TCPA/PALLADIUM

[zscoundrel]

Wouldn't open source software pretty much negate most of these problems?

Aldis A. Tuck wrote:

> [snipped](written by someone else)
> 
> In the UK (where I live), it is perfectly legal for
> you to take any
> number of copies of software, CDs, DVDs, or videtapes
> for personal use
> that you have legitimately bought.  It is general
> legal opinion that
> EULAs which define a company's ability to impose legal
> sanctions are
> illegal unless they specifically define a UK Act of
> Parliament for the
> purpose and it has been tested in Court.  It is
> general legal opinion
> that deCSS is probably not illegal in the UK at the
> moment because
> owning the code allows you to use DVDs you have
> legitimately bought, not
> to copy them, though draft legislation is in the wings
> which would make
> it illegal.
> 
> TCPA and Palladium will make this legal position
> untenable.  Owners of
> access to the software and hardware involved in a
> Palladium/TCPA system
> will be able to stop software running or limit its use
> under specified
> circumstances which may be legally correct in
> California but which may
> be against the laws of this jurisdiction.  And some of
> the uses which it
> could be used for will erode further our privacy and
> liberty if they are
> not controlled.  It also drives a coach and horses
> through the GPL and
> similar software licenses.
> 
> The GPL relies for its existance on people getting
> code and ALTERING it
> providing those alterations are written up in a
> revised source code and
> distributed with the alteration.  TCPA requires you to
> register the code
> and all future instances of the binary running will be
> referenced
> against that registration.  If no internet connection
> is made within a
> certain time, the system will fail to run: if an
> internet connection is
> made, those that have control of the software you are
> using can allow or
> disallow it.  In short, you cannot alter a piece of
> code or tailor a
> server to your requirements, as you were able under
> the GPL: it is in
> the hands of others.
> 
> Those that think this is a nightmare science-fiction
> scenario, should
> look at what has become available recently.  Both
> Intel and AMD have
> been producing TCPA compliant chips and I understand
> that a series of
> Dell laptops already has them installed; the X-Box is
> totally TCPA
> hardware compliant and Sony's PS2 software has been
> built around a core
> which is in line with the basis of Microsoft's
> specification for
> Palladium.  Palladium is not yet with us, but the
> specification for its
> core software has been published, and the system will
> be incorporated
> into the next generation of Windows OS.
> 
> Of course, we could say we're having nothing to do
> with it, but every
> single hardware upgrade we get, or every replacement
> part, will be
> designed to be part of a hardware/software TCPA
> system.
> 
> 
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