DRM bites again
Saturday, May 17th, 2008 - 1:27pm
(The EFF site is unresponsive as I type this, but will probably come back at some point - some poor guy is having a rough Saturday)
DRM. Even when it's turned off, it's on. 
Remember: this conversation is just between you and me ... and the NSA.
MaverickDago wrote:
Only commies pee "urine" or the devils cocktail as we call it, real Americans exude cold crisp light beer.
I hope they get sued for it. Oh... Wait. I forgot, we aren't supposed to sue for our freedoms, lawsuits are evil and damage businesses. Oh well.
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
I plan to e-mail this link to Paul Thurrott. He has continued to insist that the DRM built-in to Vista would never cause problems and that anyone who is complaining about it is just the whining vocal minority who are only frustrated because it interferes with their ability to steal content. I'm very anxious to see how he will rationalize this.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
In a Libertarian ideal world, you can sue, but you'll get $11.52 due to the liability caps placed by tort reform and offending companies will continue to offend after doing their cost analysis.
This is the internet! In our natural environment, atheists run in packs and have dictionaries! --- JoeBeDurndurn
Are we going to have endure endless tangential comments everytime Aetius posts now? Last time you got on this kick, we were treated to a month of "if Libertarians ran the world, noise violations would not exist" for each of Baggachipz posts.
If you want to talk about Libertarianism, let's do that - create the Paleocon's Perception of Libertarianism and we'll discuss our views and the views I've seen from others. We'll talk about that comment above, and why it doesn't match mine (and I'm sure Aetius's) political views.
Little snide off-topic remarks are no way to encourage intelligent discussion. At best, they allow the poster to quickly step on and off their soapbox, and at worst derail another discussion entirely.
Xbox Live: StaatsM
Does the MS Vista EULA require you to accept whatever DRM they deem necessary? It seems like the sort of thing that might be in there, and might affect legal responses.
Has anyone read it that can comment?
"His eyes were cold. As cold as the bitter winter snow that was falling outside. Yes, cold and therefore difficult to chew." -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
There's one section related directly to the DRM, which essentially mandates that you must upgrade the DRM when Microsoft tells you, or you will lose access to your files:
The important section is near the bottom:
So the answer to your question is yes. You cannot work around the "technical limitations" of the software, doing so is a license violation (and probably illegal under the DMCA).
Full normal-person-readable EULA
Browse the various Microsoft EULAs
Remember: this conversation is just between you and me ... and the NSA.
MaverickDago wrote:
No he's right; registered Libertarians like me just sit around and drool most of the time. You see, we like things to be as ass-backwards as possible. In fact, it's probably my fault that DRM still exists.
P.S. I'm just trying to have a little fun here. I find those off-topic posts quite amusing, actually.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
Your patience is astounding. The leaps of logic drive me nuts.
Xbox Live: StaatsM
This is part of what upsets me so much about Vista. Guru used to sneer at this idea, but it's still true. As far as I know, Vista is the first OS where modifying it is actively illegal under the DMCA. Even posting information on how to patch or otherwise modify Vista could, at least theoretically, land you in jail.
Sorry for the continued off-topic but where did Guru disappear to anyway? I haven't seen him around for some time now.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
He seems to have disappeared after the Vista thread meltdown a few months back.
Xbox Live: StaatsM
it wasn't him that got himself fired was it? Or was that Chronic?
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
I don't think Guru was fired, he was just reprimanded fairly severely. The last post I remember from him had something like, "geeze, I'm not sure I want to be a part of this community anymore", so I imagine he may have taken himself to places he prefers.
I think it was actually this specific issue that caused the rebuke, probably why I mentioned his name. Somewhere, far in the back of my head, I'm still arguing about this with him.
I just went and looked, and his tag is normal, so he left voluntarily.
I think Chronic was the one that got fired.
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
He went out with a bang
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB / PSN: Legion_SB / Steam: legion028 / Twitter: legion
If I'm going to be an ass, I might as well be a hot female sportscaster's ass.
I can't believe I missed that. Clearly I don't hang around P&C enough.
Guru has threatened to leave before. He usually comes back. Got to remember the guy is in the minority 'round here. He comes off as extremely wealthy and, I imagine, fairly seems to alienate himself with his different perspective. I hope he returns since I've always liked his posts on various topics.
McChuck wrote: