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These posts address the presence of Digital Restrictions Management (usually called Digital Rights Management) in Microsoft Windows Vista.

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Analysis of Microsoft's Suicide Note (Part 2)

by oday posted at 2007-01-12 19:37 last modified 2007-11-27 09:03 Copyright 2006 Oliver Day, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

“Some argue that the consumer gets little or negative ‘benefit’ from this increase, this is false. The consumer gets premium content on their PC”

Pete Levinthal
Software Engineering
ATI Technologies, Inc

This is a fair statement. Playing HD content from a Blueray or HD DVD disk is clearly an advantage that end users would appreciate. So in the sense that a benefit is an advantage I would say Levinthal’s statement is accurate. However, benefit can also refer to “profit” which would make his statement questionable. Considering that he mentions ‘negative “benefit”‘ I think we should delve further into this connotation. Profit is the positive difference between the amount spent and the amount earned. So in purely mathematical terms the amount of “cost” to the end user to play premium content must be lower then the amount gained in the operation of HD playback for a profitable expierence. I believe it is safe to assume what the amount gained is, HD playback. What isn’t so clear is what the costs are. In the programmers universe cost is generally associated with amounts of cpu cycles spent solving some problem. Thus if a programmer writes a function for a program which needlessly recomputes values it is considered “expensive”. An accomplished programmer can write elegant solutions which do not incur much cost.

Keeping the previous definition of “cost” in mind I think it is fitting to look into what the premium content protection really costs a user. From this analysis we can make a fair judgement on whether a user profits overall from the ability to play HD content. According to the Microsoft presentations here,   here,   here, and   here the playback of HD content requires no less then two rounds of encryption/decryption before the video is sent to the display. First the video comes from the original HD media in encrypted format and is decoded. That decoded media is then encoded again using the AES algorithm and sent across the PCIe bus. Once it reaches the other side of that bus it is decoded and then sent across the HDMI interface to the display.

The entire process is documented here in a presentation by Microsoft:
PVP-OPM

Based on my own valuation of HD content playback I would say that the price is either near or exceeding the gain of watching content on my PC. Clearly the price of these computations goes down every 18 months* by 50% according to Moore’s law. This led to my earlier prediction that an affordable and usable system running Vista is perhaps 5 years away. Before I close on this installment I want to give a preview of the next piece I have lined up. This image struck me and has pervaded my thoughts about this article.

Why Do
It
This image from a presentation delivered by Dave Marsh (Program Manager, Windows Media Technologies) captures how Microsoft frames this problem. Perhaps not intentional but all too apparent in this image is their end user acting deviously and maliciously hurting Hollywood, Microsoft, and probably America.

* Wikipedia cites Moore as stating 12 months between the doubling of transistors which given my previous statement would reduce the distance of a usable and affordable system 3.3 years away. There are other references in the article that state the chip making industry adheres to the “doubling every 18 months”. My prediction was that of 3.5x current capacities for an affordable system to play back HD content on a Vista PC.

Analysis of Microsoft's Suicide Note (part 1) Analysis of Microsoft's Suicide Note (part 1)
Size 4219 - File type text/html
by John Sullivan last modified 2007-01-09 18:04
Category(s)
DRM

I am having the last laugh!

Posted by scripter scripter at 2006-12-15 12:28
And to imagine that my schoolmates believe they get better "visual" experiences on Windows Vista!!
Long live GNU

Re:Analysis of Microsoft's Suicide Note (Part 2)

Posted by aanrart aanrart at 2008-03-04 11:34
Reasons not 2 buy Vista
1)Its not free software
2)Its bloatware
3)Its spyware,malware
4)Wat compelling/new reason 2 buy Vista?
5)GNU/Linux rocks n its updated more frequently than anything out there

Summary

Posted by unvista unvista at 2008-05-29 14:38
So, if you bought a system too slow to handle the excessive encryption with Vista pre-installed, here's what you need to do:

* ignore the fact your system can't do the things promised in a satisfactory way - maybe use it to type email or something...

