[DMCA-Activists] MSNBC / AP on "Trusted Computing"

[Seth Johnson]

Dave Farber posted this "balanced" piece to the Interesting
People list.  The article presents some new smooth talk. 
Note that the article enumerates "a check of a database"
among the items proposed to be covered -- showing that the
American legal view of *data itself* (i.e., facts and ideas)
is being sought to be overridden (i.e., as per Feist
Publications).

See how they present the automated, assured *license
compliance* model  that these schemes represent in the
following passage -- *not* a free framework reflecting a
principled understanding of what exclusive rights mean in a
free society (such as we find embodied in the American
Constitution and in copyright jurisprudence -- or in
copyleft):

> Scott Charney, Microsoft's chief security strategist,
> said users and providers will set the rules  just as
> they do today. The difference, he said, is that the
> new technologies will create a secure environment for
> enforcing those rules.

Seth

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2002 15:47:29 -0500
From: Dave Farber <address@hidden>
To: ip <address@hidden>

[ I am not sure this helps all that much but there is a more
balanced view than some of the stuff written. There is still
much to much emotion and much too little facts . Djf]


MSNBC

Critics wary of'trusted computing'

Computer firms promise better security, but at what price?

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 5  To thwart hackers and foster
online commerce, the next generation of computers will
almost certainly cede some control to software firms,
Hollywood and other outsiders. That could break a
long-standing tenet of computing: that PC owners ultimately
control data on their own machines.

MICROSOFT CALLS ITS technology "Palladium." Intel dubs it
"LaGrande." An industry group that includes these companies,
IBM, Hewlett-Packard and 170 others terms it "trusted
computing."

(MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

Though the initiatives have technical differences, they
share the goal of hardwiring security into silicon and
related software a leap beyond today's less-secure
mechanisms, which are coded into programs to protect data.

"This is a fundamentally new approach as opposed to taking a
software-only, Band-Aid approach," said Narendar Sahgal, a
software planning manager at Intel.

The efforts would help protect movies and other digital
content from piracy and even personal copying, and critics
see few benefits for consumers.

"I don't think the kind of trustworthiness they seek to
deliver is at all desirable," said Ross Anderson, a security
researcher at Cambridge University. "It's not security for
me. It's security for them."

PLATFORMS, NOT POLICIES

The companies and content providers behind the initiative
claim that by protecting data from external attacks and
unlawful trading they'll be able to unlock the potential of
computing itself.

The key is creating a realm in computing where each bit of
communication - an e-mail, an online purchase, a check of a
database, the reading of a document can be achieved only by
interacting with secured, uniquely identified hardware
through "trusted agents."

Each agent would enforce policies set by senders,
recipients, copyright holders or a combination that would
decide how the content can be used.

In this realm, Hollywood could safely release its works. The
health care and financial industries could communicate with
clients without fear of leaks. And ordinary users could rest
assured that critical information won't be stolen or wrecked
by the virus du jour or hackers.

"There are certain transactions and certain businesses where
you need to understand and trust the device you're talking
to," said Scott Dinsdale, executive vice president of
digital strategy for the Motion Picture Association of
America.

Developers of the new technology say they're just building
trusted platforms, not setting any policies for using them.

All emphasize that specific tasks such as managing digital
rights  can be built on top of their technologies but are
not part of the
initiatives.

Peter Biddle, Microsoft's product manager for Palladium,
said it would not empower copyright holders to reach into
consumers' computers and make "untrusted" documents  such as
music files  disappear.

In fact, he said, users could use Palladium to protect
content from scans and hacks by copyright holders, who have
lately employed intrusive methods in a bid to curb piracy.

VIRTUAL VAULTS

Computers with the new capabilities are not expected for
several years, but critics say the details released so far
do not bode well for open computing.

Trustworthiness would be achieved by giving users two
choices: trusted and untrusted. On a computer running in
untrusted mode, nformation would be shared just as it has
been for the past 20 years. It's also still vulnerable to
attack.

The trusted realm, however, would be immune from such
attack. Data and memory would be contained in a virtual
vault. Keys would be held by a chip that lets in only
trusted software.

Content creators could write and enforce rules that
determine whether a file could, for instance, be distributed
or printed. They could prohibit untrusted machines from
accessing a trusted document.

Palladium, LaGrande and others are being designed to enforce
existing rules and ones devised in the future.

Scott Charney, Microsoft's chief security strategist, said
users and providers will set the rules  just as they do
today. The difference, he said, is that the new technologies
will create a secure environment for enforcing those rules.

Critics fear, however, that it will be the end user who
might end up being trusted the least in the brave new world
of trusted computing.

Creators of trusted programs could resort to draconian
tactics to ensure their policies are enforced, Anderson
said.

Programs found to be illegally copied could be rendered
useless remotely.  Sensitive e-mail, which might be useful
in investigations, could vanish.  And e-books could be
subjected to virtual book burnings.

Industry pioneer David P. Reed, formerly the chief scientist
at Lotus Development Corp., called the initiatives "booby
traps."

"I'm personally angry and disgusted that ... companies that
grew up because of the personal computer revolution, which
empowered users, are now acting to harm the users," Reed
said.

OPTING OUT

Supporters, however, argue that the new architecture will
create more opportunities than it limits, as more and more
consumers and content providers try things they now avoid
because of insecurity.

Biddle said laws and regulations that now protect sensitive
documents from shredding also should bar the destruction of
e-mail or other computer-generated material.

Moreover, users will continue to have control, because they
can always choose not run the security features, Charney and
other trusted-computing supporters say.

But those who refuse risk limiting choices, just as people
who refuse to buy the Windows operating system are closed
out of a computing world dominated by Microsoft, Anderson
said.

Seth Schoen, staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, said incompatibility is the biggest threat
posted by the trusted-computing initiatives.

"I don't think anyone can absolutely compel you to do
anything in particular," he said. "What they can do is
create an incompatibility or refuse to deal with you unless
you meet a particular condition."

Charney promised that Microsoft will not misuse the
technology.

"Listen to what we say and watch what we do. Actions speak
louder than words," Charney said. "And then if we're saying
'X' but doing 'Y,' not only will we lose trust but our brand
is hurt and we lose market share."

© 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast
*********************************

Lillie Coney
Public Policy Coordinator
U.S. Association for Computing Machinery
Suite 510
2120 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-478-6124
address@hidden


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