Software rental, "trusted computing", etc. (was Re: Is this for real -- a new C64/128)

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Tue May 16 21:08:19 2000

"Shawn T. Rutledge" <rutledge_at_cx47646-a.phnx1.az.home.com> wrote:
> I think that in the long run the majority usually gets its way; and
> everyone knows it's better to own than to rent if one can afford it.

Yes, but rental can easily be disguised to fool the masses. Right now
it's just limitations on what you can play DVDs on (only authorized
DVD players and PC-based decoders under approved operating systems).
So do you really *own* the DVD? This kind of stuff will become more and
more prevalent unless the masses refuse to accept it.

The tyranny of the majority does not necessarily lead to things
that satisfy us. People are willing to accept a lot of suboptimal
crap just because they don't know any better.

My point was not specifically about software rental, but about the
increasing power of the intellectual property owners to restrict what
can be done with their IP. In the past, for the most part copyright
law only prevented making copies, and there were exceptions even to
that. But with our wonderful new laws like the DMCA, the content
providers can impose essentially arbitrary limitations on how the
consumer may use the content, and not just have legal authority to
enforce those limitations, but also to prosecute as criminals anyone
who attempts to so much as figure out how the limitations work (without
necessarily even actually circumventing them).

And this damn legislation sailed through Congress with very little
opposition, so I don't see any reason to expect that the content
providers won't be able to sew things up even tighter over time.

To date I've purchased a lot of software, albums, and movies. If
things keep going the way they appear to be headed, I won't be buying
*any* in the future. (Fortunately they can't retrofit more protection
onto CD-audio and DVD-video as they stand, but eventually they'll obsolete
them for new formats.)
Received on Tue May 16 2000 - 21:08:19 BST