output device until proper audio drivers were installed - which initially they weren't because there were not many available that were properly supported. Install proper drivers for 7 from Realtek and you get Stereo Mix as an input device. Failing that - just get Virtual Audio Cable and make some virtual sound streams to rip protected audio.
Wow. Well said... and so sad.
I have long found it perplexing that the music and movie industries get to call the shots for the vastly larger software industry when it comes to legislation. I can only assume that the software industry must have some incredibly shitty lobbyists. It's not like it doesn't cost Microsoft money to pay developers to engineer their operating system to RIAA/MPAA specifications.
It is a competitive advantage to M$ if they can claim competition is illegal - like that popular activities like listening to music or watching videos cannot be legally done in Linux.
The oligarchy appoints a set to choose from and mindless idiots pick the prettiest one.
If your assertion is correct, then the election of Obama/Biden over McCain/Palin proves that Americans are gay. Or the guys stayed home on election day.
http://marriedmansexlife.com/
Linux is beginning to look better and better by the hour. i dont think that i will ever progress further than XP with windows, as long as things like this continue.
In fact, im going to download openSUSE right now.
*sticking it to the man*
OMG...(holding sides,laughing until he cries) Have you forgot who the group of bastards are that are running this country.
I think he's basically right, too. MS is desperate to get in bed with the content providers so it can better compete with Apple, etc., in the mobile & media player market. Since the whole DRM paradigm is broken it probably won't work unless they figure an effective way to force Win 7 down everyone's throats. I think ultimately they'll just stop supporting xp, since after playing with win7 for a month I still don't see a compelling reason to "upgrade" from xp.
I have mod points. The reign of terror begins now.
How about :
tcpdump -n -X -s1500 -i `netstat -rvn | grep 0.0.0 | head -1 | awk '{print $8}'` > /dev/console
Photoshop inserts itself into the firewall exceptions list? I agree that this should require a UAC elevation, but it is no different to how the firewall works on XP. It is not a Windows 7 issue, nor is it anything to do with DRM. Neither does not being able to move or delete a DLL that is in use. We had that problem back in the day of Windows 3.0!
Kind of going back in time there aren't you? Technology is suppose to advance, not retreat...
They're just different operating systems. Windows has always used ACL heavily, while Linux sticks to just basic file permissions.
Once you've learned the basics, ACL is not hard to use and is easily handled even from the command line. Any more advanced Windows user would be expected to learn this, just like a Linux user would be expected to learn how the various parts of a Linux distribution work.
You fucking MUPPET!
Rocket science is easy. Neurosurgery, now *that's* difficult.
You're doing it a weird assed way.
If you used youtube-dl to download the flv and then extracted the mp3 you'd have the sound even on violation videos.
This is not contract law. It's illegal to circumvent DRM without any contract.
If you can't get the basic facts straight before spouting your opinions, at least try to be polite.
Yep, there are pretty much two: Linux and BSD
Wow, and Slashdot used to be the place for people who knew about the open source world. BSD isn't an option, it's a family of options with three or four major ones (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and DragonflyBSD) and a few minor ones. There's also OpenSolaris if you want a UNIX-like system and prefer the SysV side of the family tree, and HURD is now usable, although doesn't support as much hardware as the other options, as is Minix 3.
But UNIX-like systems aren't the only open source operating systems out there. There others, like Haiku or ReactOS, which provide a completely different environment. There's Plan 9 if you want something more UNIX than UNIX, and more obscure ones, like Syllable, KolibriOS, MenuetOS, or AROS, are also usable.
There are lots of options out there. If you don't want a Free Software OS there are a lot of proprietary alternatives too, like SkyOS, QNX (Neutrino is quite a nice desktop), Zeta, and the two RiscOS derivatives.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Hahaha, aren't you funny.
Applications->Add/Remove->Install firestarter
If you googled for just 1 second you'd have found a GUI firewall.
You can only rent it.
Wine and Cedega
This is what the OP defined it as
To control your entire machine, you do not have to write a single line of code. You just have to be able to choose which code gets executed on it.
This is such a loose definition that it would seem each and every operating system that supports kernel mode programming would fall under this category. You have 100% raw control on any OS in kernel mode. You can do anything you want if you understand the h/w specs and how to communicate with the h/w. There is nothing that can stop you. If you encounter DRM in the display driver, its pretty simple - write your own kernel mode driver. (we already established pre-req that you know how to speak to the h/w)
I can choose to do whatever the hell I like with a linux system.
You can only do so _BECAUSE_ someone has already written the code (aka tools) necessary for you to execute certain modules/programs/patches/drivers whatever. You are still not in control. You're merely the Gate Keeper of what you let execute. This definition is very ambiguous. Unless you are in charge of the actual kernel mode process that interacts with the hardware all you're doing is handing over control to helper functions.
I have more trust in it because the code can be (and has been) seen by multiple people, I can inspect it and change it to do what I like.
Why are we heading towards a closed-open source argument? This is offtopic.
but by the sounds of it nobody is ever in control of a car (unless they built the engine, starting by smelting the iron ore)
Jeez. The engine/otehr car components are _NOT_ modifiable while the car is running. (unless you chip your car or do something out of the ordinary i.e. not what average consumers buy)
OTOH, With computers you can decide anything from which pointers go into which register or which stack variable gets loaded when and where or how much memory a particular program should be able to access, each of these decisions is possible on the fly. You can unload a shared library if you don't like its location and rebase it in memory, etc. You get the picture.
What I would like to know is why Photoshop even needs a firewall exception in the first place. Checking for updates or patches comes to mind, but that should just use the regular http ports. Does Photoshop have some fancy-pants multi-player mode that requires open ports for communications?
Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!
Exactly what I've been proposing. You can have legal protections, or you can have technical ones, but you can't have both. Copyright is an agreement you make with society, where society agrees to give you a time-limited monopoly on distribution in exchange for the work entering the public domain after this period. If you don't want your work to enter the public domain, then that's fine, but we won't enforce your monopoly for you if we don't get anything in exchange.
I made my publisher add a clause to the contract for my latest book preventing them from distributing electronic forms with DRM. I would hope this would start to become more common.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Witness the new, higher end vehicles that can automatically keep you in your lane, or automatically apply the brakes when it thinks that you are not braking hard enough. Look at all the advanced traction/stability control/yaw control programs coming out that essentially drive the car for you instead of your own skills keeping the car from spinning out. Look at GM's OnStar system that can report in real time information on the vehicle's status, speed, passenger count, and can even eavesdrop on you with the car's microphone.
Did you know that your car most likely has the ability to tattletell on you? I own several vehicles, and in a few of them, the Engine Control Unit keeps track of tons of information - how much time I spend in each gear, how much time I spend at any given rev (and from that, how fast I have been), the five fastest speeds I've been up to (and what time those speeds were attained), how hot the engine has gotten, how many standing start launches I have done, and so on. This is all collected to aid in troubleshooting when there's an issue - but it has been used to deny warranty coverage if your driving patterns are "abusive." This type of detailed tracking of a car's behavior is pretty common in many kinds of cars.
So, no - I would not say that people are in control of their (newer) car.
That's great, now if only flash would stop crashing firefox on every 3rd or 4th youtube video on Ubuntu..
> Linux isn't ready for the mainstream yet.
Says who? Windows sales are dropping due to netbooks...with about 25% of those being Linux.
It is mainstream now.
World of Goo confirms it.
Transporter_ii
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
*koff koff!* This must be the year of the...oh, never mind ;)
Tell them how much it "phones home" as I have found that works best. When my customers here how THEIR PC has to keep "calling home" to make sure they are not a "pirate" the answer is always the same "I am not touching that garbage with a 10 foot pole!". The lay person may not understand DRM, by they know what snooping is, and the thought that their machine is calling home with God knows what information? Yeah, they don't like that very much.
Do they still have the "feature" where it has to call home every so often or go into "reduced functionality mode"? I have avoided Vista since RTM turned my machine into.....well have you seen the commercial where the sportscar gets a couple of tons of sludge dumped on it as it rolls down the highway? That was pretty much my experience with Vista from RTM on. Vista Beta 1 ran great, but I thought "Just wait until they turn on the crap. They'll ruin it, mark my words" and they did. But there is a whole lot of folks here with computers and NO Internet. They use their PCs for actual work like bookkeeping, graphics arts, desktop publishing, etc. I can't imagine if they crank up the "phone home" features of Vista SE like they have all the DRM that they will keep Win7 for long. At least I'll get lots of business wiping out the Win7 "infection" and putting XP on it. Thanks, MSFT!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
The Constitution doesn't regulate transactions between private parties. It regulates the powers granted to the Government.
Not since the Civil War. I can't refuse to sell my house to a black person because they are black. That rule is supposedly based on the Constitution. The Bill of Rights are not just rights with respect to the government, but it was recognized that people private parties can remove rights by their actions, and so actions of private parties must be regulated to guarantee the ability to exercise rights.
You want to amend a document that's only been changed 27 times in ~200 years over computer software? Just think about what you are advocating for a minute.
I did. I'm not the OP, but I agree with it. I would state it like this: Due to the agreement in copyright to release all copyrighted material into the Public Domain, all restrictions of use of copyrighted material must expire on or before the expiration date at the time of publishing and may not be rendered unusable if after that time some 3rd party service (DRM verification server) is not available.
This isn't a "computer software" issue. This is a copyright issue. They agree, by using copyright, to release the material into the Public Domain. That's a requirement of all Copyright legislation. Copyright isn't a right, it's a restriction on the rights of the people that is allowed by the Constitution. Our right is eliminated when DRM prevents the material from ever entering the Public Domain. I'd argue that DRM is unconstitutional now, but because legal minds deciding such things don't agree with me, that an amendment is necessary, not to change anything, but to guarantee the right that already exists in the Constitution for all released copyrighted material to be accessed by all people (after a limited time). Right now, the limited time isn't limited, as it's increasing. And it isn't being released because it's destructing before it gets to the time limit. So DRM is in direct violation of the Constitution. The amendment would just bring the words of the Constitution in line with my reading of it in order to guarantee the people a right they already have.
It isn't about software. It isn't a limited idea. It's changing the Constitution to guarantee the people a right they already have that's being ignored. I think you need to think about what you are advocating (sitting by idly as we watch our rights dwindle in direct contradiction to the wording in the Constitution).
Learn to love Alaska
Um, bullshit. Where does DRM come from? Oh yeah, protecting Copyright. Where does copyright come from? Oh yeah, the Constitution, Article 1 Section 8 Clause 8:
We need patent and copyright reform. Admittedly changing the Constitution will be the hardest route (especially with big business against it) to take, but it is a legitimate route. It could be something like
Just think of what you are not advocating for a minute.
I'm not advocating changing a 200 year old document over a software issue.
He's not advocating changing the 200yr old doc over software either - he's advocating changing it over protecting literature...
Hypothetically, if a decade from now - the media stronghold(s) decided that some event 'X' in US history should NOT have occurred, so they decide to release a shit load of media against the idea - and with our lives 100% controlled at the digital level by DRM, after a generation or two - that 'X' part history no longer happened... That's acceptable?
You give someone an inch, they will next go for the mile - until they get that, and then they go for the next mile. Accepting this and not fighting back with a something 'bigger' than them will only give them that inch, and later the mile.
