[Office-commits] r9657 - trunk/campaigns/windows7sins/articles

[sysadmin]

Author: mattl
Date: Wed Sep 23 12:40:06 2009
New Revision: 9657

Log:
some DRM amends

Modified:
   trunk/campaigns/windows7sins/articles/drm.mdwn

Modified: trunk/campaigns/windows7sins/articles/drm.mdwn
==============================================================================
--- trunk/campaigns/windows7sins/articles/drm.mdwn      Wed Sep 23 12:24:30 
2009        (r9656)
+++ trunk/campaigns/windows7sins/articles/drm.mdwn      Wed Sep 23 12:40:06 
2009        (r9657)
@@ -1,21 +1,117 @@
 ## Microsoft loves DRM. 
 
-Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) are technology measures that restrict 
what people can do with their computers.  DRM is built into the heart of 
Windows 7, and many Microsoft services push DRM on users.  In some cases, 
Microsoft has added these restrictions at the behest of Hollywood and the music 
industry.  In other cases, Microsoft DRM goes way beyond these companies' 
demands, suggesting that Microsoft is using DRM simply to create lock-in.  
Whether Microsoft is merely a co-conspirator with big media companies or an 
advocate for DRM in their own right, the result for software users is the same: 
when you use Windows 7, you hand over control of basic aspects of your computer 
to the media industry.
+Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) are technology measures that
+restrict what people can do with their computers.  <a
+href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/16/2259257&from=rss";>DRM
+is built into the heart of Windows 7</a>, and <a
+href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_PlaysForSure";>many</a> <a
+href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayReady";>Microsoft</a> <a
+href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Zune";>services</a> push
+DRM on users.  In some cases, Microsoft has added these restrictions
+at the behest of <a
+href="http://gizmodo.com/391642/microsoft-will-totally-bork-your-media-center-dvr-if-nbc-or-anyone-asks-it-to";>TV
+companies</a>, Hollywood and the music industry.  In other cases,
+Microsoft DRM <a
+href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9005047/Vista_and_More_Piecing_Together_Microsoft_s_DRM_Puzzle";>goes
+way beyond these companies' demands</a>, suggesting that Microsoft is
+using DRM simply to create lock-in.  Whether Microsoft is merely a
+co-conspirator with big media companies or an advocate for DRM in
+their own right, the result for software users is the same: when you
+use Windows 7, you hand over control of basic aspects of your computer
+to the media industry.
 
