[13069] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: DRM technology and policy
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andreas Bogk)
Tue Apr 22 11:43:21 2003
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To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
From: Andreas Bogk <andreas@andreas.org>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:31:19 +0000
In-Reply-To: <3EA4435D.10908@monmouth.com> ("John S. Denker"'s message of
"Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:15:41 -0400")
"John S. Denker" <jsd@monmouth.com> writes:
> Techniques that don't protect a song might work just
> fine to protect computer programs including games.
I've spent the better part of my youth cracking computer game copy
protection schemes. Let me tell you: bits are bits, and once you can
lay your hands on the bits, you can copy them. The semantics of the
bits don't make a difference at all.
The only thing you *can* do is taking away control over the computer
from the user. This is not only hard to do, but also something I
fundamentally oppose: it's *my* computer with *my* data on it, so *I*
should be the ultimate authority over what is going on on my computer.
If that breaks a business model that was invented right with the
printing press, tough luck. Making a copy of something is no longer a
scarce resource. DRM is nothing but a try to keep it scarce for a
little longer.
Andreas
--
"In my eyes it is never a crime to steal knowledge. It is a good
theft. The pirate of knowledge is a good pirate."
(Michel Serres)
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