Yeah, but Wine is an emulator. I can't believe I could run a new, state of the art title like Fallout 3 on Wine under Linux, as fluidly as it runs on native Windows.
Retarded FOSS propoganda. you have NO SAY in what pieces of kernel to run or not. You either take it all or nothing or have fun with a broken kernel.
want KDE? better get the ENTIRE PACKAGE with all dependencies. dont like a dependency? too fucking bad you HAVE to let it execute if you want kde.
want kernel modules? you had better not be using some weird kernel version that doesnt work with them.
want kernel patches? you better be on the same branch or else you cant have any.
so many fucking strings attached with every thing that you cant control shit..
want to change the kernel? LOL now nothing works and everything crashes. awesome.
enjoy your control.
the government is enforcing contract law, as it does EVERYWHERE.
I wish. If that was the case, then no software is copyrighted. It would be a "trade secret" protected by EULAs for contracts. A leaked "trade secret" does not have the protections of copyright, and no software with a EULA would be able to be copyrighted.
But that's not the case. It's a copyright issue. And no contract can violate the Constitution. You can't sell yourself into slavery. Just like no EULA or other contract can keep something under copyright after its term has expired. They want to "license" everything and claim that they aren't held responsible to copyright laws (in that copyrights must be for a "limited" time and that it will be released to the Public Domain after), and so I say good for them. They hide the source code as a Trade Secret and license the binaries under terms that could be seen to have them be Trade Secrets as well, and if they want to, then they should be able to. However, I assert it is illegal for them to have something be both publically copyrighted and a Trade Secret at the same time (and the law is on my side on that one). They want the protections of both. I would assert that by violating the law looking for double protections, they should have the protections of neither. Instead, they are getting the protections of both. And that's the issue. Not contract law, but the copyright provisions in the Constitution that trump contracts.
Learn to love Alaska
I assume the old locations are meant to be links to the new ones but they are borked in the public beta (oh noes, a inconsequential bug in a beta version! Damn you Micro$oft!!!!111).
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
repeat, it's not about piracy. It's about getting around the copyright laws and what is fair use. By adding a drm, Big Corp can now say if you circumvent the drm, you are breaking the law (DMCA). Pirates dont care about the law; but law abiding people do. So now, Big Corp can force honest people to buy the same content over and over again.
While it is quite shocking if there is something in the Windows 7 API that basically says AddFireWallException(myUrl), no sysadmin worth their salt should be relying on the built in Windows firewall anyway.
The Microsoft Live shop
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
..exactly what you fucking windows cowards deserve for supporting an unfree and crappy OS for years. and even worse not out of necessity, as you try to tell the rest of us, but lazyness, stupidity, ingnorance. fuck you and fuck your ugly windoze-using wifes too. conficker should eat all of you retarded shitheaded morons!
I think it's more likely that that "hacked" dll he used on photoshop was infected with some virus, and THAT is why he can no longer go into his own user folder.
I don't think it was a virus. The "Local Settings" folder is implemented as a NTFS Junction to the new folder "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local". The benefit of this is that there are no spaces in the path.
Unfortunately, junctions are a bit problematic and can get a bit confusing to use. They don't just act like a folder in Explorer.
I ran into the same problem as the original crazy-guy poster, but managed to resist jumping to any conclusions about it being DRM.
Online license checking, obviously. Photoshop is the most widely-pirated software, and Adobe doesn't like that. If you don't want your image editor phoning home, use GIMP.
I've upped my standards, so up yours.
All of the new Adobe CS4 collection of applications "phone home" now and here is why.
The license allows two installs of an application, based on concurrent use, for example Photoshop could be installed on your workstation and on your laptop with the understanding that you are only using one of them at a time. This is very common. Most applications simply force a registration of the serial number and only allow X number of activations, i.e. Microsoft Office. What Adobe does is check how many machines have that serial installed on it and if you attempt to activate a third it will tell you that you have exceeded the number allowed and that you must deactivate one of the other installs. The software makes it easy to deactivate itself so you can reinstall elsewhere. The silly part is that Adobe sets an entry in your hosts file pointing to activation.adobe.com or something close to that.
If you install the software the first time with your computer disconnected from the internet and change that host file entry to 127.0.0.1 and then reconnect to the internet it will not be able to call home and will assume it is installed on a machine that is not connected to the internet.
I figured I'd give Win 7 a chance and see if they had improved anything since I tried out Vista a while back for my gaming machine. At first it seemed pretty nice, everything seemed to work pretty well.
Then, I ran into the same audio problems I ran into with Vista (video works fine this time however, even SLI. in Vista it would blank out randomly.)
I noticed under a moderate load, the sound would start crackling and sounding like it was disintegrating until it just stopped completely. So, I updated to Creative's new drivers after I read MS had redesigned the audio stack in Windows. That seemed to fix the problem, so I installed Cubase, Office, etc., and started doing my normal audio recording/mixing stuff. It worked fine for about two days, then it started doing the same thing again.
Then, at the same time, my legit copy of office 2003 started giving me the "Office is not installed for the current user" problem, to which the solution was to take ownership of the c:\ProgramData folder recursively, which was a *major* hassle. I would check the "apply permissions to subdirs, etc" option and it would not really apply to subdirectories, I had to change permissions to each one individually and delete the OPA11.dat file. That seemed to fix the problem with Office for a few days, but then the problem came up again. I had to delete that file again. A few times of that, and I just started using OpenOffice.
Game performance when you close every other running process down is not really any better or worse than XP, but it sucks playing games when your sound is crappy or nonexistent. Not to mention when the sound quality degrades altogether, the game freezes. (any game) I had that same problem with Vista. I had taken a drink of the DX10 kool-aid to see what the hype was about a while back (I was somewhat disappointed. It really wasn't worth the hassle.) In the end, I went back to XP 64 for gaming and Linux for audio production and that seems to be what I'll end up doing yet again. (Cubase LPT protection drivers do not work under Win7.) It's really a shame cause I'd love to be able to use the audigy platinum 5.25" bay device for audio patching, instead of having to run a bunch of wires into the back of my computer. If anyone has suggestions for how to get those front ports working in Linux using Jack, I'm all ears since I think jack + ardour is a damn fine open audio combination.
These issues could just be because my sound card is a couple years old, but since it works fine under XP and Linux, I don't really see the need to upgrade it just to use Win7 or Vista.
Even if you would settle for a downgrade of the artwork it will be difficult to find something to convert the HDMI ouput signal to something recordable because of HDCP feature of HDMI.
For you and me maybe. The folks with a certain technical savvy and criminal potential will rip HDCP chips from certified devices and build their own decoders, and continue to mass produce bit-for-bit copies of "protected" content. A European company named "Spatz" used to sell a HDMI/HDCP to DVI decoder box a couple of years ago. Since this was half-legal at best they were kindly asked to stop this product. Needless to say that people operating covertly can do the same thing.
How would you put this in parentheses?
(not to buy) OR pirate
OR
not to (buy OR pirate)
Hmmm?
open (SIG, "</dev/zero"); $sig = <SIG>; close SIG;
There is of course the well-known article about a bootstrap compiler with a non-source-visible built-in trapdoor that inserts that same trapdoor when it compiles its own source code. These are times when it's nice to know that there are sofware paranoids like Richard Stallman around. At least for the moment, I trust him and his ilk to deliver a bootstrap compiler to me that doesn't have a hidden trapdoor. I might not trust him to handle my social calendar or financial affairs, but my compiler, bootloader, etc, yes.
It's really hard to go through life without trusting someone. I feel much safer trusting people like the FSF, Linux, and OSS communities to develop and deliver my software than I do commercial software suppliers, Microsoft the example in this topic.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
"But that's terrible," said Arthur.
"Listen, bud," said Ford, "If I had one Altarian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say "That's terrible" I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin. But I haven't and I am.
Now, where's that gin?"
"It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
24/7/365?
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 weeks a ???
I suspect it's not that the masses don't care about DRM. It's just that they don't realize how it affects them. They have gotten so used to buggy software that won't do what they tell it to without a workaround, they just think of the current DRM as yet another pile of bugs they must work around.
As soon as the DRM actually can't be worked around, they'll raise hell over it. You can't take the bread and circuses away without consequences.
Yeah! says the iguana.
Almost all musical recordings are now created by layering multiple tracks - sing the melody, go back and add harmony, etc. This requires simultaneous playback and recording.
Will Windows prevent this original creative activity in hopes of stopping piracy?
Snarky comment 1: I guess Songsmith recordings are only single-track.
Snarky comment 2: No problem - recording studios all run Mac anyway.
It's the lizards. It's always the lizards.
Sometimes it's the Hypnotoads.
You, as the owner of said PC, can make yourself a trusted third party by putting your damn cert in the trusted root store. You can then remove everyone elses, if you are sufficiently paranoid.
This does not at all help you if you choose to run a program which checks that all drivers/whatever are signed by someone in its own trusted list (ie: SuperBluRay player plus), while it checks the phase of the moon, and anything else in its stupid ruleset.
You are confusing code-signers-your-pc-trusts, which you have complete control over*, with code-signers-sony-trusts, which you obviously will never have control over. Their program can obviously check whatever policies they like.
* Complete, but I have no idea what Windows would do if you flagged Microsoft's authenticode signature as untrusted. Nothing stopping you resigning all the binaries with your own trusted cert though... fun.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
Seems pretty likely.
Though my virus theory is massively more likely than DRM, and even if it was just the fact that he was trying to use the junction point as a folder, he could still have got a virus from the hacked dll he tried to use on photoshop. The "being an idiot" and "getting a virus" theories aren't mutually exclusive, unfortunately...
I know a lot of application crackers take pride in their work, but some people take their work, infect it with whatever, and re-release it under the reputable cracker's name. Unfortunately that means it's hard to trust any of them.
It appears as if though Microsoft thinks that if it deliberately destroys its own OS it will make more revenue.
LOL! We'll be seeing another increase in Linux's growthrate when Win7 is released.
Accoring to my prediction I made four years ago, Microsoft still has six years to go before loosing it's entire desktop marketshare. Well it sure is on the right track. ^_^
Here be signatures
It wouldn't even change that much. DRM (at least on general-purpose computers) is already worthless to try to implement. Do you really think that pirates are going to throw up their hands because Windows 7 protects Adobe DLLs? No, they'll break it, and torrents, keygens, and patches for CS4 on Windows 7 will be widely available.
What repealing DMCA 1201 is bring it all out into the open, so even the most pointy-haired DRM advocate couldn't believe it was actually doing any good. But that's not going to happen, ever.
Doesn't anyone wonder how Microsoft "allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine" without asking what it is that these large vendors can do that ANYONE with a compiler can't do?
You mean other than shove a pile of cash at Microsoft to receive "Windows Genuine KnowledgePoint Pro Partner Enterprise Plus 2009" services, aka documentation of some of the secret API calls that plebes aren't supposed to know about or use?
Yea about that... they discovered Article 1 Section 8 apparently had a small typo:
"To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries"
was really meant to spell out:
"To promote wealth of a few by securing for nearly unlimited times to license holders the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries"
The credit for the discovery of this minor typo goes to Disney and Bono.
Iguana is a reptile. Some of my best friends are reptiles. They're good people. But... everyone knows that our glorious, infallible, and ineffable benefactors, the Bilderberg Group, are amphibians.