* wait 3.3 years

* buy new "compatible" hardware to handle the excessive strain caused by vista

* pray that the drivers all work - they probably won't

* buy a new copy of Vista for your new hardware - remember how they don't let you transfer you "lease" of Vista to the new computers? (unless you bought it retail)

* do something (sell?) your old computer

* clear out all your files - don't want to give away personal information - best to reformat your harddrive - you got working backup disks with your computer, didn't you? If not, you're screwed.

* re-read the legal licensing agreements to see if Microsoft has changed them to disallow the selling of your license of Vista with your computer - better have a sharp legal mind ready just in case

* advertise your computer for sale

* ship or deliver your computer to your customer

* follow up with post-sale issues


Oh, if you still have problems getting the promised functionality to work, Microsoft already has your money and doesn't care. Good luck!

Audio recording of Gutmann's paper on Vista restrictions

by John Sullivan posted at 2007-04-03 18:15 last modified 2007-04-04 11:32

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing is doing a serialized reading of Peter Gutmann's paper, A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. If you haven't read the paper yet, your procastination has paid off. You can now have it read to you. It's one of the better resources out there for getting informed about all of the new restrictions that have been smuggled into Vista.

Here's the feed link for the series, and here's the first installment.

UPDATE: You can find the OGG version here.

Category(s)
DRM

MS Vista, degenerative technology analysis (part 1)

by oday posted at 2007-04-04 17:43 last modified 2007-04-04 17:49 Copyright 2007 Oliver Day: You can redistribute this article and/or modify it according to terms of the Free Art License (http://artlibre.org/licence/lalgb.html).

One commenter on digg.com asked what the sense of my article is. Is it just that Microsoft Vista will introduce new levels of encryption to the playback of HD content? I wish it were as simple as that. And this goes way beyond the idea that consumers will have to pay for the extra components on the video cards which will not be used if they don’t play HD content. It goes way beyond the fact that pirated HD content is already available which invalidates all their efforts to date. The real issue that warrants your attention is that Microsoft has teamed up with the entertainment industries (RIAA + MPAA) to create an operating system that can control what you do, where you do it, and how you do it. The real issue is that they are collectively pushing degenerative technology which is causing a cultural backslide.

The new features which create “pipelines” to secure audio and video ensure that consumers can not play movies or music on devices that are not approved. More then ever, the industries who produce the entertainment consumed by the masses treat those very same people as potential criminals. Microsoft isn’t kowtowing to demands; they are gladly aiding the entertainment industry to fight a battle they themselves are waging. Piracy affects anyone who distributes products under a restrictive copyright regime. Unlike what many a blog commenter has tried to argue DRM is not free. There are significant costs involved which I have tried to outline in my previous articles in the form of additional hardware, resource usage, engineering time, technical support, and PR spin to counter people like me who are against such things. One commenter on the windowsvistablog was nice enough to extract all six mentions of who is paying for these restrictions. The consumer.

Yet if one were to conduct a survey among users I would find it difficult to believe that anyone would list DRM high on their wish list. It’s difficult to imagine someone asking for “computers which run software you can’t see, can’t understand, can’t control, and which reports to other people what is going on in your network without your ability to interrupt or do anything?”. Even if the payoff is the ability to play back HD content from major studios. This is the leverage that Microsoft has touted from the beginning and their hope is that consumers value this “ability” so highly as to turn a blind eye to the degenerative methodologies embedded in the very core of their new operating system.

Part of the adherence to the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) specifications is the deliberate obfuscation of drivers and the withdrawal of open hardware specifications. When an approved device is given a piece of HD content the operating system begins negotiating with the device to verify that it is real and authentic. To accomplish this, undocumented calls are made to the device verifying that it is not a fake device intent on viewing unencrypted frames of the premium content. How does this affect you? Dave Marsh responded that “HFS uses additional chip characteristics other than those needed to write a driver. HFS requirements should not prevent the disclosure of all the information needed to write drivers.” What he doesn’t mention is that the authors of the drivers for future video hardware are under contract to obfuscate their code and keep their specifications closed. Closed specifications affect hardware design for ALL operating systems. Free software driver developers will find less and less publicly available documentation. One of the commenters on my original post had a great response which I’m including here.

