Windows XP or Linux.. don't go to next MS OS

getut · Jul 15, 2005

Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

Wow.. more proof not to upgrade you computer past Windows XP to the next version of Windows whenever it is released... or better yet start your migration to Linux.

I'm posting this recycled information because all of us on here on this tractor site use computers, thus all of us will be affected and need to know what is going on in the copyright universe with Digital Rights Management (don't let that fool you - adding to the companies rights, reducing yours and mine). If people that are simple computer users are unaware, they typically see DRM or new Digital Security features listed and think that is a BONUS on their new computer or operating system. It isn't. The typical computer user doesn't read news sites that cover some of this, so hopefully by posting it here, more people will know.

Here is an article on slashdot showing how ludicrous and evil DRM is going to be getting in the near future.
Here is the article that slashdot is discussing.

Again, please do your research and be informed. The digital and electronic world is changing fast.. and not for the better. TV going digital will be one of the worst losses of consumer rights that has ever happened... and the general public won't even know until it has already happened just because they don't understand.

Here are some keywords for you to google, be aware of whose web page you are looking at. Manufactures of hardware that utilizes this technology try to play it off as GOOD and as a FEATURE. Read between the lines on what you read as to what level of control the technology will offer the corporation over your own digital equipment including computers. Your electronics will become a police force against you in your own home.:

DRM (Digital Rights Management)
Fair use
DMCA
Trusted Computing (the companies want to trust the computer not to let you do what you want to do)
CBDTPA
SSSCA
Palladium

This stuff affects all digital equipment, not just computers.

slowrev · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

Yes it is apparently easier to control the equipment people use on the net rather than the net.
Ben

getut · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

If they (the corporations) buy any electronic gear that I want/need, then they can say what I can and can't do with my own equipment. If a person chooses to break the law then there are already laws in effect to handle that. Its not acceptable that software stop any use that the developers did not deem appropriate.

MadReferee · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

Ho hum.

I read most of the posts on that first link and the posters are 99.99% Microsoft bashers. I take little, if any, of what they have to say seriously. All they want to do is bash Microsoft. Most of them would be without employment if it wasn't for Microsoft. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

If the content producers want to limit their copyrighted content to certain peripherals then I guess they have the right. If one wants to access that copyrighted content then one must play by the copyright holder's rules. If in the long run the copyright holders make less money then they will change the rules to make the copyrighted material more easily available. Sort of like supply and demand.

Linux, Apple and all it's flavors and OSX control about 4% of the desktop market (mostly all Apple). That's noise level. They will never get any bigger unless they start to be more consumer friendly in price, usability, and functionality. They blame the so called Microsoft monopoly but it is really their own shortcomings that keep them from getting market share. Right now they are just factions, all bashing Microsoft hoping to get the big boy to blink. Microsoft is just brushing them off like flies.

RonL · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

When the current administation took office, the Ashcroft Department of Justice backed off of the Anti-Trust case.

It is important to the current Department of Justice that people use Microsoft products.

RonL

getut · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

( If the content producers want to limit their copyrighted content to certain peripherals then I guess they have the right.)
I'm sorry but this is REALLY missing the point. This exactly what they DON'T have the right to do. There is tons of case law to back the consumer up on this. The content producers knew it was game, set, and match for the consumer on this one. Sony vs. Betamax was a landmark case that proved that consumers have the right to use content in ANY way they see fit as long as they aren't distributing it to someone else. Period.

What is in the process of happening though is the American consumer is being backdoored now that content providers lost the first round (and rightly so). With the introduction of the DMCA they found a way to win. DRM just plays off of the power granted by the DMCA. In case you don't know, one of the things the DMCA does is make it illegal to reverse engineer or even possess a tool that can bypass any digital safeguards. So, in effect, what has happened is that fair use rights are guaranteed as proven by older case law. You can use content that you have legally purchased how you see fit... its just that the DMCA will not let you crack any encryption of the product so that you can exercise that right to fair use. Now.. game, set, match for their side. This has been so successful for them since the passing of the DMCA that software and the computer industry are now doing this on computers (DRM and trusted computing).

It is NOT Microsoft bashing, this goes WAAAY above Microsoft. Content companies, Intel, Microsoft. Here is the kicker. DRM will be available for Linux also. The key here is that the user will remain in control of the DRM and will have ultimate say. The user will have access to control the way DRM functions and can in effect use DRM to "trust" things on his own computer... the way DRM is intended. Its just the way MS is choosing to implement DRM that is the huge trouble. The OWNER of the computer will have no say.

OkeeDon · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

I must be thick headed, or something, because I just don't get what you're saying. Why would I want to use something in a manner that was never intended?

getut · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

Got old records that you bought legally? Ever wanted to tranfer them to CD? That is as legal as it gets and very old school.. in todays worlds technical jargon it is known as space shifting.

Got CD's? CD's are starting to come with copy protection built in. In 10-15 more years when you can't buy CD players anymore and the next greatest technology is out. If things continue, and if DMCA is not changed before then, If you want to do the same thing, it will still be as legal as it gets to move your data to that next greatest technology. It will just be illegal to crack the copy protection to make the data you move usable.

Got DVD's? Watch it on your Windows PC = legal. Want to watch them on a Linux PC, its illegal even though it is the exact same CD because it is currently illegal because you have to crack the DVD encryption (DeCSS) to make the digital content usable.

Got a software package critical to your small business? Its as legal as it gets to make a backup copy of the installation media. Just don't use or possess any software that actually makes your backup usable if the source was encrypted in any fashion.

Ok.. getting more technical and geeky but just as legal and just as much protected by fair use rights. Want to MODIFY your purchased software package that you legally bought? Still just as legal as it comes under fair use rights. Its yours and you can modify it as you see fit UNLESS it has encryption of any sort. You are still legal to modify the software... just don't break any encryption so you can see the code to actually make the modification.

Ok.. enough examples. Now for the really ludicrous part. What qualifies as encryption or copy protection is not defined by the law. It is defined by the company that makes the copy protection. Some forms of copy protection out there are little more than slight obfuscations. Even those if bypassed puts you on the wrong side of the law.

Get the picture? We are getting hammered through the back door.

Alan L. · Jul 16, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

What "content" are we talking about. If its websites, and if there are enough of us that just won't go there and see their blurred or black screens and also refuse to upgrade our monitors, then their scheme will fail. The market will drive it.

Better still, just refuse to go to Longhorn. Microsoft's gets away with the buggiest software in the history of computers. They can't even make regular stuff work half the time. So, how reliable do you think this sophisticated technology will be?

MessickFarmEqu · Jul 16, 2005

Re: Windows XP or Linux.. don\'t go to next MS OS

(

Better still, just refuse to go to Longhorn. Microsoft's gets away with the buggiest software in the history of computers. They can't even make regular stuff work half the time. So, how reliable do you think this sophisticated technology will be? )

MS gets this rap because of their install base and uneducated uses. I used to work on IBM software... wanna talk about buggy. Their mainframe stuff is fine but they can't port an applicaiton to PC's to save their lives.

I thought I was the only one who would read slashdot and TBN /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.