"You can only play with our toys if you follow our rules", Re: Intel to include DRM in new Pentium 4 series processors

[Matthew Astley]

On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 07:14:14PM +0100, Ben Laurie wrote:
> Nicholas Bohm wrote:

> >This seems to imply that the owner of a TCPA machine can use it to
> >verify any signatures he wants (i.e. import into TCPA any public
> >keys he trusts) and will not be dependent on having keys signed by
> >parties approved by the TCPA consortium or anyone else.
> >
> >Is this in fact a feature of TCPA?
> 
> [...]
> So, yes, you get to install your own keys, and run whatever you
> want. But funnily enough, unless it is what www.disney.com wants you
> to run, www.disney.com won't be sending you a copy of Snow White.
> Similarly, Word may decline to run unless the right OS is running,
> and that OS may refuse to allow access to files that have been
> revoked. I think you can see where this is going.

I would summarise it as "you can only play with our toys if you follow
our rules".

If there was a way to ensure that the rules are fair, then this aspect
would appear to be acceptable - the commonly stated analogy of having
a robotic policeman there. There is no discretion in what he enforces,
but the you know the law (!) and it is just (!!).

I think the policeman analogy is misleading. Would it fit better to
suggest that it's an unaccountable robotic security guard, programmed
in secret and 0wned by Disney?

What if the guard makes a "mistake"? You presumably have the option of
phoning its owner (assuming you still have a separate phone) and
politely asking for a pardon. Or you could not bother.


Standard marketing techniques (feedback loop) will quickly discover
what rules the market will bear, and how many mistakes in Disney's
favour the average customer will tolerate.

In fact, if you've complained about something before then they can
mark your primary key, and be more polite for the next few months.
Just to keep you sweet. This sort of control appears to go beyond even
what is explained on http://whitedot.org/

Have I made a mistake here, or is it true that when the system does
what Microsoft say it will, it is a sinister device for controlling
its user?


Also, exactly how many toys will get thrown out of the pram if you run
some software they don't like? The spin I've received suggests that if
the program is in your own "box" then that's fine, and it can't/won't
interfere with Word or Snow White.


Matthew  #8-)