1. Make it impossible to copy media on Windows.
2. Watch nerds shout "Just use Linux instead. Linux!"
3. Watch *AA have all DRM-free operating systems outlawed.
4. (move along, nothing to see here)
5. More profit!
It's the lizards. It's always the lizards.
Nope. It's the queers. They're in it with the aliens. They're building landing strips for gay martians! I swear to God!
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
If you vote with your wallet, they won't get the clue. Just like the RIAA and MPAA, they'll just assume you're pirating it. Then they'll start putting more "Windows Genuine Disadvantage" crap in there and we'll have EVEN MORE DRM.
I'm all for capitalism, but voting with one's wallet hasn't really made a difference for a while in this theatre.
I would assume that they allow installers signed by Microsoft-approved certificates to modify the firewall. This would mean that any only joe-the-hacker with a compiler can not do it.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
It's not a "nagging registration screen" if he's referring to the screen I'm pretty sure he is--it's *one* window that pops up only when you launch the program and asks you to choose between registration or using the program in trial mode. Since when is it news that replacing a legitimate DLL with a hacked version *may* cause issues, particularly in the beta version of an OS? Can we wait for the RC before we begin the wailings and gnashings of teeths?
I'd already moderated this discussion so there goes that, but I think your fear is common enough and frustrating enough to warrant a bit of attention.
So then, a couple of points to respond to that:
I know people's hobbies are important to them in that they're how those people derive happiness, without which life would be pretty empty, so I'm going to go light on this first one: I think a lot of people who stick with Windows for gaming need to assess whether games are really worth the increasing encroachments upon our freedom to do what we wish with our data and the hardware that manipulates it. I'm not expecting, hinting at, or demanding any particular conclusion to that assessment. If you find that it's still worth it to you to be able to play games, that's your decision and you're damn well entitled to it. For some others (myself included), the lure of games is already, or will soon be, insufficient to coax us into swallowing the DRM pill.
The second point: there are alternatives available. Gaming under Linux has come a long way in recent years. I'm not talking blockbuster games, nor do I need to be either. The FOSS games available through the apt-get/Synaptic/Adept repositories provide me with just as many hours of enjoyment as the Quakes, Dooms, Far Cries, and Half-Lifes of the commercial software world. I'm not about to give you ultimatums or hold a gun to your head and force you to abandon the commercial games you love (hell, I still adore System Shock 2), but give games like Nexuiz, Tremulous, and OpenArena a shot. Just see what you think. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
http://www.tsanewsblog.com
Don't most people have their own firewalls anyway? The built in firewalls aren't exactly amazing for making custom rules and port forwarding, etc.
Or in this case if you don't vote for the black guy that got into collage because he is black, was given a degree because he is black, was given a state seat because he is black, you are a racist.
All that work just to get permission for a folder? Windows will never be ready for the desktop.
Wine Is Not an Emulator
People that do their own mixing are a very small percentage of total computer users. If it means getting a larger slice of the digital media pie, I'm sure Microsoft would gladly give up that market.
Besides, if big-name movies and music were only available through Microsoft's media distribution software, which is only available on Windows Seven, most people would have at least one Windows Seven computer. Even the people that do their own mixing; they'd probably have an audio workstation running Linux (because Mac OS seems to be cramming DRM in as well,) and a media-center running Windows.
And before people start arguing that it would be hard for Microsoft to compete with iTunes: Remember that the record labels want Apple to increase the DRM restrictions. I'm sure they'd jump ship fast if another company offered a product with the same capabilities and market penetration (a player that comes pre-installed on Windows computers would meet this part,) and more of the DRM that they want so badly.
Torrents, web browser, reads my old NTFS files, runs QEmu and VMWare if I get to that point, I'm making the switch.
Linux has been there for at least the past three or four years. Rest of your comment is tl;dr.
Nick
"... go to the resulting Security tab"
And you do what when there is no such tab?
Very common in XP too: You can't change ownership or security settings.
Wine Is Not an Emulator. Emulators rely on tricks like dynamic recompilation and low-level assembly translation. This adds considerable overhead, especially if you're trying to emulate hardware.
Wine is simply reimplementing the Win32 API DLLs in native, linux-compiled shared libraries. Direct3D functions are reimplemented using OpenGL, and it adds very minimal overhead. Much of the performance decrease from running games on Wine vs WinXP is due to better graphics drivers for Windows.
So it's not uncommon to see new games like Fallout3 running well under Wine.
Sigs are for losers
I would assume that they allow installers signed by Microsoft-approved certificates to modify the firewall. This would mean that any only joe-the-hacker with a compiler can not do it.
A quick google search shows that this is wrong. Here is the officially published API. Or if you want, you can just write to the registry. Here is the code in C#. The C# compiler comes with .NET, so everyone can do this.
I guess this means that if you beef up the security on those registry keys then you could prevent any software from adding themselves to the exception list. Just make an Administrator account for installing that does not have access to those keys... I might have to try this out.
I'm running NV SATA RAID and I wish I weren't. Performance is worse than just using dmraid plus it's less flexible. It'd be a massive pain for me to backup and reformat atm so I'm just waiting until I need to upgrade my storage solution again which will probably be about 2yrs away at this rate.
SATA RAID is one of those things mobos only have because everyone else has it too. Even if you're running Windows you're better off depending on the built-in volume manager (whatever it's called) and getting RAID that way. Onboard SATA RAID offloads all the processing onto the CPU anyway so you may as well use the tested & optimised software RAID that comes with your OS.
Nick
aka documentation of some of the secret API calls that plebes aren't supposed to know about or use?
And what possible secret API could that be? What is currently missing in all the published documentation? And was it this idea to which the original author (TechForensics) was refering? I see no evidence of that level of understanding in his original rant.
"Also, programs have always been able to insert themselves as exceptions into the Windows Firewall."
"Always" in a sense that "windows firewall" was introduced into XP, just a couple of years ago. But with upnp, programs can punch holes at will in _any_ upnp-commanded firewall, not only MS-products. Pure genius!
Who is stupid enough to buy those, I don't know. Real firewalls are adjusted with DIP-switches, no way to hijack that.
When, ahem, poking around in the Windows 7 kernel (ntoskrnl.exe), I found something interesting and new to Windows 7: it detects virtual machines. If it finds a virtual machine, it will check the Windows licensing data to see whether your edition of Windows is allowed to run as a VM. It seems like they're putting in enforcement of the EULA rules that were in Vista, but I have no way to test this, since the beta is the Ultimate edition.
The VM detection code itself is rather straightforward: it checks how long it takes to do an opcode that should be very quick ("mov rax, cr3"). Under a hardware VM, this would trap to the hypervisor, causing a delay. The code validates that "rdtsc" time is not elapsing excessively, which would indicate a hypervisor.
If you're making a hardware-assisted hypervisor, you should make use of the virtualization features of the CPU to apply an offset to rdtsc so that the traps to the hypervisor don't get detected this way. AMD processors support this; no idea about Intel.
"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
Actually, any time the federal government gets involved in a dispute between two parties, the Constitution SHOULD be involved as well.
For example, it MAY be legal for A to attempt to gag B contracturally. However, the government may NOT do so. Thus, the federal court (even civil court) may NOT attempt to compel B's silence in any way, including by accepting A's lawsuit against B for speaking.
Consider, if you want someone dead and ask me to shoot him for you, If I do so, I have comitted murder even though it was your request.
If the court enforces A's desire to gag B's free speech, then the COURT has violated free speech even though it was A's request.
So, if DRM is unconstitutional, then the courts may NOT enforce A's DRM against B in any way.
Kdawson always posts complete and utter bullshit, but this really is over the line. I've been reading Slashdot for a long long time, but if this is seriously what makes it on the front page these days, there's really no point in even visiting here anymore.
It's been real everyone, last one out hit the lights.
Farewell, drama queen.
I'll just update my account settings to prevent stories posted by kdawson from appearing on the front page for me, same as I did for michael and jonkatz in the past...
The minute FOSS OS's using multimedia in a comprehensive, and easy(as in OOBE) format to streaming stuff like wmv's, netflix, etc,
This is merely a matter of perception. The truth of the matter isn't
nearly as dire and for some media, the Linux way of packing software
works remarkably better.
Using a naked Windows install is a real eye opener.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Bullshit. The Constitution of the United States specifically grants Congress the power to limit IP rights in order to "promote science and the useful arts."
Without this bit of The Constitution, there would be no copyrights and no patents.
Get educated about your government, man.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
We need another Eisenhower experiment. 50 years, it's time for another major infusion in infrastructure. Monorail, highways, Fiber to the Door... $800 billion sounds like just the ticket, and it has impacts all across the economy, from labor, to machinery, steel and concrete, up through project management, communications - the ultimate trickle-down.
Throwing billions at banks isn't going to solve our economic crisis.
Now THERE'S a meme I haven't seen in a while...
I would say that the major [redacted]ware authors will crack this feature and build it in their "products" in less than 14 days
My advise Buy Stock in the nat/router companies because they will have a banner year.
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
You give the recording industry too much credit. They still don't understand digital content and the Internet. There was a great opportunity to profit from new business models that incorporated digital distribution but now they have this uphill war against "piracy" and end up with crazy laws and DRM.
It's the content industries that are either actively sawing off the
branch they're sitting on or letting new and acceptable forms of
innovation die on the vine. A lot of this new media stuff could have
been cut off by adequately exploiting what could be done with old
media. Before the rise of the "rip-mix-burn" mentality they had the
technology to allow for an iTunes style experience without divorcing
content from it's physical media.
They chose not to do that. The end result is that people stop thinking
in the limited terms that the media industry wants. They see what's
possible and start to stray off the reservation. It's not so much about
what is "legal" but about "control".
What I do with my media makes it remarkably more valuable. It makes it
more desirable. Sure it also could enable mooching. Dwelling on the
dark cloud doesn't necessarily make sense.
Just take the MPAA reaction to the VCR as an example.
This alone should be enough to convince the entire congress that
the media industry should be largely ignored for it's own good.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
In fact, if you get takeown.exe from Microsoft, you can automate all those steps. It ought to be included with Windows imo.
That's great, now if only flash would stop crashing firefox on every 3rd or 4th youtube video on Ubuntu..
Odd that this doesn't stop the wife from watching and downloading all
those YouTube videos. I am quite certain that if it were really as
dire as you claim, then that box would immediately end up with it's
original version of Windows back on it.
Most people really don't have a particular axe to grind. They might
be unduly fearful due to decades of noise coming from the Lemming
Brigade. However, they are ultimately concerned with results.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Since I'm a karma whore: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.htmlA Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection
The Stereo Mix thing has always been a function of your sound card's drivers. Some of them allow it and some don't (it's not even named consistently when it is allowed which should have been a good hint that it wasn't built in to windows).
when constitutions around the world were written, there was no kind of imagination of a monopoly/stranglehold a software lockdown could create in regard to liberties. it wasnt even fairy talk.
you can just 'not buy' windows. there are so many organizations, businesses, individuals locked down to windows that, in order to be a functioning business/organization/individual, you have to use windows.
it affects all fields of life. it needs to be regulated. microsoft either should accept regulation, or accept forced interoperability cooperation and make their software (therefore all things running on it) interoperable, ending the lockdown.