 ---
 
-The monomaniacal fear of big media companies is that people will share digital 
media with their friends, building a free public library of cultural works.  
Public libraries are wonderful institutions, and in a digital age they become 
almost miraculous: we can now provide universal access to human knowledge and 
culture--or at least anything that's been published--at a tiny cost.  The 
amazing thing is that it's almost automatic: once people can share freely with 
their friends over a global network, you get a digital public library.  P2P 
networks are one example of a digital library, and the web is another.  The 
value of these libraries to the public is historic and immeasurable.  But media 
companies serve shareholders, not the public, and are therefore very ready to 
destroy in its infancy any public resource that might interfere with their 
profits.  The personal computer is built from the ground up to make sharing 
information fast and easy, so for media companies to restrict sharing they need 
the full cooperation of software makers at the deepest level.  Enter Microsoft.
+The <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/monomaniacal";
+title="Fanatical, or obsessed with one cause or idea to the exclusion
+of other concerns.">monomaniacal</a> fear of big media companies is
+that people will share digital media with their friends, building a
+free public library of cultural works.  Public libraries are wonderful
+institutions, and in a digital age they become almost miraculous: we
+can now provide universal access to human knowledge and culture&mdash;or at
+least anything that's been published&mdash;at a tiny cost.  The amazing
+thing is that it's almost automatic: once people can share freely with
+their friends over a global network, you get a digital public library.
+P2P networks are one example of a digital library, and the web is
+another.  The value of these libraries to the public is historic and
+immeasurable.  But media companies serve shareholders, not the public,
+and are therefore very ready to destroy in its infancy any public
+resource that might interfere with their profits.  The personal
+computer is built from the ground up to make sharing information fast
+and easy, so for media companies to restrict sharing they need the
+full cooperation of software makers at the deepest level.  Enter
+Microsoft.
+
+In order to completely prevent sharing, media companies needed
+Microsoft to do two things.  First, they had to make sure that any
+outgoing digital signal is just as locked down as the DRM'ed music or
+movie file. Otherwise you could simply play a video on your computer
+out to another device (like your digital camera) and press record.  So
+Windows, when playing a file with DRM, needs to constantly check to
+make sure any connected device is cooperating with the DRM scheme.
+This anti-feature is called [Protected Media
+Path](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_Media_Path).  Microsoft
+introduced it with Vista, and it continues in Windows 7.
+
+Second, media companies needed Microsoft to keep other programs from
+observing the playback process and intercepting the audio and video in
+unencrypted form.  After all, it is still your computer, and (as much
+as media companies hate this) you can install and run whatever
+applications you want.  Vista and Windows 7 close this "loophole" by
+monitoring all the applications currently running whenever a media
+file with DRM is playing.  If Vista or Windows 7 detects an unapproved
+application running in the background, your song or video will simply
+stop playing.  In practice, the encryption on most popular DRM schemes
+(including DVD and Blu ray) has been cracked, and DRM-free copies of
+almost any piece of film or music are available on the internet.  But
+users of Windows 7 and Vista still have code running on their
+computer&mdash;at all times&mdash;that is trying to limit their basic right to
+share media with each other and their power to build libraries.
+
+These restrictions have gone beyond what many would expect. For
+example, at the request of NBC, Microsoft [prevented Windows Media
+Center users from recording television
+shows](http://gizmodo.com/391642/microsoft-will-totally-bork-your-media-center-dvr-if-nbc-or-anyone-asks-it-to)
+that NBC would rather you didn't, even though this kind of recording
+is an included feature of Windows Media Center. They claimed that they
+were just following FCC regulations, though the Second Circuit Court
+of Appeals ruled that the FCC has no authority to make such
+regulations.
+
+Microsoft even adds DRM in contexts where media companies have largely
+given up on it.  This year, after every major online music store went
+DRM-free, Microsoft [launched a DRM-encumbered music store for mobile
+phones](http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q-a-microsoft-defends-return-to-drm)
+&mdash; this music service has one particularly charming limitation:
+many people switch cellphones every 6 months to a year, but there is
+no way to transfer songs from one phone to the next.  If you switch
+phones every 6 months, then you lose your music every six months.  But
+more importantly, this is a level of DRM that music companies are no
+longer demanding, indicating that Microsoft has its own aim in
+promoting DRM: lock-in.  Because DRM creates artificial
+incompatibility, it is the perfect tool for tying users of a service
+to a particular product.  When people buy music from a Microsoft
+service, they cannot use any other music players (like the iPod, for
+example).  Even when Microsoft launched its own "Zune" music player,
+[the Zune did not play tracks with Microsoft "Plays for Sure"
+DRM](http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2006/09/microsofts-zune-wont-play-protected-windows-media)
+sold by other music services (including the MTV URGE Music Service
+*built in* to Windows Media Player 11).  Pressure from big media
+companies is not the only reason Microsoft pushes DRM; lock-in is
+central to Microsoft's business strategy and DRM is a great way to
+pursue it.
+
+Microsoft is not the only company guilty of this. Apple, via [its
+iTunes software](http://www.defectivebydesign.org/itunes-drm-free),
+and its Macintosh, iPod, [iPhone](http://www.fsf.org/iphone) and Apple
+TV devices also imposes DRM on users. Adobe and Sony also impose DRM
+on users. But Microsoft is a particularly aggressive user of DRM, and
+the integration of DRM at the deepest levels of Windows 7 is a key
+reason not to buy it.
+
+**Free software, by its very nature, does not support DRM &mdash; if DRM
+  were added to free software, the users and developers would work
+  around it and remove it.**
 
