Took a look around the local electronics shop, and was struck by the low prices of laptop computers, many of them going for little more than five hundred dollars new. All of them were set up with some form of Vista, though the pricier ones had Vista Ultimate and Vista Supreme (or whatever the top two are called), plus a nifty little +TPM.
No explanation of what the TPM was they were adding, so I asked a sales clerk. The best he could do was to say it was about a trusted something or other. I then asked if it was part of the Trusted Platform Module, and he replied that was the deal.
If you are not familiar with the TPM, or the TCG then you shouldn't be surprised; like all nasty tricks that are pulled in the dead of night, this one is no different.
The Free Software Foundation calls it 'Treacherous Computing', and for good reason:
Treacherous Computing is an open conspiracy of computer manufacturers with Hollywood, intended to turn your future computers into a platform for DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) that software cannot bypass.
Not satisfied with threatening various individuals with lawsuits over intellectual property infringement, or as they call it, 'piracy', the Trusted Platform Module would effectively lock you into that system, and you wouldn't be the one calling the shots.
Try to listen to something or watch something that is not fully vetted by them, and you are locked out of your system. Have trouble with your Vista install? Well, better get it right the second time, or you'll have to buy another copy. How screwy is that? Your own hardware, on the software you paid for, and you're not able to make decisions on how to use it? A 'Trusted Computing Group' gets to make your decisions for you? How long before you are limited to visiting TCG approved web sites? Or limited to what you can search for on the new and improved TCG search engine? It's all for your own good, don't you know.
And what if you want to run some software, or an OS (like Linux) that isn't part of this all-wise consortium? Does the machine just refuse to boot? Or does it phone home to make sure you are using the approved OS? How far are they willing to take this?
I've said previously that Linux is a great way to use older hardware, and save money by putting some of those old machines to work--it turns out that in the not too distant future that old hardware may be all that will accept open source operating systems.
Once that happens, you can effectively kiss the internet goodbye, and rename it AOLmerica. A nice safe place to shop, without all the nasty opinions of those unkempt bloggers, and without worrying about those patent-infringing Linux freaks.
It's already begun, and when enough people own these machines, then their work will be done. Better snap up an old computer or two at your local thrift shop, as it looks like a storm is heading open source way. So long internet, hello AOLmerica.
And just in time, too. Because intellectual property infringement is worse than
all the various kinds of property crimes in this country, everything from theft, to fraud, to burglary, bank-robbing, all of it, it costs the country $16 billion a year. But intellectual property crime runs to hundreds of billions [of dollars] a year.
The full gory details (and complete de-bunking) here.
Never mind that movie sales were up nine percent in the US and 21 percent worldwide; the media giants will claim that they would have been 3000%, if only it weren't for those damned 'pirates'. Make no mistake where this is heading, with the TCG and TPM and cries of 'we lost hundreds of billions!'; they want to license each and every listen and view, to get some payment for every single bit that transverses the internets, and they have the telcos helping them filter and inspect each and every packet (if they can, sorry about the family pictures you sent to Grandma there, fella)and charge you--either in your wallet, or a court of law.
And just so we are clear here: yes, intellectual property infringement, formerly known as copyright infringement, but now known (with scare quotes) as 'Piracy!!!!' is detestable and a civil offense; but to say that it's worse than rape, robbing banks, muggings, and so on, is just ludicrous. Seems to me that real actual piracy--you know the one, looting another country's wealth and expendable resources while killing hundreds of thousands is the real crime. Why don't we hear more about that in the news? Oh, that's right; the companies that are being 'robbed' of 'hundreds of billions' are the same companies that own all the news channels. Funny coincidence, that.