Monopolies and DRM
Two years ago I (and others) wrote about the security dangers of Microsoft’s monopoly. In the paper, we wrote:
Security has become a strategic concern at Microsoft but security must not be permitted to become a tool of further monopolization.
A year before that, I wrote about Microsoft’s trusted computer system (called Palladium—Pd for short—at the time):
Pay attention to the antitrust angle. I guarantee you that Microsoft believes Pd is a way to extend its market share, not to increase competition.
Intel and Microsoft are using DRM technology to cut Linux out of the content market.
This whole East Fork scheme is a failure from the start. It brings nothing positive to the table, costs you money, and rights. If you want to use Linux to view your legitimately purchased media, you will be a criminal. In fact, if you want to take your legitimately bought media with you on a road trip and don’t feel the need to pay again for it—fair use, remember—you are also a criminal. Wonderful.
Intel has handed the keys to the digital media kingdom to several convicted monopolists who have no care at all for their customers. The excuse Intel gives you if you ask is that they are producing tools, and only tools, their use is not up to Intel. The problem here is that Intel has given the said tools to some of the most rapacious people on earth. If you give the record companies a DRM scheme that goes from 1 (open) to 10 (unusably locked down), they will start at 14 and lobby Congress to mandate that it can be turned up higher by default.