Vista copy protection defended
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Everyone remembers the longest suicide note in history, an fud investigative paper regarding the copy protection features in Windows Vista. "Oh it is going to be the end of the world!" they cried, and "Hospitals will go up in flames!" Well I will refrain from rubbing in one of those "I told you so" moments, and point you to this conversation with the program manager at Microsoft responsible for overseeing the criticised features: Windows Vista Content Protection - Twenty Questions (and Answers) [^] Well to be fair, I did... :rolleyes: The comments are great though. Many arguments are straight out of Wikipedia and put the Soapbox to shame. I particularly liked the one that claims the American constitution protects the world from DRM.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkI'm just waiting for a post entitled, "Vista copy protection defeated". Historically, despite the best efforts and chunky wallets of the software companies, copy protection schemes are defeated shortly after they hit main stream.
Steve
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Everyone remembers the longest suicide note in history, an fud investigative paper regarding the copy protection features in Windows Vista. "Oh it is going to be the end of the world!" they cried, and "Hospitals will go up in flames!" Well I will refrain from rubbing in one of those "I told you so" moments, and point you to this conversation with the program manager at Microsoft responsible for overseeing the criticised features: Windows Vista Content Protection - Twenty Questions (and Answers) [^] Well to be fair, I did... :rolleyes: The comments are great though. Many arguments are straight out of Wikipedia and put the Soapbox to shame. I particularly liked the one that claims the American constitution protects the world from DRM.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkOther comments show contradictions between what the Microsoft guy said... and other things the Mirosoft guy has said about the same topic, for instance. The reasoon I am not keen on Vista (other than the fact that I have seen people using it and it is annoying and would drive me crazy. Can anyone say, simple please?) is that I like my operating system to provide an interface for me to use the hardware and the programs I have installed. That is it's purpose. It shouldn't do all this other stuff, it shouldn't do anything else or provide any other programs or anything, it should just let me use my computer and my software. Even copy protection issues aside, I think Windows is doing a whole lot more and being a whole lot more involved than it has to. I also don't care how my operating system looks and whether everything bounces up and down and goes transparent, because it doesn't help with the aforementioned purpose.
"Your typical day is full of moments where you ask for a cup of coffee and someone hands you a bag of nails." - Scott Adams
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I'm just waiting for a post entitled, "Vista copy protection defeated". Historically, despite the best efforts and chunky wallets of the software companies, copy protection schemes are defeated shortly after they hit main stream.
Steve
I thought it already had been? FairPlay (used by Apple/iTunes) was cracked almost instantly. RipGuard (used in current DVDs) was cracked within days. The Xbox 360 copy protection was cracked within at least a week of its public launch. I'm fairly sure I read not more than a week ago that Vista's implementation of the HD/premium copy protection had been compromised by a security firm (but not released). DRM as a means to an end is totally ineffective at stopping the hardcore, but it does stop the casual thief, as well as snag the occasional victim. The HD DRM stuff will be very effective at stopping you from plugging your HD DVD player into your HD DVD recorder and running off copies of feature films in your living room. It will also be effective at stopping Jill from making copies for Jane on her PC. It's like software activation - it works for 99% of consumers and does prevent casual theft and generate some legitimate sales. But even Bill Gates himself does not like the current DRM situation. He openly advises that the best way to buy music if you want to transfer it between devices -- even Microsoft ones --is to "buy a CD and rip it"[^].
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
Other comments show contradictions between what the Microsoft guy said... and other things the Mirosoft guy has said about the same topic, for instance. The reasoon I am not keen on Vista (other than the fact that I have seen people using it and it is annoying and would drive me crazy. Can anyone say, simple please?) is that I like my operating system to provide an interface for me to use the hardware and the programs I have installed. That is it's purpose. It shouldn't do all this other stuff, it shouldn't do anything else or provide any other programs or anything, it should just let me use my computer and my software. Even copy protection issues aside, I think Windows is doing a whole lot more and being a whole lot more involved than it has to. I also don't care how my operating system looks and whether everything bounces up and down and goes transparent, because it doesn't help with the aforementioned purpose.
