Re: Niches for the Hurd: evaluation method; was: DRM musings, capabilities and stuff

[Michal Suchanek]

On 30/12/2008, Arne Babenhauserheide <arne_bab@web.de> wrote:
> Am Dienstag 30 Dezember 2008 13:21:21 schrieb Michal Suchanek:
>
> > On 30/12/2008, Arne Babenhauserheide <arne_bab@web.de> wrote:
>  > > Am Dienstag 30 Dezember 2008 11:51:05 schrieb Michal Suchanek:
>  > > > And how is the computer ever going to not allow sending the photo?
>  > >
>  > > For example because the camera is a test version where you have to pay to
>  > >  unlock the photo-sharing feature.
>  > >
>  > >  You can't think of further examples?
>  > >  If so, you definitely aren't evil enough for this world ;)
>  > >
>  > >  > If you are running a free system you can do whatever you wish.
>  > >
>  > > Which isn't the case if someone gave me a locked down device running on
>  > > free software. And a "design feature" of Coyotos is that you can very
>  > > easily do that lock down.
>  > >
>  > >  > However, you have to buy a camera that does not refuse to work with a
>  > >  > free system which you cannot enforce by any technical features or
>  > >  > legal licensing terms of the system your computer runs. You have to be
>  > >  > educated about the possibility of DRM and avoid it in devices and
>  > >  > services you use.
>  > >
>  > > I fully agree, except for the legal licensing part. Naturally you can use
>  > > a device which forbids you by legal means to share photos on a free
>  > > system. You just aren't allowed to distribute such a device with a free
>  > > system.
>  > >
>  > >  But I'd like to add:
>  > >  You should avoid contributing to projects which make it easier to create
>  > >  applications which refuse to work with a device built on free software
>  > > (locked down free software is quite similar to unfree software with
>  > > opened source code, so I don't consider a locked down device as "built on
>  > > free software").
>  > >
>  > >  The freedom of software has a value in itself, and devices which require
>  > > an unfree system deny people their freedom.
>  >
>  > If you meant that the camera itself cannot run free software if it
>  > disallows sharing your pictures that might be true for GPL3 software,
>  > not free software in general.
>
>
> That is not what I meant.
>
>  I meant that the software with which I interact with the camera uses DRM to
>  keep me from copying the pictures from my system to some other system, so the
>  unfree camera makes my own system betray me.
>

Yes, it might. It might generally create encrypted blobs usable only
in non-free environment.

The choices taken during the design of the system running on your
computer have nothing to do with it.

Thanks

Michal