Big Brother Is Coming

[Guest DrTom]

The Scary Trusted Computing Platform from You-Know-Who

[Guest Razor Roman]

I heard about this, too.

 

Computer users seriously need to get together and stand up to this bull.

[Guest TheSmarkzone]

Fuck that. I just won't upgrade.

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Christ, what a scary thought... I don't pirate as much as I used to because I don't desire that much out of my computer anymore, but I'll be damned if anyone is going to be remote censored!

 

But about the "only play the CD X times" thing, how will that work? Didn't they try that with the original Divx and it failed miserably? What makes those corporate demons think it'll work this time? Simply because they can "force" it now? The hell with that... I'll go back to analog tapes if I have to just so I don't have to support such sick practices.

[Guest El Hijo Del Lunatic]

Guys, don't worry. No matter what Microsoft and the Powers that Be will try to do to breach our security, there will always be solutions, cracks, hacks, and other stuff. I can't see how this won't end up to be an anti-trust problem. In theory, if I have Palladium, and I wanna switch OS's to Linux, doesn't that make my life harder? I mean, couldn't Microsoft just say "no, we're not going to fix your Fritz chip so that you can run competing software?"

 

I will say that if Palladium does pass, the entire IT world will be up in arms.

 

evenflowDDT SEZ:

But about the "only play the CD X times" thing, how will that work?

I'm assuming that it'd have an installer that'd write to the registry how many times you're allowed to play it, or something like that. You'd put it in the CD, and if when you play it, the key counts down for you. Then you buy downloads that "recharge" the life of the CD on your computer. I know what you're thinking: "well, just change the registry key", but with Palladium, you probably won't even be allowed into your own registry. That's an absurd concept, but it's probably not far from the truth.

 

And you're right, they can't force it. You can't go serial-number specific with software packages because the hardware is so interchangeable. It says in the article that Fritz is going to check the BIOS. What happens if I have to swap out CD drives, or get a second-hand Zip 250? Will the chip think it's "pirated hardware"?

 

LUNATIC

-Pimpin' ho's and clockin' a grip like my name was Dolemite.

[Guest 4Life]

Guys, don't worry. No matter what Microsoft and the Powers that Be will try to do to breach our security, there will always be solutions, cracks, hacks, and other stuff. I can't see how this won't end up to be an anti-trust problem. In theory, if I have Palladium, and I wanna switch OS's to Linux, doesn't that make my life harder? I mean, couldn't Microsoft just say "no, we're not going to fix your Fritz chip so that you can run competing software?"

 

I will say that if Palladium does pass, the entire IT world will be up in arms.

 

evenflowDDT SEZ:

But about the "only play the CD X times" thing, how will that work?

I'm assuming that it'd have an installer that'd write to the registry how many times you're allowed to play it, or something like that. You'd put it in the CD, and if when you play it, the key counts down for you. Then you buy downloads that "recharge" the life of the CD on your computer. I know what you're thinking: "well, just change the registry key", but with Palladium, you probably won't even be allowed into your own registry. That's an absurd concept, but it's probably not far from the truth.

 

And you're right, they can't force it. You can't go serial-number specific with software packages because the hardware is so interchangeable. It says in the article that Fritz is going to check the BIOS. What happens if I have to swap out CD drives, or get a second-hand Zip 250? Will the chip think it's "pirated hardware"?

 

LUNATIC

-Pimpin' ho's and clockin' a grip like my name was Dolemite.

Thank God for hackers and crackers. Piracy will always exist. Gates can never win this battle.