[Full-disclosure] Could InfoSec be Worse than Death?

[Pavel Kankovsky]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Kenneth F. Belva wrote:

> iTunes, Unbox, Speedpass/Easypass/Paypass. Do these not create cash flows?
> Could they create cash flows (or even exist) if the security mechanisms
> (DRM/authentication) were not present?

When you mention it...

How does clandestine installation of "DRM-enabling" software (e.g. the 
infamous Sony rootkit) fit into your virtual trust model?

They wanted to establish one trust relation (copyright holders can believe
end users won't make illegal copies (*)) and subverted another trust
relation (end users can't trust their computers anymore (**)).

To be honest, I am afraid this is an intrinsic problem of so-called DRM.  
You cannot enforce DRM (by technical means) unless you take control over
the device from its owner's hands and put it into the hands of some Big 
Brother.

(*) Oh yes, they won't be able to make legal copies covered by fair use 
either but who cares about fair use?

(**) Whether they could trust their computers before they inserted an
infected CD into them is an interesting but different question.

--Pavel Kankovsky aka Peak  [ Boycott Microsoft--http://www.vcnet.com/bms ]
"Resistance is futile. Open your source code and prepare for assimilation."