Archive for category DRM

With regards to PGP

Posted by jaker in DRM, Mafiaa, Politics, Privacy, Security on August 24, 2008

So Obama has announced his candidate for Vice President. Joe Biden, the senator from Delaware, has been in politics for quite some time. He entered the scene at age 30 (1973), so there’s plenty of history to compare trends against.

I’m sure there’s plenty of information out there about what Biden has done, what his beliefs are, and (more importantly) your thoughts and opinions on him. I’m sure some have plenty to say, but this post will stay focused on the information and privacy sector. I’m sure Biden was picked because of his foreign policy, but seeing how privacy is turning into a thing of the past (when it shouldn’t) in this country, it’s worth taking a look.

Running through Biden’s track record shows that he has a history of some questionable tactics. Let’s discuss:

* Sponsored a bill in 2002 that would have make it a federal felony to trick certain types of devices into playing unauthorized music or executing unapproved computer programs.(lobbied against and shot down by plenty of companies, including Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, and Verizon)

* Signed a letter in 2002 urging that the P2P/online piracy lawsuits should be performed/paid for by the Supreme Court (e.g. taxpayers) instead of the RIAA/MPAA (e.g. a private entity).

* Sponsored a bill in 2007 to restrict Americans’ ability to record and play back individual songs from satellite and Internet radio services (passed and came into existence as the Perform Act, and currently is the basis of a lawsuit between RIAA and XM satellite radio about their latest receivers).

* Supported the DMCA.

* Supported both the Comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Act and the Violent Crime Control Act in the early ’90′s. While they both sound nice, they were very anti-cryptography. From the bill: It is the sense of Congress that providers of electronic communications services and manufacturers of electronic communications service equipment shall ensure that communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately authorized by law. This essentially states that there can’t be any encryption. If there is, there must be a backdoor for the government to use to decrypt the data. It’s because of these bills–because of Biden–that PGP was created.

* While the previous bills didn’t come to pass, their reincarnation did in the form of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). It’s pretty obvious, then, why wire-tapping is so common nowadays and why it keeps getting expanded and extended. This bill was huge, was definitely not a small footprint in the Internet’s short history. Directly related to this bill, in a top-secret memo to members of President George H.W. Bush’s administration including Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and CIA director Robert Gates, one White House official wrote: “Justice should go ahead now to seek a legislative fix to the digital telephony problem, and all parties should prepare to follow through on the encryption problem in about a year. Success with digital telephony will lock in one major objective; we will have a beachhead we can exploit for the encryption fix; and the encryption access options can be developed more thoroughly in the meantime.”

* Supported the Real ID Act. He also supported the Patriot Act.

* Proposed spending $1 billion of tax payer money to police P2P networks.

* Indicated that he was skeptical of net neutrality, stating that no preemptive laws were necessary because if violations do happen, such a public outcry will develop that “the chairman will be required to hold this meeting in this largest room in the Capitol, and there will be lines wandering all the way down to the White House.” 

 

Obviously, most won’t vote based on the copyright and privacy opinions of a Vice Presidential candidate. It should be noted that Obama’s views on some of these broader topics are quite opposite and rather refreshing:

* “Strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.”

* Instead of declaring war on the Internet and crack down on P2P, piracy, et. all, he says that we need to ”update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.” (that’s got EFF written all over it)

(Then again, Obama did support FISA.)

 

Biden probably should just focus on what everyone suspects he’ll be working on: foreign policy, and keep his fingers out of the Technology cookie jar. He’s got a pretty negative history in the sector of privacy and technology in my opinion.

The Internet is young, and needs wise leadership. As is our privacy, both on the Internet and in your daily life. So easily have both fallen to abuse in the past. I can’t say any of his policies with regards to technology and privacy are a step in the right direction.

 

The election is upon us. Let the games begin.

~Jaker

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The Mythbox Project: Quest for HDTV II

Posted by jaker in DRM, Media Center on August 16, 2008

As described in my last post about getting HDTV to my Media Center, it’s a definite inconvenience for homebrew projects to get anywhere with HDTV. DirecTV and it’s HDPC-20 tuner seemed like the best solution, but since I’ve heard that the project keeps getting pushed back, and we probably won’t see anything from them until 2009 or 2010–a long time from now.

The other kicker about the DirecTV/satellite-based option is I have finally accepted the fact that I’m just not facing the right way for satellite. Satellite requires you to have a clear view of the southern/south-western sky, and I’m the exact opposite of that. So even if/when DirecTV decides to become the coolest company ever by releasing their Media Center tuner (not OEM, *cough* *cough*), I’ll still be facing the wrong way to even get a signal.

Right now I’m still rolling with good old OTA. It’s classic, it’s digital, but it sucks pretty bad. Granted I am using just a wire for an antenna, there’s rarely anything I ever want to watch on TV. South Park on Comedy Central? Nope. Bill Nye’s new show on Planet Green? Nadda. Local on the 8′s on The Weather Channel? Sadly, nothing.

Now I’m starting to reconsider my options once again, and take a look at the Media Center-ready options that are out there. Since satellite is out of the picture, I won’t be looking at that this time.

OTA

Yes, OTA works with Media Center. I have it, I use it. It ain’t pretty, but it’s there. Too bad Microsoft decided to release the last Media Center update to OEM’s only (give it time–you’ll see a rant on that soon), so I can’t use both my analog (while it’s around) and digital tuners at the same time. I guess I’ll go a little easy on OTA at this point, since it has let me watch the Olympics (but I could use the Media Center app for that anyway).