Read radical news here
Nothing has changed in windows recording. I am still able to capture anything played through my soundblaster x-fi. Right click on the volume control and select recording devices. Select "What you hear" as the source. Capture away. Not all that complicated Sound captured with Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge. PS windows 7 is a tremendous step forward in UI design imo Socc
I like windows 7. Not a single problem with it in the world.
It just means now I gotta run all my warez in a virtual machine. No skin off my back.
So, to use a car analogy, I guess something like speed enforcement would be a thing of the past with an amendment like that. They can't limit my "right" to operate my possession as I see fit, so I can happily drive however fast I want. I know car stuff is regulated by the individual states, but they have to abide by the Constitution too, don't they?
Oh and forget about radio licenses and the FCC, because if I want my wireless router to be plugged into a 50,000 watt transmitter, I'd be totally free to do so under my interpretation. Never mind that I'll drown out everyone's 2.4ghz stuff for a 40-50+ mile radius, I have the right.
I could go on and on, but I don't think it's necessary. I fully agree with the spirit of your proposed amendment, especially if it were in an international treaty or it was adopted by all countries. The fact of the matter is that the language you've chosen unfortunately leaves it open to FAR too much interpretation.
Hacked or not, am I reading this right that Microsoft is aware of changes to the application? So a legitimate update to one of your programs isn't registered with Microsoft, Microsoft will prevent that program from running?
I'm thinking, for example, Firefox updates itself, Microsoft doesn't know about the update, Windows sees the app has changed, and Firefox won't run.
How will this work once Windows 7 is EOL'ed? Will all your apps slowly stop working as they get updates?
Planning to be moderated ± 1: Bad Pun.
Sounds more like a bug to me. They should have caught this in beta testing.
If you can prove that existence of DRM in Vista slows down performance in non-DRM scenarios, prove it or STFU.
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1130241&cid=26884227
Damn you Linux trolls need to find some new FUD. DRM DRM DRM.. you retards don't even know how it works or what it does.
Whats funny is the biggest deployment of DRM in use is through TIVO which uses linux.
I've been with /. since the early days and this really is unbelievable. How did something like this get posted? Who is kdawson really?
I've always shrugged off the calls of some to block kdawson stories, but if this hasn't shown that he (she?) is incapable, then I don't know. So, I deactivated kdawson stories now. Kind of a sad day that I have to do that.
To deactivate seeing kdawson stories on the main page (you need to be logged in): http://slashdot.org/users.pl?op=edithome
Unfortunately, if you are a gamer, there aren't alternatives available. :(
Sure there is, PS3, Xbox360, and Wii. They aren't the best for every game type, but there is no real reason they couldn't have a KB/Mouse interface. They all have USB ports available. And the Wii could even have devices that plug into the controllers. All that needs to happen is for the game developers to use them. Perhaps the graphics won't be as great as the top end quad-SLI rig, but there are always tradeoffs.
So, what's it worth to you? If the game companies start seeing a market shift, they will eventually take notice. Even if that shift is to consoles, or other OSes. Linux could be a kick-ass gaming platform if the card makers would release decent drivers and the game companies wrote to it. It's significantly lighter than Windows, leaving more resources to the games.
"Congress shall pass no law limiting the rights of persons to manipulate, operate, or otherwise utilize as they see fit any of their possessions or effects, nor the sale or trade of tools to be used for such purposes."
There ya go, "The Hacker's Amendment". And it leaves plenty of room for interpretation, just like the rest of the Constitution...
I like it! Vote Artraze!
You are stunningly right. I'm so tired of the DRM whining. The real problem is the DMCA. The market, if allowed, will solve the DRM problem. If the copyright holders release too onerous a DRM scheme people will crack it and widely use the crack. If the DRM scheme is OK, people won't bother. Take iTunes - there are cracks but by and large most people don't mind the iTunes DRM scheme.
Don't forget, Bill G got his knickers in a twist, back in the old HomeBrew days, when folks started copying some Basic software he'd written, that he was trying to sell. With his dad a major IP Lawyer in Seattle, it's somewhat understandable why he's so hot for keeping control over things, only allowing users to experience data, without actually touching it.
I drank what? -- Socrates
Mark my words, what we are seeing here is the tiniest tip of the turd iceberg that is Win7, AKA Vista the second edition. It will go down in flames as folks find out it is a big pile of stink just like Vista. That is why just yesterday I had a customer literally throw money at me saying "make this %^&^&$ POS Vista go away!
Shortly after Vista came out I gave it a spin and decided I didn't like what I was seeing or hearing from my friends/family who also were checking it out. Neighbors down the street would frequently ask me for 'advice' on solving Vista problems. Got to the point where I bought that T-Shirt from "Think Geek" which says "No I won't fix your computer".
I was building a new computer for myself and decided to switch to Ubuntu. I'm running 8.04 currently and haven't gone back. Heck, even my Windows games run perfectly under Ubuntu with WINE. HL2/TF2/CSS, Oblivion, UT2004 and so on.
My kids are sick and tired of Windows issue and have demanded I switch their computers over as well.
Microsoft is doing me a favor with Windows 7. Keep up the good work boys.
BTW, the neighbors asking for help, I've burned a copy of Ubuntu 8.04 for each and every one of them. If they want help then here ya go. I'm finished with Microsoft.
Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
Lizards are reptiles....
This entire article, much like this one that came out just before vista http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html are entirely FUD and have been debunked repeatedly. You can download a copy of windows 7 and test it for yourself.
If your driver supports a Stereo Mix source, then you can enable it in the Recording mixer. You do have to right-click on the background and uncheck the "hide disabled devices" box though, which can be tricky to find (there's probably another way but that's the one I'm familiar with).
Or, you can just download the free and open source loopback device example posted by one of the Windows audio devs:
http://blogs.msdn.com/matthew_van_eerde/archive/2008/12/16/sample-wasapi-loopback-capture-record-what-you-hear.aspx
Does streamripper/stationripper still work?
Please don't spread your "works for me" lies. This is a common issue that many people get. Just because you forced your wife to use Ubuntu doesn't mean thousands, if not tens of thousands have problems with flash and firefox.
Hopefully one day you'll look past your zealotry and be part of the solution, not problem.
All that proves is that Open Source is not a panacea that prevents all abuses (something I would hope we all know by now). What we do know is that it does make it possible for a programmer of above average mastery (or perhaps lower, depending on the code) of the language to decipher the code's function. Depending on the code involved it may, however, require rigorous inspection to find a flaw, particularly of the kind involved in the contest you mentioned.
This is where I take exception to the Wikipedia article; the article claims the programs in the contest should pass rigorous inspection but the actual contest makes no such claim. The contest only requires that the code pass visual inspection. I went and looked at one of the special mention entries for the 2005 contest by Natori Shin (picked at random). I went and did a visual inspection of the code and found nothing obvious. Scanning the code I saw some for loops that I recognized as initialization blocks but one stood out because of an if statement (with no else/else if) inside of it. I don't know about you but that throws up red flags for further inspection for me. A trivial inspection then reveals that the very first iteration of the loops fails the conditional and thus matrix[0][0] remains uninitialized.
Now, I'm an average C programmer at best. I freely admit that given a day or even more I probably would not be able to determine whether the code was malicious or exactly what the error resulted in. I almost never have to code anything in C and thus the vagaries of the stack and the ins and outs of the stat() function (both of which the code exploits, per the spoiler) are mostly a mystery to me. However, were I reviewing a patch containing code like this, I would reject it flat out for failure to initialize a structure that was used a few lines later.
That's what I think is disingenuous about using various C contests as a rebuttal to the strengths of Open Source; the fact that the code is out in the open does make it possible to detect (or at least prevent, even accidentally) malicious code fragments, something that is virtual impossible with closed source. Even if the malicious nature of the code cannot be readily determined, even by an expert, it would probably be rejected for basic violations of coding practice. Part of the reason many open source projects have and enforce a strict coding style is to prevent exactly these kinds of errors, malicious or not.
These are just subtly evil things too. Show me some patch(es) that modifies an existing major open source project that phones home with private user data or does some of the other things that have been mentioned in the comments here. If that patch can pass the auditing standards of the project and still accomplish that, then perhaps you'll have a point. In the meantime, the various C contests will remain a provocative challenge for C programmers to display their ingenuity and serve as a learning tool for the rest of us.
They're not putting "these features" in at all. All the articles about DRM in Vista were complete lies, and this article is also a complete lie. That's all there is to it.
The only scary thing about this is how many people trust Slashdot story summaries to contain complete and accurate information. I'd rather trust the Weekly World News.
Comment of the year
Just wait until they have that global hash directory and if your documents don't conform, they are deleted and you are reported for potentially having 'forbidden knowledge'.
And those that think that will never happen are the same ones that never believed we would get to this point either.
I warned you people a long time ago about this.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Don't you mean anti-reptilites?
Once you understand the Jew, it all falls into place.
The XP system that I am using right now doesn't allow me to select 'Stereo Mix', probably because either the motherboard chipset or the drivers do not support it. Why jump to the conclusion that it is Microsoft's fault and not lousy hardware?
If you can record from your wav out in Linux, but not in Windows, I think there's plenty of reason to blame Microsoft.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
24/7/365?
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 weeks a ???
heptade. Like a decade, except made up of seven years instead of ten.
Or would it be septuade? It depends if you prefer Greek or Latin prefixes.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Says who? Apple and Amazon both offer DRM free music for download.
Try buying some DRM-free books.
A better suggestion would be encouraging people to vote with their wallet and not give Microsoft the business.
The one thing I found really scary about the economy is that this isn't necessarily true anymore. Look at the Big 3. They made crap for so long and relied on their Landstalker models too much that when the gas prices went up and the economy went down, people did exactly what you're suggesting. They voted with their dollars and went elsewhere.
Guess whose money is being used to bail out the Big 3?
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
Its been talked about for a while now, and while this isn't in full force its not like this was a suprise.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Exactly, M$ has us by the joystick...
Ignorance is Bliss -- And the Opposite is True -- Genius is Madness
How is not pirating DRMd sofware going to kill DRM? Won't that just make them think the DRM has worked?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
People that do their own mixing are a very small percentage of total computer users. If it means getting a larger slice of the digital media pie, I'm sure Microsoft would gladly give up that market.
Ok, so you give up the digital audio mixers. Then you give up the video mixers. Then you give up the photoshop types...
It adds up - the next thing you know Microsoft isn't the default OS anymore.
I don't read AC A human right
This is an anecdote from a user. Nowhere is there an article or anything like that - Just an anecdote.
Vista incorporates the same thing in a lot of cases. Remember the whole "network performance drops to 10% when playing an MP3" bit? Doesn't make it any nicer, but a lot of the things they're talking about here are already "features" in Vista. Still, things like audio loopback support can be enabled at the driver level, like with my Auzentech X-Fi Prelude's drivers for Vista, and if you use ASIO (which bypasses the kernel wherever possible) or something other than DSound, you'll probably retain your audio quality. So for people who actually need that sort of thing, they're already using the workaround (ASIO is very popular for professional use since its goal is to minimize latency in audio playback/recording, with the added effect of skipping any software/kernel processing, thus giving the cleanest signal). It's very possible, too, that the audio drivers being used were coded incorrectly, especially in the case of onboard audio. Downsampling and upsampling in software (especially in "realtime") is a nightmare for audio quality (ask any Soundblaster Live! user), and those beta drivers could have had a stopgap implementation of it.