“I don’t care about ‘premium content’, neither copied nor purchased, and yet I, as a software developer, have to live with the fact that it’s hard to use 3D graphics cards using free drivers. Thanks to the deal between the likes of MPAA-Microsoft-ATI, the situation won’t improve, it will only get worse. “

Category(s)
DRM

Free software for a free society

by John Sullivan posted at 2007-09-05 17:13 last modified 2007-09-05 17:13

Our joint statement with Friends of the Earth International, the Green Party, People and Planet and the New Internationalist calling for a free society based on free software has now been signed 600+ more times over by activists around the world.

If you haven't yet, please add your signature to the statement calling on activist groups and individuals of all stripes to reject Microsoft Windows Vista and pursue free "as in freedom" software like GNU/Linux. Help us demonstrate how much support there is for a digital world without arbitrary restrictions on the freedoms we need to be effective agents for political change.

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Re:Free software for a free society

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Vista SP1 Preview

by josh posted at 2007-10-09 12:04 last modified 2007-10-12 12:52

Word is out that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is in Beta mode. Reviewers mention that it is relatively unchanged, i.e., it is still running as a giant piece of proprietary malware, but, that it is running a little bit faster (one report takes a shot at it claiming that it is almost as fast as Windows 98). Unfortunately, Service Pack 1 still leaves Vista designed to restrict what users can do with their software.

So, my advice is: don't wait for Service Pack 1. Despite the free software worlds constant battle to acquire hardware specifications (often reverse engineering them) in order to develop free software drivers, GNU/Linux still supports far more hardware than Vista ever will. One of the reasons for this is because Vista needs certain hardware requirements to implement Digital Restrictions Management schemes and Trusted Computing schemes so that the hardware and the software can restrict how you can use your software, your data, and all of your multi-media content. I'm not sure you can run GNU/Linux on a shoebox, but you certainly don't need a top of the line machine like Vista requires. Most distributions run on anything from your old 12-pound laptop from the early 90s to the latest and greatest super-computer cluster, as well as most everything in between. When you install GNU/Linux, you decide if you want to stay on the cutting edge and be a "beta tester," or you can choose to run a heavily tested and stable version of an application. GNU/Linux is not designed to restrict the user.

In fact, free software carries freedom to the user. Microsoft claims absolute ownership over their software, but, with free software, you have all the same rights as developers do to use, to change, to share (even to sell) the software to whomever, and for whatever purpose you see fit -- and, as long as you continue to pass along those same freedoms to everyone else, it will always be free software. So, don't wait for SP1, install your favorite GNU/Linux distribution today, and be a part of a thriving and respectful community that values your freedom of choice and your freedom to do what you wish with your software, your data, and your multimedia content.


Category(s)
Meta
DRM

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by babbage babbage at 2007-10-09 12:04
The first Vista Service Pack has been announced. Amazingly Microsoft are already warning Vista users how it's Service Pack may stop some programs working: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7205059.stm I thought the idea of a Service Pack was to help make a computer with Vista run better.

Vista problems

Posted by sheraz sheraz at 2007-10-09 12:04
I've never seen an operating system so unstable than vista, perhaps it is far more unstable than windows 98 when it was originally launched! No software seems to work smoothly in vista. If I click on any executable to install any software, it is subjected to window's built-in screeneing process, that sometime takes upto 2 minutes before the instal shield runs actually. It is so irritating and yes it happens on my genuine vista home premium that came with my latest 2Ghz 2GB hp pavillion dv6599...

The sad news is that even internet explorer stops respoding right in the miidle of browising when you opened multiple tabs and are seriously researching online! Nothing is recovered after you restart.

Yahoo messenger has problems, DAP has problem these often stop respeonding and i know its all due to vista.

Windows sidebar is another tension at startup it often hags resulting in delayed startup. And wehn windows is updating, the system is very slow till update is complete and we actually restart the system. REALLY windows vista is designed to 'reduce' and 'restrict' when we can do with our PC!

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by darolu darolu at 2007-10-09 12:04
they probably added more "prohibited words":

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9900/dsfdsvj1.jpg

Yeah you can not save a con.jpg no matter where.