"Your typical day is full of moments where you ask for a cup of coffee and someone hands you a bag of nails." - Scott Adams
The problem is, people expect their shiney new Home Theatre PC to plug into their shiney new HDTV and high definition sound system, and play 'King Kong II: The Monkey Returns' out of the box. When it doesn't, they complain and Microsoft gets the blame. "Who pays?" is a phrase that will be heard often. This whole thing is so completely far from Microsoft and Windows Vista that it is absurd that they are seemingly getting all the flak from it. I agree that DRM can be invasive and I have no plans to buy premium content (I don't have an HDTV anyway, and to be honest with my eyesight I can't tell the difference between HD and normal video from the other side of the living room). That won't stop me from eventually buying a new HD television, which incidentally already come with exactly the same DRM measures built in. Likewise with an HD DVD player (when they come down in price and blockbuster start sending out high definition DVDs as standard). It's the content providers who should be getting the flak here, it's their fight, not Microsoft for following the market needs.
standgale wrote:
[An OS] shouldn't do all this other stuff, it shouldn't do anything else or provide any other programs or anything
Then I suggest you find a flavour of embedded Linux that you like and start building your own distribution, because all of them come with other programs and differing bits of anything.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
The problem is, people expect their shiney new Home Theatre PC to plug into their shiney new HDTV and high definition sound system, and play 'King Kong II: The Monkey Returns' out of the box. When it doesn't, they complain and Microsoft gets the blame. "Who pays?" is a phrase that will be heard often. This whole thing is so completely far from Microsoft and Windows Vista that it is absurd that they are seemingly getting all the flak from it. I agree that DRM can be invasive and I have no plans to buy premium content (I don't have an HDTV anyway, and to be honest with my eyesight I can't tell the difference between HD and normal video from the other side of the living room). That won't stop me from eventually buying a new HD television, which incidentally already come with exactly the same DRM measures built in. Likewise with an HD DVD player (when they come down in price and blockbuster start sending out high definition DVDs as standard). It's the content providers who should be getting the flak here, it's their fight, not Microsoft for following the market needs.
standgale wrote:
[An OS] shouldn't do all this other stuff, it shouldn't do anything else or provide any other programs or anything
Then I suggest you find a flavour of embedded Linux that you like and start building your own distribution, because all of them come with other programs and differing bits of anything.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
Everyone remembers the longest suicide note in history, an fud investigative paper regarding the copy protection features in Windows Vista. "Oh it is going to be the end of the world!" they cried, and "Hospitals will go up in flames!" Well I will refrain from rubbing in one of those "I told you so" moments, and point you to this conversation with the program manager at Microsoft responsible for overseeing the criticised features: Windows Vista Content Protection - Twenty Questions (and Answers) [^] Well to be fair, I did... :rolleyes: The comments are great though. Many arguments are straight out of Wikipedia and put the Soapbox to shame. I particularly liked the one that claims the American constitution protects the world from DRM.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkInstant Looser: Not linking to the paper - neither by hyper~ nor by title. (and don't tell me corporate america will go up in flames when companies start to place reasonable links on their web sites) Clickety[^] - which already has a reply (including a backlink) Side note: that color scheme + font looks good on my DVI monitor, but sucks on the analog D-SUB connector. Since having a side-by-side comparison, I now know why so many artsy pages look unreadable...
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us! -
Well, maybe it could include a few other useful basic programs, but ignorable and removable, not like, umm, IE for instance :)
"Your typical day is full of moments where you ask for a cup of coffee and someone hands you a bag of nails." - Scott Adams
But, umm, coming with Firefox installed by default is fine? :rolleyes: I had a similar discussion with a friend who installed one of the user-friendly flavours of Linux and claimed it was so much better than Windows because it didn't have IE embedded in it, but it did come with Firefox and clones of the other software packages included with Windows virtually one-on-one. Even Open Office came pre-installed. :laugh: People will always choose the option that gives them the closest to what they really want, regardless of the option to change it later.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
Instant Looser: Not linking to the paper - neither by hyper~ nor by title. (and don't tell me corporate america will go up in flames when companies start to place reasonable links on their web sites) Clickety[^] - which already has a reply (including a backlink) Side note: that color scheme + font looks good on my DVI monitor, but sucks on the analog D-SUB connector. Since having a side-by-side comparison, I now know why so many artsy pages look unreadable...