And as for the Photoshop bit, that's probably more to do with Photoshop, as I doubt Windows 7 has a vast database of checksums for each and every program's files. And if it does, then wow. I'd like to point out that "Local Settings" doesn't exist in Vista OR Windows 7 (it's there for compatibility purposes, and will prevent the user from doing anything to it), and it's actually located in the Appdata\Local folder of your user folder.
Basically, what I'm saying is that these guys are just idiots (or maybe that should just read "this guy is an idiot"). Without any solid evidence that these things are actually Windows 7's fault, I'm having a hard time swallowing it, and I'm surprised (well, not really) at how many have jumped on the opportunity to spread the "love".
Whee, FUD!
Screw the rules, I have green hair!
Isn't there precedent that a reason given for a right doesn't limit that right? After all, you don't need to be in a well regulated militia to keep and bear arms.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
We only know that pure Open Source will never be able to hide those things.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underhanded_C_Contest
Malicious code in an open source application is only as secure as it is obscure -- and obscurity is NOT security. Such things are not unable to be detected, merely unlikely. If anyone ever does a rigorous enough code audit, the "error" will come to light and can be fixed. With closed source, we never get the opportunity to do such an audit, and therefore it's much easier to hide it. The hiding can be permanent, whereas with open source, bad code remains only as long as no one has found it.
Ya know, it's funny that the two issues that the OP brought up, CS4 and Audio recording programs, both work fine on my Win7 machine. My copy of CS4 runs perfectly, even if it's not exactly "legit". Also, when using Audacity to record streaming audio, I haven't noticed any loss of sound quality at all. Hey, OP...maybe it's not DRM, maybe it's your machine.
This is bullshit, I have recorded "What you hear" in Windows 7, playing music from Winamp and recording on the Windows sound recorder just to see if it works, and it does, no problems! The soundcard I used is a Creative SB Audigy 2 with drivers 6.0.1.1241
I remember reading about that backdoor, and it was really interesting. But how could one put that backdoor in without having it visible in the source? Granted the section of the code wouldn't have a big comment header saying "THIS IS WHERE THE BACKDOOR CODE IS", but it has to leave some kind of footprint in the source code, doesn't it?
Or did that work because the code he gave people wasn't the actual code he used?
Well said.
I currently play primarily on my PC: World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Portal are all very compelling games. However, if the OS were sufficiently unpalatable, I would not use it as a primary system.
- I might dual-boot. I've done it before.
- I can play WoW under Wine/Cedega, from what I've read.
- As a worst case, I can hook up my Gamecube to my monitor and while away time with Twilight Princess, which I have yet to finish.
Gaming is the only thing "tying" me to Windows ... and Wine's been getting better. It's close enough that I am seriously considering swapping OSes: the only thing holding me back is the pain in the ass of reinstalling and reconfiguring things. :)
A select few referred to as the Electoral College. ;-)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Dude you are missing the point. The point is the practice Microsoft is enforcing. Crackers will find a way to get around this and you will have your pirated copy anyway; it is the practice that Microsoft is enforcing without your authorization. This is going to lead to another messy WGA-like scenario, where applications will just stop working with an upgrade, or simply for no apparent reason. This will cost a lot more money to enterprises just for maintenance of the OS. This is a practice that could potentially kill Windows.
"Too many replies [tinyurl.com] beneath your current threshold"
Why is this link beneath this post pointing to dolphins on youtube?!?
Windows 7 will be an abysmal failure, causing users to exodus from the grips of Microsoft's tyranny. Their stock will plummet and the company will be on the verge of collapse. It is at that point that they will come to their senses and release a new OS based on Linux. And they will call it Windows 8.
</delusional>
If you think you can get 38 states to sign off on a DRM banning amendment then I guess all the power to you. Personally I think the GP's was a rather absurd suggestion.
DRM is primarily used to restrain trade by locking out the competition, and piracy is the excuse. Now consider that the Interstate Commerce Clause has been widely used to control the States, so commerce is something understood and respected.
France made a law at one point that the iPod/iTunes DRM could by used, but only if it was interoperable with the competition. They may not have understood DRM, but the politicians get business.
tomorrow who's gonna fuss
http://www.reactos.org
Open source windows workalike (Not Linux)
If you don't like a feature then change it.
A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version.
Draconian, really? Hack something and it stops functioning? Seriously?
I suspect those are junction points. Will have to check when I get home this evening, unless someone else can beat me to it.
Okay... that sounds intriguing. I'm still clinching to XP for as long as I can. But as soon as games stop supporting XP in favor of newer, DRM infested MS operating systems, I guess I'll give Linux and WINE a chance.
I don't like jumping on the Microsoft bashing bandwagon simply because of MS being "evil". While monopolies can be dangerous for consumers, I believe that the "Windows standard" has also benefited consumers in numerous ways. But seriously, what they are trying to impose on people with all that DRM bullshit is going way too far.
I guess that's easy to say for casual gamers. But I'm afraid that gaming is too important for me to fall back on what the Linux environment hast to offer. When you've been a fan of Doom or The Elder Scrolls for most of your life, it's kind of hard to resist playing that new, shiny version that runs exclusively on Windows. And FreeCiv is no compensation for that.
I don't play games simply to pass the time. I play games to experience the content they have to offer.
Now tell him about HDCP.
I've never been a console-gamer. Consoles are geared towards casual and action oriented gaming, whereas I enjoy playing PC titles with more depth and complexity.
And I've never seen the point in spending money on a console to play with, when I can do so much more stuff with a PC AND play games.
Again why is the tail wagging the dog?
Perhaps because it's not a dog that's being wagged, but rather a gluttonous pig with an insatiable appetite for money and power?
Of course, that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.
Power does not corrupt - power attracts the corrupt.
Even though there is no proof and people are quick to the M$ bashing, there is a point. Whether this is reproducible or not, Microsoft has a history and ongoing policy of crippling the software they are charging everyone for.
You don't see open source developers (who are also the end users) sitting down and spending time/effort/money on devising new ways of limiting the capabilities/compatibility/usability of the OS's and applications they contribute to.
I don't care if this article is a load of horseshit. I know that Microsoft has demonstrated in the past they will take the course of action that is most profitable, of course they will, they're a giant software corporation. What I don't understand is, why the hell are all you people still putting up with this sort of thing?
Hmmm, looks like MS may have fucked us over again, but hey at least they raised the price tag! ....What the hell man.
I always used to agree with this line of thinking, but that's starting to change. Currently, under linux, my games menu is getting pretty full; Darwinia, Quake 4, Savage 2 and World of Goo have all got flawless linux ports; I can play pretty much every adventure game in scummvm; I can play every dos game in dosbox; I can play almost all works of interactive fiction (text adventures); and steam has just started working for me under wine. There are many other linux games I don't own, and I deliberately haven't included any of the myriad of open source games in my list. Linux is definitely a viable platform for games, and as game engines move more towards being cross platform (PC/Mac/XBOX/PS3 ala id tech 5) the cost of porting to linux is likely to fall.
Factor in the million flash games, web based games and people who only game on consoles and I think this traditional sticking point for windows might not last forever.
I must be new here...
You just hack it into the executable. There may well be source for the trapdoor, but it isn't integrated with the compiler source - it's separate. The first time you build the bootstrap compiler, the trapdoor isn't there - you add it to the executable with a separate step, both the code of the trapdoor, the code to add the trapdoor to resulting code, and a hook to the existing compiler to call the trapdoor. Then you use that compiler to compile itself, and the output will include the trapdoor, "natively inserted." At that point, someone could use the bootstrap compiler to compile its own source compare their output to the executable you gave them, and all would look well.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Hey guys, I replaced all scripts in my /etc/init.d directory and now my Linux won't boot up. Stupid, stupid Linux.
i'd like to hear what you told him directly. there are many version of what drm does and does not do and there is a lot of fud floating around. sorry, but the open source advocates often put a spin on it that simply isn't true.
the fact that your brother is running 100% microsoft and 100% unfamilure with drm and the problems it is said to cause shows that drm might not be as big of an issue as some claim. i wouldn't be surprised, microsoft always gets this bad rep from open source advocates and as people turn to find out for themselves we see that many people get along just fine and that the so-called problems are a bit more vapor ware than anything else.
DRM is not in the constitution, so a constitutional amendment is not needed or advisable. Fix the stupid law. Start by tossing out the stupid people who put in the stupid law, end by tossing out the stupid parties that put in the stupid people that put in the stupid law.
Ha ha!
I see they have a system of Slashdot mod-point distribution around Microsoft.
Look, you chumps, you had a shot with Windows 7, but this DRM crap is going to kill it.
-FL
You know they make drugs now that can really help you with your paranoia problem. Look into it, seriously.
Actually, the first time he had a bad experience with DRM, he ended up re-ripping his entire collection and ensured that it wasn't encrypted... he lost whatever collection of music and movies had had on his servers. He didn't connect encrypted data with the reason why it was encrypted in the first place. He knows it's bad but "avoidable." Next, his whole family's Zunes were disabled because of the leap-second bug. He was baffled as to why accurate time would be so critical to the operations of a music player. I simply said that DRM'd files care a great deal about expiration dates and that even if his files weren't encrypted, the system is ready at any time to disable your ability to play your data back.
If you don't like the DRM in Windows 7/Vista/XP/whatever then vote with your feet and wallet. It's not like there aren't alternatives available.
As a gamer who plays everything from Crysis to Civ2 there are no alternatives unless you can show me that Wine can give me the performance and compatibility that I get from the same machine under WinXP (or even Vista).
Personally I would love to move to Linux however, gaming comes first to me so I cant. Mac is also out of the question for the same reason.
I was fine with a lot of the features in Vista -- it ran fine on a dual core machine,
I'm not sure how that's really a feature.
How sad is it that instead of being able to say "I liked this OS because of such & such" people have to settle for "I like this OS because, well, because I did not have too many reasons to hate it".
It's like buying a new car, and instead of saying "I like it because it looks great, handles well, and gets awesome mileage" people buy the car and say "Well, I like it because it doesn't fall apart or randomly explode".
I am using windows 7 here right and find that this article is full of bullshit.
I am also dissapointed in most of the gullible idiots that believes in this bullshit instead of actually TRYING win7 and drawing their own conclusions.
...what can you do in the beta now that you can't currently do in Vista?
Ah. Thank you! The most informative review so far.
Wouldn't the dll issue simply be related to code signing? The exe is probably signed and the cracked dll not, Windows complains.
Quack, quack.
hey look at me I'm going to type microsoft sucks for reading up some article about something
>Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
Guess what, I could do that under XP too but not under Vista. (well now I can) That's because of the company that made the HARDWARE included inadequate drivers for Vista. but NO NO I HAVE NO IDEA LETS BLAME MICROSOFT INSTEAD HOHOHO
>photoshop
Does it give a popup simmilar or "this product has expired?" and then closes the thing? That's because you did something WRONG with one of the license dlls. I've tried using a legit CS4 install and changed it, NO PROBLEMS. Also tried a torrented cracked CS4 install and changed it, NO PROBLEMS.
If you did'nt know already cs4 automaticly connects to adobe to verify the thing, hence why it says in crack instructions to block a certain adobe adress by editing the host file. I bet you did'nt know that either, did you.
I can't help to feel how pathetic (as in gullible and dumb) some people are after reading through the comments/replies.
I think Windows is officially in the fading phase of its existence: Adobe has FINALLY (After first announcing it way back in 2003) released a 64 bit Flash player - and it's for Linux, not Windows. I think that's the first time I've ever seen a major release of anything coming out on Linux first.
It might have something to do with the fact that a lot of Linux users asked for a 64-bit Flash player, but I haven't seen anyone using Windows care. 64-bit Vista & Win7 still use 32-bit version of IE as a default browser, and Firefox downloads for Windows are also 32-bit by default, so most people don't even know there are potential problems there...
Not all contracts should be valid. You still can't sign yourself into slavery last time I checked, even in the most "free" US states.
they are borked in the public beta
They aren't it's just that Windows Explorer doesn't understand symlinks well. If you use the command prompt or a decent file manager, you can navigate them just fine. Or you can just go straight to where they link to in Explorer.
The wording is substantially different from the second amendment.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Compare with:
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
Tho copyright clause gives congress the power to promote the progress of "science and the useful arts", within limits. The second amendment explains why it prohibits congress from infringing on a right of the people.
The supreme court has at times stated that copyright and patent law cannot be used where they would hinder progress. Clearly, much of the current judiciary likes to pretend the wording is more like that of the second amendment.
The above steps are pointless, because "Local Settings" is not a folder in Vista and above. It's a symlink. The real folder is AppData\Local, and that should have proper permissions already.
Well, that is not a surprise. But when the OS intentionally downgrades a piece of hardware I purchased, then I am a bit perplexed as to why I would want that OS. Why does an OS have an opinion on how much performance I get from a piece of hardware I purchase. I think hardware manufacturers might have an issue with this. In a sense, MS is setting the bar for how things should operate.
Trying to double click any of those shortcuts bring an "access denied" error box, even the "My Documents" one
That's actually Explorer deficiency. You can chdir into them from command prompt, for example, and list the contents. Of course, in effect you'll just end up in the folder it links to.
Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine[...] the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder [...] and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
So I'd envision it more like:
"Congress shall pass no law limiting the rights of persons to manipulate, operate, or otherwise utilize as they see fit any of their possessions or effects, nor the sale or trade of tools to be used for such purposes."
There ya go, "The Hacker's Amendment"
Except you didn't purchase, and don't possess or otherwise own the media. You only purchased a license for use, so you're still messing with someone else's product.
I left out the NOR. If you want to kill DRM you have do both, stop pirating and stop buying. If all you do is pirate then they'll think that all they need is stronger DRM to force people to buy.
Reminds me of the old argument for pirating. "The content sucked so I downloaded it instead of buying." Well if it sucked why download it? All that person has done is shown the creators that the content was fine, but they just didn't want to pay for it. Result, more DRM.
Is any one really surprised by this, I am not
If we went back to the halcyon having everyone assemble their own circuit boards, write their own BIOS and multitasking OS, there would be little chance of having the programs we do today. How would something like Photoshop run on a computer where each one had a different OS and different function calls?
Duh. This is what Unix history was all about. The answer is simple: standardized API. This is how Linus was able to build a kernel existing code would run on.
You can do what you want under the hood, as long as you keep the interface in tact.
In mentioning the installation of a second sound card, I am not advocating any particular workaround, but rather merely repeating the suggestion made in the original article posting and quoted in the summary at the top of the page. The OP describes possibly installing a second card, and inasmuch as doing so could conceivably be construed as willfully attempting to circumvent Windows' DRM measures, even if unsuccessful, it would appear to run afoul of the provisions stipulated in the DMCA.
For that matter, your suggestion of a second computer to get around sound card crippling imposed by the OS could also be construed as a willful circumvention of DRM. Taking this Gedankenexperiment to its extreme, the DMCA could theoretically be applied to legally prevent people from owning or possibly even operating more than one computer or other recording-enabled audiovisual device. How wonderfully Orwellian...
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Furthermore, the electrons which make up that information are my property too - I bought them from the electric company.
When you think about it, DRM is really just a way for someone else to tell you what you can and can't do with your electrons. And the DMCA punishes you for aligning your electrons wrong.
Nice delusion, but totally false-to-fact. Maybe back in the day of the Altar or Apple II you could control the entire machine, but today you didn't write the OS, the BIOS, the device firmware, the drivers, the utilities, or the programs. You have no say in the matter.
Yeah, all you did is PAY FOR IT. How dare you to expect anything of it.
I just tried doing that and it doesn't work anymore. Unchecked kdawson on the editor list and yet his stories still appear to me. :(
"To a certain extent true but at least with Open Source Linux/Unix you can see the source and even modify if you can program or hire someone to do it."
First, you're trusting that the source you see is what's actually been delivered in binary form on disk or via download. Should you take the source and compile it yourself, you're trusting the compiler is accurately and faithfully translating the source into a binary, that any included libraries are equally trustworthy, and so on.
As you say, it's a matter of trust. But as someone else once said, "Trust is the condition necessary for betrayal."
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Good post! Informative!! Glad you were modded up.
But there are several Linux systems, like there are several BSD variants. Didn't think it necessary to list them all.
Hurd, Minix, ReactOS, Haiku, QNX, etc are all "interesting" in their own ways, but really not suitable replacements for most modern desktop OS's (lack of software and/or lack of hardware support and/or lack of full GUI and/or lack of reasonable installer, etc). OpenSolaris could be, though. I kinda thought it would have more interest, but it seems it might have been "too little too late" and is just overshadowed by Linux (kinda like BSD is too).
Nice trick MS! But experts users always win :D
He may be referring to the MS Office stink we had quite a few years ago. Now it has been awhile but IIRC MSFT were using system APIs that were tied to the OS and set to run 24/7 in order to make MS Office always launch faster and be more responsive than anybody else's Office product. I believe this was when Star Office and WordPerfect were still threats to MS Office, but I can't quite be sure as that was awhile ago.
But just checking my copy of Office 2K7(given free by a client who hated it) it still loads CTF loader on system startup but I can't find any link to OSAx.EXE which was the hidden loader that they used on Office 2K and 2K3. But I do seem to remember both Star Office and WordPerfect having complaint about comparing products since they gave you the choice of having a bootloader whereas MSFT doesn't. While I am not completely sure that is what he was talking about that is the only "secret APIs" story that I can remember hearing. Perhaps he can enlighten us further?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
It's like buying a new car, and instead of saying "I like it because it looks great, handles well, and gets awesome mileage" people buy the car and say "Well, I like it because it doesn't fall apart or randomly explode".
Why do you think Kias and Hyundais are so popular these days?
They're cheap and reliable, even if they're boring as hell and drive like crap.
Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
Or GimpShop, if you're already used to the Photoshop interface.
Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
If you can record from your wav out in Linux, but not in Windows, I think there's plenty of reason to blame Microsoft.
...or the Windows driver authors...
Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
Got to the point where I bought that T-Shirt from "Think Geek" which says "No I won't fix your computer".
All that shirt does is tell your friends and neighbors that you know how to fix computers, and that you're probably just wearing the shirt to get a laugh.
I got that shirt from them for free; I'm not pretentious enough to buy it at full price.
Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
Here you go, wiki is your friend! I would ask you to please note the following part, quote:"n order to prevent users from copying DRM content, Windows Vista provides process isolation and continually monitors what kernel-mode software is loaded." Please note the words CONTINUALLY MONITORS. You DO know that you can't get something for nothing right? And that everything has a cost? The ONLY way for the "protected path" DRM to work would be for it to monitor you 24/7/365, otherwise you could simply hack it or load an Alcohol 120% style virtual device with hacked keys BEFORE you loaded the DRM content. So to ensure you "filthy pirate you" that you don't pull any fast ones it HAS to monitor you 24/7.
So while all the Vista fans(all 6 of you) would love to think that they have invented some magically "resource free" DRM, sorry to burst your bubble. Everything costs, and DRM doesn't really have a prayer in hell if it can actually be turned off for ANY reason, even if you are not doing anything to actually NEED DRM. And if you want to know why you are being boned with this crap, please read Comes VS Microsoft to see where Jim Allchin and Bill Gates talk about DRM and their need for "scenarios" to try to shut down the iPod. pretty much ALL they talk about is how to lock in the users. And for those that work in business here is a view of Win7 from the enterprise perspective, and here is a view of Win7 from the performance POV.
I hope this illuminates readers and helps your realize that complaint about DRM are NOT FUD, but simply complaints about performance robbing crap that does ZERO for the user. I myself saw it with Vista Beta 1, which ran damned fast on this 3.6GHz P4 with 2GB of RAM, but when RTM rolled around and I got my free copy for Beta testing it was like those car commercials where they dump the ton of sludge on the race car. It sucked so bad I gave my copy of Vista away and last I heard it was being passed from person to person like an unwanted fruitcake.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Agreed completely, 'cept it's more like trickle-up (or no trickle at all), since infrastructure helps everyone living here, we all benefit instantly and continuously. If only we could throw $800 billion towards light rail and universal fiber, maybe a trillion towards improving health care and a trillion towards education that we spent on wars in foreign countries. Imagine how much better off we could be right now. Sigh.
My opinion is this: Don't complain NOW for that kind of "features". And before you start throwing tomatoes and other kind of vegetation at me, let me explain why: let them f**k BIG time and THEN complain so that users finally get it... :P
A customer *literally* threw money at you? I hope it was paper money, because coins can hurt!
It sure would be interesting if you were right about Windows 7. It would be really stupid for MS to include DRM that makes 7 as sluggish as Vista. But then again, it's possible that they really are that dumb.
Slashdot? Allowing the posting of an unverified anti-Microsoft story? Who would have expected that!
The rest of the internet and commenters here have pretty much already proven half of this untrue and/or stuff existing already in Vista, with the rest of the claims unproven. No shock there.
Seriously people, you really should expect a little more proof of things than to just blindly listen to internet "news". Being a Linux zealot is no excuse. You're supposed to be the "smart" ones, after all.
Every time I have to reinstall a Windows image backup on one of my clients machines - BECAUSE Adobe Premiere or Encore totally screwed up Windows - the goddamn Adobe License Manager kicks in and says that the hardware has changed (it hasn't since the image backup was made, like a week ago) and says I have to reinstall Premiere. Then I have to spend an hour reinstalling the Matrox video capture card driver - which is also unmitigated shit that actually hard crashes Windows the instant it's installed!
Adobe software is unmitigated shit on a par with Windows itself.
If Linux had a decent video editor that my client could use, he would dump Windows in a heartbeat. But no Linux video editors - and don't start listing Linux video editors, I mean NONE - can do the job of Adobe Premiere.
Seriously, the OSS community needs to develop a non-linear video editor that can do everything Adobe can do, and another that does everything PhotoShop can do (and it ain't GIMP), and then Adobe can be kicked to the curb - correct that, to the sewer - where their shit belongs.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
So I downloaded and installed the demo version for the latest release, to see what goodies it had. Not only did the Acrobat demo regularly try to sneakily "phone home", but when it did, it glitched my system, and caused conflicts with some other background processes that had a similarly cavalier attitude to thinking that THEY owned the computer (hello MS Update).
In the end, the program went into a death spiral where the failed home-phoning glitched the software itself in the middle of file operations, and somehow the thing ended up progressively corrupting its own files, until two weeks into the four-week demo period, the thing stopped twitching and finally died, and I had to unpick the unholy mess it left behind by hand, because even the uninstaller no longer worked.