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by k9mike k9mike at 2007-10-09 12:04
Any legal action for a defective product???

It is now the end of Feb 2008 and no SP1. And no date for a fixed product. Just a lot of complaints. For past year a defective product has been sold on new machines.

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by oyun at 2007-10-09 12:04
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9900/dsfdsvj1.jpg

not found ?

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by ksreddy at 2008-01-29 10:44
What Josh said is cent percent correct. Free software carries freedom to the user. So, don't wait for SP1, and try to install your favorite GNU/Linux distribution today.

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by daan daan at 2008-03-12 12:11
Hi!

Why are you so angry? If you don't like Microsoft and/or Windows and/or Vista, then just ignore the existence. Why isn't that sufficient? If I don't like Sony, because it doesn't play every DVD, then I just buy a Pioneer that does. Why would I make such a fuss about Sony? I read on this site that any linux distro can do everything you'd ever want with a computer. For me, that sounds easy: move to Linux and never think about Windows again. But it isn't that easy, because you guys are really angry. Vista, nor Windows, nor Microsoft have so much power that they force a mayor role in your lives, or can they? And if they can, can you tell me then how they have achieved that and why you guys (or any other person for that matter) can't break loose?

The war against MS has my attention for years now, and I still don't understand the hatred against MS. If I don't like Heineken beer, then I just buy another brand. Everyone agrees. But if I don't like MS, then I use an alternative and never stop complaining about MS. That's the part I don't understand.

Greetings,

Daan
The Netherlands

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by tl tl at 2008-03-18 10:57
Since working with vista, my down time has been exceptional. I first bought ME to find I had to buy xp, now vista64 to find out I may have to buy xp again. Money and many frustrating hours multiplied by a percenatge of the population. What class action lawsuits are available to the normal customer, and is any willing to sign on.

Re:Vista SP1 Preview

Posted by darolu at 2008-04-11 10:39
Sorry that link doesn't work for you, it still does for me, I uploaded it to another image hosting service site:
http://www.subirimagen.es/08/0410/123301/dsfdsvj1.jpg

Replying to Daan, about "our hatred to M$", is not that we (well at least I and a lot of free software supporters I know) hate M$ and all of his products, is just that we are very concerned about software freedom and freedom in general; M$ supports and encourages techniques that put our freedom in danger, techniques such as DRM and many other policies they have made, support and encourage, I mean... you can't even name a file con.jpg for Pete's sake! not even if you make it out of scratch, does that sound right to you? it may be "just an image" for you, but imagine what they will forbid tomorrow. Their unethical measures and lack of collaborative spirit are just wrong, we in the free software world like to collaborate, share, respect each other's choices and support freedom, you can see the results nowadays with recent distros are just amazing, they all work great and allow you to work the way you want, give you the tools you want and need, and they all give you the freedom to do whatever you want with them; with Windows you can't even uninstall IE! not to mention the little "con.jpg" thing.

Re:con.jpg

Posted by jg216 jg216 at 2008-08-25 17:08
So call it kon.jpg. C'mon it sounds like that filename has some significance to vista's system files. You know in Ubuntu Linux I can't name a file xorg.conf and save it to my /etc/X11/ directory without messing things up pretty bad, but I don't complain about that.

And although IE can't be uninstalled it can be pretty much swept under the rug, I do all my web browsing and downloading with the much superior Firefox, I only have to look at IE for a few minutes a month when some little installation app takes me to its homepage or something like that.

And I've never had any trouble with DRM... I just use media players and devices that don't acknowledge it.

Even my cracked copies of vista have never had trouble with genuine advantage.

Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

by mattl posted at 2008-01-17 10:55 last modified 2008-02-06 11:07

Recently it emerged that Microsoft is removing the "kill switch" from Vista.

When you install Vista, Microsoft claims that you consent to being spied upon, through the "Windows Genuine Advantage" system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. This system includes a "kill switch" which allows Microsoft to remotely deactivate your copy of Vista. This deactivation, whether deliberate or by accident -- as has been the case in some 500,000 cases already according to a study last year -- locks you out of your computer, and forces you to contact Microsoft to get access to your files.

