We can always argue about motives, but the campaign against the general purpose computer is alive and well and going forward. Several major announcements occured while I was away including some insights into the grand plans of Microsoft in this area - now called Palladium (see Bob Cringely's I Told You So critique.)
(Etymological side note: Palladium - "From the Middle English Palladion, a statue of Pallas Athena believed to protect Troy..."
Well, if it was good enough to protect Troy then it - oh, no wait....)
Kuro5hin has a great overview of TCPA and Palladium. Cryptome has the full text of Microsoft's Digital rights management operating system patent. (They mean the digital rights of IP owners, not customers, although they do their best to conflate these two groups.) This is a shocking, but not surprising, end game gambit being played by the forces of control and dominance.
But my own personal view point on all this has gone from outraged to apathetic. Who cares what happens with this stuff? What's the worse case scenario? I can't watch a hollywood movie, or listen to Britney Spears unless I buy one of their "trusted" computers? Actually, I was looking for a way to ensure I didn't digest any more of their worthless crap. Or maybe it will be illegal for me to own a computer running linux? That will just give me the thrill of being a freedom fighter bravely putting myself in danger for my beliefs (things were getting a little dull around here anyway, plus, chicks dig an ethical outlaw.) Maybe they'll shut down the internet? That would probably be the only event that can get the ad hoc mesh WLAN alternative I'd like to see off the ground.
The forces for creativity and sharing have always already won. Sometimes there's just a little more to do than other times. But the busy times are often more fun. So bring it on mega-corp. Take your best shot. The force of your strike will just be redirected against you (because there is no us to strike - aren't you reading up on all this assymetrical warfare stuff?) Hopefully you'll knock yourself clean out.
Right on JB, you brought that wisdom down the mountain. The tree is here to stay even if we have to re-resort to petroglyphs & smoke signals. I've taken on the same apathy in regards to the GMO panic. You can't fool nature any more than you can avoid the truth. The band will be paid.
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(Etymological side note: Palladium - "From the Middle English Palladion, a statue of Pallas Athena believed to protect Troy..."
Well, if it was good enough to protect Troy then it - oh, no wait....)
Kuro5hin has a great overview of TCPA and Palladium. Cryptome has the full text of Microsoft's Digital rights management operating system patent. (They mean the digital rights of IP owners, not customers, although they do their best to conflate these two groups.) This is a shocking, but not surprising, end game gambit being played by the forces of control and dominance.
But my own personal view point on all this has gone from outraged to apathetic. Who cares what happens with this stuff? What's the worse case scenario? I can't watch a hollywood movie, or listen to Britney Spears unless I buy one of their "trusted" computers? Actually, I was looking for a way to ensure I didn't digest any more of their worthless crap. Or maybe it will be illegal for me to own a computer running linux? That will just give me the thrill of being a freedom fighter bravely putting myself in danger for my beliefs (things were getting a little dull around here anyway, plus, chicks dig an ethical outlaw.) Maybe they'll shut down the internet? That would probably be the only event that can get the ad hoc mesh WLAN alternative I'd like to see off the ground.
The forces for creativity and sharing have always already won. Sometimes there's just a little more to do than other times. But the busy times are often more fun. So bring it on mega-corp. Take your best shot. The force of your strike will just be redirected against you (because there is no us to strike - aren't you reading up on all this assymetrical warfare stuff?) Hopefully you'll knock yourself clean out.
- jim 7-11-2002 9:32 pm
Right on JB, you brought that wisdom down the mountain. The tree is here to stay even if we have to re-resort to petroglyphs & smoke signals. I've taken on the same apathy in regards to the GMO panic. You can't fool nature any more than you can avoid the truth. The band will be paid.
- frank 7-11-2002 10:58 pm