Now, the sad thing is, for all I know, the program without the "phone home" stuff might well have been stable. I'd already bought an earlier version, and was serious about getting the update, partly from a misplaced sense of customer loyalty, and partly because I thought that the Adobe colour-conversion facilities might be better than on the free or near-free third-party PDF-editor apps.
But what the demo showed me was that (a) Adobe felt entitled to write stuff into their software to do stupid and dangerous things to my PC that I wasn't aware that I'd agreed to, and that I'd normally associate with malware, vaporising any residual sense of loyalty or trust, and (b) that there's no way in hell that I was going to run a piece of dangerous buggy shit like that on any important computer system.
So bye-bye Adobe product sale, and bye-bye any hope of me buying another Adobe product until they can prove that they can be trusted. I don't want that stuff anywhere near my hard drives.
Personally I think that there should be a list of companies whose products shouldn't be allowed onto any government or company (or educational) networks without breaking the network's security certification, and while Adobe are pulling shit like this, they ought to be on the list.
Eric Baird
Look up what a "googol" is. In fact, Google can look it up for you.
GP misspelled it.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
That's been debunked oh so many times. Please never reference it again.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Businesses probably won't care too much about DRM restrictions, but other customers have more and more choices to refuse what they are not happy with. Vista is the proof and Microsoft is better take notice.
If someone produced a platform called, say, "MediaLinux" that was pretty much guaranteed to be nicely set up as a DVD and photos and videos and CD-ripping platform (and could obviously also run FurryFox Ooo, etc.), and came pre-setup with Wine and a user-friendly database that listed the current Wine compatibility ratings of most popular Windows apps, and what you could and couldn't expect to do on the system, then maybe maybe most home Windows users might have a credible alternative.
But until the Linux community gets organised enough to be able to actually tell Windows users what the sensible alternative IS for home use, then people are going to cling to the known product that they think is the safest option.
Eric Baird
So. No Vista, No windows 7 and Windows Xp with update hacked drivers from alternate sources are the only sane options if you don't want government to intrude directly with your desktop.
Anti-Features... This is what they are.
"Look at the interesting ways we have gimped your computer, remember the NSA will make certain you say the correct things online!"
Neil
What a bunch of bastards. Microsoft is helping the Nazis.
People are free to use Linux if they want to. Very few want to.
In the US, they are "free to use Linux" after they have paid for a Microsoft License at a typical computer vendor. Personally, I would point an internet n00b at a Mac, my wife loves hers. That wasn't the point I was trying to make.
If you think it is MS stopping them you are clueless.
One of us is clueless, agreed.
People will use whatever is easiest to do what they want to do.
And the easiest thing to do is to go down to a store, buy a computer that looks interesting and use it. I agree.
Why can't you buy a computer in a neighborhood computer shop that's preinstalled with Linux? It's not lack of demand - it happens in countries other than the US.
Perhaps what you should consider is that if Linux were sold as 100% of the preinstalls in computer stores (do not charge for the OS and consider it the same as FreeDOS) and Microsoft Windows had to be purchased and installed separately, what kind of a market share would it have? (And that's not the point I was trying to make either, though it's valid).
The rest of your message is flamebait that I will not respond to.
I agree with the rest of what you've said, but
* Microsoft in bed with the RIAA? Since when?
Since "squirting" became a verb you could discuss with your mom.
Haida Manga
Such things are not unable to be detected, merely unlikely.
I recently saw on Ubuntu's brainstorm that Canonical doesn't have the in-house expertise to do involved things to the xorg X-server.
Suppose upstream puts in some nasty code that exploits a client side assumption about the interaction between blah-blah... who will find out? Do you read the source before you sudo make-sandwich apt-get install it?
I sure as hell don't. Would the Ubuntu devs? Okay, $DISTRO devs might. Would they find it? Remember, xorg is massive. Even just the X server/client interface is massive. Add to that the inter-client communications manual (not merely the EWMH additions). How many people have a good overview of how xorg really works? A hundred?
I'm not (yet) a free software maintainer, though, so I don't really know. But consider it. How many places does the evil code have to hide? How well can it be hidden? I think the answer might be uncomfortable. Sorry :)
So, to use a car analogy, I guess something like speed enforcement would be a thing of the past with an amendment like that. They can't limit my "right" to operate my possession as I see fit, so I can happily drive however fast I want. I know car stuff is regulated by the individual states, but they have to abide by the Constitution too, don't they?
Those amendments specifically refer to "congress", in which case no they don't apply to the states. It's pretty simple. Besides, the constitution delineates what congress can do, not what it can't. And any right not delineated to congress is reserved by the states.
And I'm not even an American. Terrible.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
TMFA is a masterful slashdot troll and a pretty flithy piece of FUD on the side.
So my question is who do I see about getting 10 minutes of my life back?
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
I am amazed that so many posters are criticizing MS for attempting in Vista7 what Apple so successfully implemented in their OS X for the iPhone. Mobile = platform of the future, desktop = platform of the past, laptop = interim platform on the way to mobile /netbook.
I find it ironic that nobody is pointing out that while the emperor's new clothes are DRM laden, the court jester has tightly locked up their mobile platform while laughing all the way to the bank.
PS - if we keep calling it Vista7, I think it will catch on...
Ask Me About... The 80's!
They are huge and crazy ideas. The Vista/7 DRM schemes are well documented on Microsofts own site. He probably thought you were crazy when you opened your mouth reciting some of the garbage I read on here about "magic hidden processes" which "monitor everything that goes to your screen / soundcard" for copyrighted content.
There is an attempt at an open source DRM implementation in the works as well, to allow people to watch modern high def discs on Linux. No idea if Sony will decide they trust it and hand out some keys. I'd be leaning towards a no - they tend to like their pointless obfuscation schemes. :P
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
The information is not your property. Neither is the key it is encrypted with.
If you wish to decrypt the information with the key, and the owner of the information says that all drivers on your machine are signed by someone they trust, then you should probably be buying the information of someone else.
The fact that MS provides a API/policy framework for checking this trust is a hell of a lot better than being forced to install some half-assed rootkits from Sony and only use their player. This fact is also largely irrelevant if you aren't playing DRM protected media anyway.
The hardware remains yours, and you are completely free to fuck around with it as much as you like. Vista DRM will not stop you. You may change something that conflicts with Sony's policy - but if you aren't buying and playing Sony's media, then you won't need to give a shit.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
OH SHIT! I hope its not me!
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
I'm like a Microsoft executive's wet fantasy - I own several Windows Vista machines, and XBox, and 2 zunes.
Yet this is exactly what I have feared. This sort of OS taking control of my machine rather than me is such a turn off it will probably drive me to Linux once and forever. I believe that since I bought the hardware, I should be able to use it as I see fit and the software shouldn't cripple me from doing that. It's my personal computer, I should have complete control over it. If I screw it up, then so be it. If I break laws then I deserve punishment. But I shouldn't have my hands tied from the beginning.
If Windows 7 allows Adobe to mess with my Firewall settings then that's the final straw. It's basically the implementation of trusted computing on a software level which spells doom for the user.
That may be true, but it doesn't really address my original point. If the two platforms were equally concerned about not intentionally giving away control over my machine to the highest bidder, then we could have a discussion about which one is more trustworthy in reaching that goal. Until then, the one that doesn't openly gloat about it as an official policy is the one I'm going with.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
Has the title... You're JUST RIDICOLOUS!!!
Cracking a program with an HACKED DLL wrotten by who? And the problem is Microsoft? :-/
If you have hacked a DLL (read: you've cracked the software), this stops to legitimate your license, and so there are no guarantee about this software works correctly.
This kind of user describes itself.
This is not the tail wagging the dog. It's Microsoft trying to achieve a monopoly on distribution of digital media. They're late to the party, of course, as always. Media execs already feel the steeltoe of Apple's DRM boot on their collective necks.
Try doing that in Ada or Python and call me back...
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
- Hello, operator? I'd like to make a conference call with Google, IBM, Sun Microsystems and FSF legal departments.
*snicker*
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
Actually, I'd say that DFBSD still isn't really that usable, but the PC- and Midnight BSDs are anything but minor options for the desktop. I'm not sure Minix FOSS, though. Haiku is kinda iffy because they are contemplating dropping POSIX compliance. MenuetOS is in x86 assembly. That's a problem. IIRC, it ain't POSIX either. QNX is available as FOSS for non-commercial use. Oh, and you forgot Darwin. It's not real fast but it has an existing hardware support pool, albeit small, and I think the Mach-O format and relative directory support is nifty. Though I'd like 'em better as NetBSD bolt-ons, but, sadly, the Darwin ABI implementation is old, and PPC-only. Too bad.
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
ba dum tish
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
There is of course also the not-yet-quite-as-well-known article about a method to defeat that attack. You might want to read it (I have) since it's actually rather nice.
One location is at http://www.acsa-admin.org/2005/abstracts/47.html
Or more info, as well as the paper, on the author's blog at http://www.dwheeler.com/trusting-trust/
So, if you distrust your compiler(s) enough, there are ways for you to regain that trust, either by yourself or by enlisting some help.
You clearly have never driven a Hyundai i30.
Did you read the EULA? *
* Neither did I but I would put a small bet that it probably mentioned that this sort of thing might happen.
Don't fool yourself, DRM is not about piracy. It is about inhibiting the exercise of fair use rights by legitimate customers and convincing them those rights do not exist. Rights such as format-shifting, time-shifting, personal backup copies, etc. DRM is just a way to increase their revenue stream because now instead of exercising your fair use right to copy that CD into your MP3 player you have to go pay another $1/song if they can convince you that right does not exist, or make exercising that right too difficult.
DRM has never, and will never, end real "piracy" as real pirate learn to bypass it with ease
If you cannot keep politics out of your moderation remove yourself from the Mod Lottery.. NOW!
You should read the DMCA
What does that mean?
This article is a joke.
You know they make drugs now that can really help you with your paranoia problem. Look into it, seriously.
Yeah, but they don't make original, clever comebacks. That's the problem with mass-produced goods, though the average consumer can't tell the difference. It's all little ketchup packs to the Muggles. We paranoid types, however, can usually spot a knock-off.
Anyway, there's paranoia and there's poking fun at the ACs. (Don't worry about the Redmond thing. I was just doing that to invalidate you. I'm sure they only hire the best for their P.R. needs.)
Cheers!
-FL
The hardware remains yours, and you are completely free to fuck around with it as much as you like.
No, the DMCA says I'm not free to do that. That's the point.
This post showed up in Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/02/oh-the-humanity-windows-7s-draconian-drm.ars
Just thought I'd share their view on it.
that run windoze will end up shutting down because of a DRM issue? THAT may spell the end of DRM, especially if some hospital loses a vip patient because the administrators insisted on going with the latest windoze.
He sounds pretty clueful to me.
"I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems are [sic] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn't translate into great products."
from http://iowa.gotthefacts.org/010807/PLEX_7264.pdf
I haven't read all of them though, maybe he puts his foot in his mouth elsewhere.
Oh really? I've done a bit of searching and the only debunking I've come up with seems to be from Microsoft themselves.