While they may have now ostensibly removed the kill switch from Vista, they have not updated the hostile license they say you must agree to in order to use Vista. Vista still restricts your freedom, because freedom at the whim of someone else is not freedom.

Vista still enforces Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) -- technologies that companies like Disney, Warner, Netflix, Universal, Apple, Sony, Amazon, Fox and Microsoft are trying to impose on us all in order to have control over how our computers are used.

The public backlash that led to the kill switch in Vista being "removed" is a sign that people want software freedom. Today, Microsoft cannot offer people what they want. Thankfully, all is not lost -- free software distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system offer that freedom today. One lesson we should all take from this is that if we speak loudly enough, and demand software freedom, it can have results. But we also shouldn't be fooled -- Microsoft has just hidden the kill switch behind its back, still claiming the authority to use it. More pressure is still needed, and the only thing that will work in the end is for Microsoft to release their software under a license that respects the freedom of computer users.

Category(s)
DRM
Licensing

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by polako22 polako22 at 2008-03-04 11:34
J think that Microsoft controlling us through Windows Vista and other stuff that is stock.
We are small mouses catch by the BIG CAT AND HI IS HUNGRY.Microsoft wants only money Vista Sucks THAT IS ONLY TRUTH NOT FOR ALL unfortunately :( :( :(

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by bryansee bryansee at 2008-03-04 11:35
What mattl said is true, the kill switch in Vista has been removed in Service Pack 1 in favor of prominent notices on machines found to be either non-genuine or non-activated. Despite these licensing restrictions, I still have total software freedom on my Vista machine. You should speak loudly and clear and demand software freedom - until Microsoft releases their software under a license which respects the freedom of computer users.

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by bryansee bryansee at 2008-03-10 17:19
"DRM" you said in this post refers to the Protected Media Path (PMP) which contains Protected Video Path. It tries to restrict copying of DRM-protected content (but not user's standard unprotected media). Also, the Trusted Computing feature which originally be slated to be included in Windows Vista, the Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), which restricts users what they can do with their software, is removed. This is the sign of users wanting software freedom. If we take these removal of NGSCB as well as the "kill switch" in Vista as their lessons, we want more pressure, and the only thing that will work in the end is for Microsoft to release their software under a license that respects the freedom and privacy of computer users.

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by digi digi at 2008-03-27 14:16
Ugh... I hate Vista. All I've heard are bad things from it. It's making Windows more like Macs by making everything "user friendly" and simple. You can't do anything with it except basic functions made for idiots who don't know how to use a mildly complicated computer and in the end it just makes everything harder to use.

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by bryansee bryansee at 2008-03-27 14:17
Although there is no kill switch in Vista SP1, it enforces a Protected Media Path DRM. Seems that Microsoft is now giving up on Vista and is setting up business users to switch from Windows XP to Windows 7, which we will be seeing to be released under a license that respects the freedom and privacy of computer users, will be without DRM, and will get a very interesting name, I think it is going to be Windows Paltrow, named after actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

For now, encourage sites such as Crysis-Online and inCrysis to increase awareness of the restrictions and problems in Windows Vista and participate in the campaign to give more pressure, and the only thing that will work in the end is for Microsoft to release all of their software under a license that respects the freedom and privacy of all computer users.

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by bryansee bryansee at 2008-04-07 11:23
Taking action before the release of the next version of Microsoft Windows, as well as its service packs, is one of the most effective means we have to influence software freedom and represent our members' views to the world. I hope you guys continue these efforts as we are looking forward into the release of Windows 7 (known later as Windows Paltrow).

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by bryansee bryansee at 2008-04-09 12:17
I'd like to say that Windows 7, still in development, will claw toward the light (as Windows Paltrow), under a license which that respects the freedom and privacies of computer users that will only come in the result of more pressure needed, taking the removal of Windows Vista's reduced functionality mode as a lesson. Take a phrase from the Cylons from BSG: "All this has happened before, and it will happen again."

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by alex786 at 2008-05-15 14:28
There´s this URL about a guy complainting about his attempts to reactivate his authentic copy of Windows Vista. That's what's really annoying about vista: the lack of respect about our privacy and right to use the software for any purpose, once we have acquired it...