AT&T U-Verse

If I went the U-Verse route, I’d be demanding some kickback from AT&T on this one. I’ve already got them for internet and cell. I know it’s not their usual 3-in-1 packaged deal, but still..

U-Verse is basically AT&T’s rendition of IPTV. It’s TV over your DSL connection. This option would be a plus, as I’d get a DSL upgrade to a faster speed in the process. Based on the technology, it seems technically viable that a software tuner could be created to support an incoming U-Verse stream (seeing that the hardware boxes are just multicast clients that stream whatever the client requests). Heck, even AT&T’s U-Verse tuners are based on Microsoft’s MediaRoom technology (granted they’re based out of a different division, but it’s still from the same company).

If you had a Media Center, and you had the option to get U-Verse, and the setup basically consisted of plugging your Media Center into your network and away you went, would you use it?

I sure as hell would, and you’d be crazy not to! Unfortunately, it seems that they disagree, and this is not an option. U-Verse on the Media Center is only available via the FrankenCable(TM) setup, where the signal would go to the STB, then to the Media Center, then to the TV. With HDTV, this really isn’t an option, as you’ll run into quality loss and likely some DRM restrictions.

Which is too bad, as this would be a great option.

 

Cable (again)

I only bring up cable again because this time I have a slight fighting chance for it this time. Recently I purchased a new Dell computer for home use. With this machine I had the option (but didn’t get) the ATi TV tuner. With this tuner, my computer would be ready for a CableCARD. I’d have the option of either using the tuner on my homebrew machine (if it worked), or I’d be upgrading my Media Center with a Dell machine and I’d take the other machine. Even better is the news we’re hearing that CableCARD is wising up and has announced that only content flagged for protection has to be DRM’d (compared to the current policy, where CableCARD DRM’s everything it sees, eats, and breathes).

The catch here–since I didn’t purchase the tuner when I bought the computer, I haven’t seen any place where I can buy it now. It seems like I had my chance, and now I apparently missed it.

If I did a way to get that reader, then cable would definitely be an option. Except I’m not the hugest fan of cable, since they have a bad habit of raising prices at nonspecific intervals. Not a fan enough that I’d go a different route, even if it meant using the FrankenCable(TM) system? Possibly.

 

In conclusion, it’s a good thing for Microsoft that they have such an enthusiastic fan-base for their Media Center product that people are willing to put up with it’s technical downfalls. Yes, Media Center has made a great addition to my home theater setup, but it’s HDTV setup just isn’t there. Any HDTV setup that is there now (that’s you, CableCARD) is almost prohibitively expensive and so locked down that it’s damn-near impossible to go that route either.

Considering my options, I’ll probably go with the U-Verse option, as IPTV is a cool concept to me. I’ll also probably have to go with the FrankenCable(TM) setup as well, but perhaps I’ll be happily surprised when I do more research about it. But hear this, AT&T, I’ll take my time researching this, and I won’t be able to recommend you with confidence to my other Media Center friends until we see something that’s a bit more unified. I know in the ’90s it was “hip and cool” to have all of those STB’s around your entertainment center. But now it’s 2008. We’re all about thinking green, and the fewer STB’s I have, the better.

~Jaker

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Please Adjust your Tinfoil Hats

Posted by jaker in DRM, Tech Alert on October 3, 2007

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard people like the RIAA and recording companies complain about music and ownership and how they don’t get enough money. First it was P2P, and how online file swapping made the music industry lose “millions” (a claim which was later debunked). So legit services came out. Napster, Y! Music, Rhapsody, iTunes Music Store, etc. People are able to pay for music now. Everything must be going well.

Except now we know where the RIAA and recording companies are really going with all of this. Sure, it’s nice that you bought the CD and played in your car. But what if you want to copy that song on to your computer and add it to your music collection? Perhaps you want to rip that CD and copy it on to your mp3 player? Harmless?

Before I continue, remember: you paid for the CD, and “apparently” you have the “right” to listen to the music you purchased.

So, again, is this simple act harmless? Copying that awesome song to your mp3 player because you don’t want to haul around a portable CD player with CDs? Or are you just another thief–a proponent to the corruption of music in society–and probably contributing to terrorism some how?

Sorry to break the news, but you are. In a testimony by Jennifer Pariser (the head of litigation for Sony BMG) on October 2, you are causing those poor music recording companies to lose money back and forth.

From ars technica:

Pariser noted that music labels make no money on touring, radio, or merchandise, which leaves the company particularly exposed to the negative effects of file-sharing. “It’s my personal belief that Sony BMG is half the size now as it was in 2000,” she said, thanks to piracy. In Pariser’s view, “when people steal, when they take music without compensation, we are harmed.”

Pariser has a very broad definition of “stealing.” When questioned by Richard Gabriel, lead counsel for the record labels, Pariser suggested that what millions of music fans do is actually theft. The dirty deed? Ripping your own CDs or downloading songs you already own.

Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ‘steals just one copy’,” she said.

So, you copying that CD for your mp3 player? Illegal! Buy a new one!
Making a backup of your purchased (and DRM’d) collection off the Music Store of your choice? Illegal! Buy a new one!

Fair Use? Ha ha!

<notamused>

~Jaker

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