-In order to completely prevent sharing, media companies needed Microsoft to do 
two things.  First, they had to make sure that any outgoing digital signal is 
just as locked down as the DRM'ed music or movie file. Otherwise you could 
simply play a video on your computer out to another device (like your digital 
camera) and press record.  So Windows, when playing a file with DRM, needs to 
constantly check to make sure any connected device is cooperating with the DRM 
scheme.  This anti-feature is called [Protected Media 
Path](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_Media_Path).  Microsoft introduced 
it with Vista, and it continues in Windows 7.  
-
-Second, media companies needed Microsoft to keep other programs from observing 
the playback process and intercepting the audio and video in unencrypted form.  
After all, it is still your computer, and (as much as media companies hate 
this) you can install and run whatever applications you want.  Vista and 
Windows 7 close this "loophole" by monitoring all the applications currently 
running whenever a media file with DRM is playing.  If Vista or Windows 7 
detects an unapproved application running in the background, your song or video 
will simply stop playing.  In practice, the encryption on most popular DRM 
schemes (including DVD and Blu ray) has been cracked, and DRM-free copies of 
almost any piece of film or music are available on the internet.  But users of 
Windows 7 and Vista still have code running on their computer--at all 
times--that is trying to limit their basic right to share media with each other 
and their power to build libraries.
-
-These restrictions have gone beyond what many would expect. For example, at 
the request of NBC, Microsoft [prevented Windows Media Center users from 
recording television 
shows](http://gizmodo.com/391642/microsoft-will-totally-bork-your-media-center-dvr-if-nbc-or-anyone-asks-it-to)
 that NBC would rather you didn't, even though this kind of recording is an 
included feature of Windows Media Center. They claimed that they were just 
following FCC regulations, though the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 
that the FCC has no authority to make such regulations. 
-
-Microsoft even adds DRM in contexts where media companies have largely given 
up on it.  This year, after every major online music store went DRM-free, 
Microsoft [launched a DRM-encumbered music store for mobile 
phones](http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/245859/q-a-microsoft-defends-return-to-drm) 
&mdash; this music service has one particularly charming limitation: many 
people switch cellphones every 6 months to a year, but there is no way to 
transfer songs from one phone to the next.  If you switch phones every 6 
months, then you lose your music every six months.  But more importantly, this 
is a level of DRM that music companies are no longer demanding, indicating that 
Microsoft has its own aim in promoting DRM: lock-in.  Because DRM creates 
artificial incompatibility, it is the perfect tool for tying users of a service 
to a particular product.  When people buy music from a Microsoft service, they 
cannot use any other music players (like the iPod, for example).  Even when 
Microsoft launched its own "Zune" music player, [the Zune did not play tracks 
with Microsoft "Plays for Sure" 
DRM](http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2006/09/microsofts-zune-wont-play-protected-windows-media)
 sold by other music services (including the MTV URGE Music Service *built in* 
to Windows Media Player 11).  Pressure from big media companies is not the only 
reason Microsoft pushes DRM; lock-in is central to Microsoft's business 
strategy and DRM is a great way to pursue it.
-
-Microsoft is not the only company guilty of this. Apple, via [its iTunes 
software](http://www.defectivebydesign.org/itunes-drm-free), and its Macintosh, 
iPod, [iPhone](http://www.fsf.org/iphone) and Apple TV devices also imposes DRM 
on users. Adobe and Sony also impose DRM on users. But Microsoft is a 
particularly aggressive user of DRM, and the integration of DRM at the deepest 
levels of Windows 7 is a key reason not to buy it.
-
-**Free software, by its very nature, does not support DRM -- if DRM were added 
to free software, the users and developers would work around it and remove it.**
-
-Further reading: [Opposing Digital Rights 
Management](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.html)
+Further reading: [Opposing Digital Rights
+Management](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.html)