Re:Windows' Genuine Disadvantage

Posted by ptsniper ptsniper at 2008-09-16 11:59
The only thing that keeps "windows" or microsoft alive these days in my humble opinion is DirectX and the laziness of games developers, and of course the big name companies like dell etc who bundle windows.

if games developers created games using open source libraries, that were platform independant - and good, then alot of people would switch immediately to linux, us gamers who want our games to work the day it's updated without having to wait months for the few developers of projects like wine to get the games to work.

also if computer distributers gave customers a choice, more people might realise what windows is, and why they do not really want it, at least that's my 2c

Don't give Microsoft the remote control

by josh posted at 2008-05-20 16:15 last modified 2008-11-21 11:50

If you put Microsoft at the center of your home entertainment system, be prepared to hand them the remote control, literally.

Following reports that digital television viewers were blocked from recording the new season of NBC's "Gladiators", Microsoft confirmed that it is preventing users from recording the show. They claim they were acting on behalf of NBC, and are in line with regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in disrupting computer usage based upon the so-called "broadcast flag" that was transmitted alongside the show.

A Microsoft spokesperson told CNET News, "...Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed."

What is the broadcast flag?

The broadcast flag is a sequence of information transmitted alongside television programs as a kind of digital order telling viewers to not do certain things, such as record the show or share it with a friend.

Many of the large media companies and the FCC tried to make obeying the broadcast flag a law. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation took the FCC to court, and US Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC had exceeded its authority, and that no such law could exist. Despite this ruling, it appears that Microsoft has decided to work directly with media companies to implement these rules anyway, restricting how and when you watch television.

Building such a system is no trivial task. To do this, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to restrict users from saving a television program to their computers, we call this kind of functionality an "antifeature," because it takes more work for Microsoft to prevent the user from saving the program, than if they were to leave just the default behavior alone. So instead of letting you record programs as you normally would, it locks you out and deletes the show before you can save it.

However, Microsoft hasn't just made a little tweak to their software to do this -- they have compiled an entire system built upon antifeatures. This antifeature platform is integrated into their Windows Media software and forms the basis of their Windows Vista operating system, and they are working hard to convince companies like NBC, that Microsoft can be in control of how and when you get to watch television. As creepy and as ridiculous as it may sound, this is their business strategy, and by getting this control, both the television and movie industry and computer users will be tied to Microsoft software.

Don't be fooled into their claims that they are following regulations by the FCC -- the court ruled that the FCC has no power to make such regulations. This is also claimed as a measure just to stop unauthorized file sharing, yet what Microsoft is doing is trying to make sure that they are on every end of the market, from how it is delivered, to how you watch it. As Ars Technica reporter Jacqui Cheng puts it, this is not about Microsoft preventing people from sharing files without permission, "[i]t's about the ability to strictly control how we consume content"[2].

Microsoft wants to have that control, and this software is the way they are trying to get it. Software that is designed in this way is known as 'DRM', which stands for 'Digital Rights Management', and yet it is really just another way to restriction how consumers interact with things on their own computers and devices. Because of this restriction, we refer to DRM as 'Digital Restrictions Management'.

The alternative to DRM: free software

By far the best way to avoid DRM, is to refuse to use software that is infected with it. Better yet, you should choose software that tries to do the opposite of DRM -- software that gives you complete control. This kind of software is called "free software," and it is based upon the idea that software carries certain freedoms to you:

  • The freedom to use the software for any reason you wish -- including to the ability to hit the save button when you* wish.

  • The freedom to examine how the software works and make changes, similar to a car engine -- you can remove the bugs or soup it up.

  • The freedom to share the software with your neighbor, like photocopying a newspaper article or sharing class notes with a classmate.

  • The freedom to share your modified software with other people, similar to how mathematics and science have worked for centuries.

Now you may not be a computer programmer, or know how to understand or change computer programs, but there are plenty of people out there who do, and they are likely already making the kinds of fixes and changes you'd like to see, or are often part of a community willing to make those changes for you.