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us!peterchen wrote:
I now know why so many artsy pages look unreadable
I agree... all designers should be forced to read Shakespeare writen white on black before being allowed anywhere near a pad and paper.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milk -
But, umm, coming with Firefox installed by default is fine? :rolleyes: I had a similar discussion with a friend who installed one of the user-friendly flavours of Linux and claimed it was so much better than Windows because it didn't have IE embedded in it, but it did come with Firefox and clones of the other software packages included with Windows virtually one-on-one. Even Open Office came pre-installed. :laugh: People will always choose the option that gives them the closest to what they really want, regardless of the option to change it later.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkI install firefox myself, or opera or whatever I like at the time. But I mean, in my perfect little world, the OS shouldn't come with these high level programs, at least not already installed, developed by the same company and difficult/impossible to install or avoid using. I think... that several options should come WITH the operating system, eg. firefox and IE, or OpenOffice and something else that doesn't cost a lot (MSOffice obviously wouldn't come with it because you have to pay hundreds for it; but you could of course package buy it) and you pick the ones you want to install. Or uninstall, whatever is deemed easier and more useful. I would rather install what I needed, but maybe the average person would rather have it all and just use whatever they like, with the option of uninstalling to free up disk space. Funny thing about IE is that I need it to test ClickOnce web installs, but otherwise I couldn't use it even if I wanted to because it spontaneously closes after only a few minutes of use about half the time. Weird, haven't had that happen on previous computers. With regards to the copy protection issue again, in terms of my view of how an OS should behave, it should just enable the user and their software to use the hardware, and not impose their or other standards upon its usage. I think that is above and beyond the call of duty for the OS, in a bad way :)
"Your typical day is full of moments where you ask for a cup of coffee and someone hands you a bag of nails." - Scott Adams
-
Everyone remembers the longest suicide note in history, an fud investigative paper regarding the copy protection features in Windows Vista. "Oh it is going to be the end of the world!" they cried, and "Hospitals will go up in flames!" Well I will refrain from rubbing in one of those "I told you so" moments, and point you to this conversation with the program manager at Microsoft responsible for overseeing the criticised features: Windows Vista Content Protection - Twenty Questions (and Answers) [^] Well to be fair, I did... :rolleyes: The comments are great though. Many arguments are straight out of Wikipedia and put the Soapbox to shame. I particularly liked the one that claims the American constitution protects the world from DRM.
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkJeeez that is confusing as hell. I am less convinced Vista will let me play HD now than before because of all the convoluted sentences. Microsoft has a serious communications problem. That this problem arose demonstrates it. That Vista was hugely misunderstood in general proves it. The whole market is confusing but Microsoft aren't helping. Maybe they are damned if they do and damned if they don't but I've got no confidence in them anymore.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Shog9 wrote:
I don't see it happening, at least not until it becomes pointless.
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I thought it already had been? FairPlay (used by Apple/iTunes) was cracked almost instantly. RipGuard (used in current DVDs) was cracked within days. The Xbox 360 copy protection was cracked within at least a week of its public launch. I'm fairly sure I read not more than a week ago that Vista's implementation of the HD/premium copy protection had been compromised by a security firm (but not released). DRM as a means to an end is totally ineffective at stopping the hardcore, but it does stop the casual thief, as well as snag the occasional victim. The HD DRM stuff will be very effective at stopping you from plugging your HD DVD player into your HD DVD recorder and running off copies of feature films in your living room. It will also be effective at stopping Jill from making copies for Jane on her PC. It's like software activation - it works for 99% of consumers and does prevent casual theft and generate some legitimate sales. But even Bill Gates himself does not like the current DRM situation. He openly advises that the best way to buy music if you want to transfer it between devices -- even Microsoft ones --is to "buy a CD and rip it"[^].
Ðavid Wulff What kind of music should programmers listen to?
Join the Code Project Last.fm group | dwulff
I'm so gangsta I eat cereal without the milkerr i dont think the 360 has been cracked yet, actually i'm pretty sure it hasn't. It has been hacked to allow users to replace the firmware in the DVD drive that allows un-authenticated/unsigned discs to appear as authenticated/signed discs to the core 360 OS, but no means of running unsigned code has yet been developed. Actually i have to say the 360 is probably one of the most successful protections schemes out there. ** note that running unsigned code is very different to ripping a HD-DVD or blu-ray disc - James