:-)
Some of that article seems a bit hokey, especially the parts about bit/voltage reliability, but he has valid points about DRM, especially the quality aspect. That I *NEED* to use HDMI to display HD BluRay from the PS3 when the 20+ year old Component/VGA interface is more than adequate to the task is asinine.
But I'd love to see your hordes of rebuttals. Please.
Spiffy - thanks for the reference. It took me a minute to get it, after reading his objections to others' objections, but once you get that's it's quite simple and elegant - presuming you have a compiler you trust. For that matter, I guess your "trusted" compiler could even be inserting a Trojan and you'd still detect problems. That is, as long as it's not the exact same Trojan inserted in exactly the same way.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Never mind, kept going past page two in Google and found some, guess I've got some reading to do.
Ars Technicia response: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/02/oh-the-humanity-windows-7s-draconian-drm.ars
|Re -- Photoshop: That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: Noting that Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine. Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
1. You replace dll file with a cracked version and complain it "suddenly" stopped working.
2. You clearly don't understand Windows permissions. Yet, it's Windows fault?
3. "Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine." Wtf? You for real, you installed with admin rights, the software can do pretty much whatever it will.
For many years the operating system struggled to provide that capability and tyhe hardware vendors struggled to put enough power in the hardware.
As Windows developed version by version, we used to hate the limitations that were based on features not yet implemented.
Competition between operating systems was based on features more than price. The OS vendor wanted to provide as many features as possible so as to make the product more desirable.
If this were a normal competitive environment,, Microsoft would want to make the OS the best it could be so they would be more competitive. However this is not the situation and they are more interested in being in bed with special interests than providing the best product for the users who buy the product.
Now we are in a time where the operating system says no, not because it can't, but because it won't. This is intolerable, and when the people truly understand exactly what is happening to their expensive computers, being sold out behind their backs, they will become interested in operating systems that provide more instead of less capability.
I am really glad TFA made these issues visible for discussion.
I just had a dangerous thought. The Windows operating system can be used to store copyrighted material, such as music. Software that allows the transfer of CD music into the computer has traditionally written into visible storage an mp3 file the user could use. What if it didn't. Microsoft could develop a new file system, and claim the purpose of it is to protect their data. Then any attempts to write Linux file system drivers for that file system could be interpreted as an attempt to go around protection measures, That of course would be against the law. I think it is only a matter of time before Microsoft plays this card and Windows becomes even more of a closed operating system.
Nope. But I have driven other Hyundais. I've also driven many other American cars, and they're infinitely more fun. Every Ford made nowadays, for example, is very fun to drive, even the Taurus and the Focus. Since model year 2000, I've also never seen a Ford fall apart or randomly explode. Their QA is not befitting of their bad reputation.
I contend that while there might be a few exceptions, nearly every car made in Asia is boring.
Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
I might not trust him to handle my social calendar or financial affairs, but my compiler, bootloader, etc, yes.
So I take it you don't manage your social calendar and financial affairs through your computer?
Laws restricting you on how you can use your property? Thats new!
The DMCA (which is a fairly stupid law, agreed) only restricts you from hacking your way around someone elses content protection. It does not prevent you from using your computer. It does not prevent you from installing unsigned drivers, etc. It doesnt prevent you from doing shit.
Any media player application that has been given a decryption key may decide not to play - but thats THEIR application. Playing THEIR content, which you licensed under THEIR rules. The DMCA prevents you from hacking around THEIR scheme.
Is this getting thru to you? If all of this worrys you then DONT BUY DRM CONTENT. Simple.
Your computer is yours. It will always be yours. It may not be considered "approved" by someone else - but you know what? I don't like your computer either. You may not view any haikus I publish on it. Is your computer no longer "yours" now?
Sony Player 10000 was NEVER yours. James Bond III: Sharks with FRIKKIN Lasers was also NEVER yours. So if you think you have some moral right to be able to watch MY content, without abiding by MY license conditions, then frankly you can either fuck off, or take it up with congress.
Now the DMCA criminalizing you breaking a bunch of license conditions, thats a whole other stupid story. I think the DMCA is a load of horse shit, but I do recognise the rights of the "artist" to license their work under whatever terms they see fit.
Without the DMCA you are still breaching the license terms of the content. Its on a very similar level to downloading it from bittorrent.
Your moral stance on this may vary, but I really can't be fucked arguing if you are a freetard. In summary: Their shit, their rules. Don't like it? Get someone elses shit. Quit whinging.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
The DRM scare in Vista never amounted to anything, and this sounds like much ado about nothing.
I can confirm the sound issue. Occasionally, the sound quality will drop to about that of a bootleg VHS. It stays like this for about three to five minutes and then goes back to its normal quality.
Unless there is a EULA, (which only software claims to have, and the validity of that is debatable) there is NO LICENSE for copyrighted content. NO CONTRACTS and NO AGREEMENTS.
I damned well have a right right to play content I bought, regardless of what the whiney authors want. Why? Because I didn't agree with the author about anything, and I'm not making a new copy.
Once you sold me your crappy movie or music, I get to watch it without your permission or blessing. I can also scribble on it, piss on it, or let my dog play with it. You might use the DMCA to create technical tricks to restrict my rights, but other than that bogus law (which is what I was complaining about in the first place) there still is no license, no agreement, no contract and no moral justification for you to control what I do with it, as long as I don't make new copies of it.
My wife takes care of the social calendar, my financial affairs are on the computer, but not managed by Stallman.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
You should have the right, I agree. Currently you do not have the legal right.
We are far and beyond the original scope of this discussion "Does Windows DRM affect what you can do with your computer?". The answer is "No, its those corrupt asshats in congress that are affecting what I can do with my computer.".
If you aren't planning on watching DRM'd content, then Windows DRM doesn't affect you. If you are planning on working around the DRM, then you won't be using Windows DRM anyway - you'll be using DeDRM Plus, and then a random media player to watch.
In fact the only time you are using Windows DRM is when you are playing along with the media studio's stupid rules. (Yes this does sound like DRM systems are a stupid waste of time, doesn't it? :P)
Like I said, these APIs are no more insiduous than a random player app checking the damn country settings and refusing to run if I'm in Israel. Exposing "GetSystemLocale" is hardly Microsoft destroying my freedom with their anti-semetic APIs.
Whine to your local congressman, not to MS. They're just providing what the market wants (Yes, Joe Public does want to be able to play Bluray discs).
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
How about one's own CDs? Are they not property? And I mean the physical CD not the concept of of intellectual property.
And here is a link for you Mr. Coward! Of course if you like I can show you 100 links showing XP stomping a mudhole in Vista for every one that says it doesn't, but I prefer to use logic. So I will try to explain how the concept of DRM works to you, even though you are probably a troll and won't listen. But I do like educating so. Ready?
DRM is a program that keeps YOU the "dirty filthy user you" from accessing the "blessed mother media's" content in any way they don't approve of. With me so far? To do that it has to stand as a gatekeeper between you and the blessed content and like a little prison guard tell you what you are and aren't allowed to do with the "blessed" content. Still with me? Now here is where it gets tricky, Mr. Coward, so pay attention please. The ONLY WAY for the "little prison guard" is able to do his job is to stand there 24/7/365 or you could pay your buddy Frank to dress up as a prison guard and fool the "blessed" content into playing. Understand now? Is the little light bulb lighting up over your head?
You DO realize that NOTHING is free and everything costs, yes? That there is NO perpetual motion machines and you don't get a free lunch. So why is it SO hard for you to grasp that MSFT hasn't invented the perfect cost free DRM? The only way DRM could work without costing your RAM and CPU cycles would be to deny you disk access and run the RAM in a hypervisor. It simply HAS to run 24/7 or it would be even less trivial to bypass than iTunes "content protection" on songs. All you would have to do to make an end run around "protected path" if it DIDN'T run 24/7 is to load up an Alcohol 120% style driver while it was sleeping along with hacked files to make it look legit. It wouldn't be much of a DRM system then, would it?
Look, I know where your hostility at the thought is coming from. You got Vista'd, didn't you? And now you have bought some multicore stuffed to the brim RAM monster trying to not feel suckered for getting the turd, and feel the need to lash out when it is pointed out the emperor has no clothes. But just because you got it to run well on a Core 2 Quad with 8GB doesn't make Vista good. To quote an Air Force friend talking about working with the F4 "Just because you strap a couple of rocket motors to a brick doesn't make the brick into an Eagle. It just makes it a fast, gas sucking brick.". But if it makes you feel better tell yourself Vista is "just as fast" as XP. I know that buyer's remorse can be a bitch. But if you are going to lie to yourself, make it over features or UAC, not the DRM. Because anyone that can think logically is going to see that it is impossible for the DRM in Vista NOT to slow it down. That is just how DRM has to work. Sorry.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
The XP system that I am using right now doesn't allow me to select 'Stereo Mix', probably because either the motherboard chipset or the drivers do not support it. Why jump to the conclusion that it is Microsoft's fault and not lousy hardware?
Because my PC had that same problem under XP, and not in Linux.
Even using Google isn't even necessary in this case; the add/remove window has a built in search feature. GP is either ignorant or bullshitting.
...get over yourself
Because my PC had that same problem under XP, and not in Linux.
Then it is a driver issue, and is still not Microsoft's fault. If other sound cards can support the feature under XP then it is obviously not an operating system limitation.
Who elects those politicians?
The oligarchy appoints a set to choose from and mindless idiots pick the prettiest one.
Always thought Al Gore was an ugly SOB.
Who elects those politicians?
The oligarchy appoints a set to choose from and mindless idiots pick the prettiest one.
FTW
ONLY 27 times in 200 years?
You DO realise that's about once every 7.4 years, right?
Which means a revision due to "computer software" is due about twice over...
And what has been one of the major happenings of the 20th century if not the computer revolution? What could be more deserving of a rethink?
Your opinion seems not well thought out.
> Nice delusion, but totally false-to-fact. Maybe back in the day of the Altar or Apple II
/usr/bin/sawfish, and nautilus is just chmod -x so it doesn't consume any system resources; I don't have any use for a graphical file manager since I discovered tab completion back in the nineties).
> you could control the entire machine, but today you didn't write the OS, the BIOS, the
> device firmware, the drivers, the utilities, or the programs. You have no say in the matter.
I don't need to write the whole OS from scratch line by line to have a reasonable level of control. I just need to be able to replace the parts I don't like (because they don't behave the way I want) with ones that I do like (because they *do* behave the way I want). I use Gnome for the panel, but I don't use Metacity or Nautilus. (/usr/bin/metacity is a symlink to
And when the available software doesn't meet my needs, then I *do* write my own. I wrote my own system for organizing my music collection and generating playlists (with an algorithm that shuffles in such a way that you never get the same genre twice in a row). I wrote my own spaced repetition system for vocabulary as well, because the existing ones (e.g., Anki) didn't really meet my needs. I made a significant number of customizations to my text editor, including a couple of custom major modes for editing special types of files that are unique to my situation. At work, I made a small (less than twenty lines of code) change to xscreensaver for a special kiosk-type situation, so that it accepts as a valid password any fourteen-digit number that passes a simple checksum and prefix check, and logs it to a file. (Another process then does stuff based on that. Like I said, it's a special situation.)
I don't need to personally write every line of code that runs my computer. It's enough to be *able* to rewrite thee stuff that I *want* to change, or even just replace it with different code that somebody else has written that happens to do what I want.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
Oh really?