There are thousands of free software programmers, and many thousands of free software programs, and even complete free software operating systems. You usually won't find annoying antifeatures in a program, and if there were one, you can rest assured that other programmers will have removed it by the time you get to use it.

Conversely, software that doesn't give you these freedoms is software you cannot control, and we think that kind of software doesn't belong on your computer. We say, 'free software, free society' -- with free software, if we are each in control of our machines, then we are all in control of how we use them and what we use them for.

And, don't let Apple fool you into thinking that they are the alternative to DRM and Microsoft, they, too have their own DRM schemes, and seek to control the world in their own way, from branding their DRM music player, to entrenching the world in their proprietary formats and DRM music purchasing programs.

The alternative to Windows and Apple is software that you control, software that is guaranteed to give you all of the freedoms you need to be in control. Free software.

There is a good chance you are already using free software, directly, such as using the Firefox web browser, or indirectly, by visiting a Web site that is sending you web pages with the Apache web-server. However, there are also entire, user-friendly operating systems that you can install on almost any laptop or desktop computer. So, if you are running Windows or Mac OS, consider replacing these with a free software based GNU/Linux operating system, such as gNewSense[3].

Using free software will take the control out of Microsoft's hands. With free software, you are in control.

[1]: You can read Mako Hill's article on antifeatures, here: http://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2007/fall/antifeatures/

[2]: It should be noted that this writer refers to a person that shares files as a "pirate," we think this is a bit of an extreme description that should be avoided. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-nbc-vista-copy-protection-snafu-reminds-us-why-drm-stinks.html

[3]: gNewSense, a free software distribution of GNU/Linux http://www.gnewsense.org/


Category(s)
DRM

Re:Don't give Microsoft the remote control

Posted by mstrmnd mstrmnd at 2008-05-21 17:14
Forget Vista. If you want a true all-inclusive solution, use gnu/linux and MythTV (www.mythtv.org)

- Mastermind

Re:Don't give Microsoft the remote control

Posted by yzerman yzerman at 2008-05-29 14:38
I agree DRM sucks, but Media Center under Vista or Windows XP is a very simple to use and implement product. Which I don't have to worry about complex patches, guide updates, crazy menu options, problems with cards not support properly, etc.. etc..

Myth TV and the free software movement at least in my eyes needs to solve that.

The problem is dealing with a new operating system, having to learn it from the ground up that is opposite of Windows and then having to figure out how to get Myth working properly with my hardware.

And god forbid if the guide stops working.

Personally my view is two fold a lot of people will accept the DRM because its Windows, its easy and comfortable for people to use. 2nd its something you can just install, it works and it doesn't have as high of a risk to break. I have media center pcs which have run for 2-3 years now without a single issue.

I've tried running Myth twice and both times (even with a preloaded image of Myth) it still didn't work properly.

Yeah, until DRM shows up to a annoying level I don't think people will look at Myth or any of the free software seriously.

Similar to how people can't seem to crack the Apple IPOD because the DRM isn't annoying enough to those people who use the product.

When annoyingness kicks in is when the general population and average joes will take your argument more seriously and look to any other products to serve their needs and goals.

Re:Don't give Microsoft the remote control

Posted by vistasp1 at 2008-07-09 15:01
I hate to tell you this in the open, but Microsoft has nothing to do with the way DRM is being forced upon you. The studios and content providers are the ones that dictate the terms of distribution. They tell Micosoft that they will only allow their content to be distributed via DRM. All or nothing.

As far as I am aware, Microsoft does not want anything to do with DRM. They would like nothing better than to get rid of it. But to play ball, they have to meet the contractual obligations.

Let me say it one more time: Microsoft is not forcing DRM on you. You are forcing DRM on yourself by blaming the wrong entity.

http://www.promotinglinux.com/truth/

Story added

Posted by fsdaily.com at 2008-05-21 01:51
This story has been submitted to fsdaily.com! If you think this story should be read by the free software community, come vote it up and discuss it here: http://www.fsdaily.com/Philosophy/Dont_give_Microsoft_the_remote_control
About this blog
The BadVista campaign, started in December 2006, advocated for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free (as in freedom) software alternatives. It declared victory in January 2009, with supporters moving on to do the same work against Windows 7.

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