Stephen Pair <spair at advantive.com> said:
>But, short of that, I don't see it panning out in the doomsday scenario
>that many seem to think will come about.  Even with M$ ramming DRM down
>everyones throats, there will still be a substantial market (even if
>small by comparison) for non-M$ solutions. 

The problem with DRM inside your CPU is that your CPU will refuse to be part
of a non-trusted computing base. Which will mean that it will not load a BIOS
that hasn't got the right sig, the BIOS will not load a OS boot block that
hasn't got the right sig, etcetera up to the application. So if you don't get
Squeak signed by Micro$oft (or whoever will control the signing keys for
Palladium), Squeak will simply refuse to run on your Windows platform.
Similarly, Linux will not load, until you run the single copy of the kernel
that has been Palladium-certified (which, in turn, will only run signed
binaries, i.e. - no Squeak). 

And circumventing this will be illegal by the DMCA and, by that time,
the implementation of the EU Copyright Directive. Of course, one law
down the road is mandatory DRM so circumventing the whole scheme simply
by importing computers from sane parts of the world will be illegal
(motherboards as contraband, can you imagine?).

No, this *is* really scary. Down the road lies a world where copyright laws
are dictated by Sony, Microsoft, the RIAA, the MPAA, and other such fine
ethical companies. You will have the freedom to choose between whatever they
supply. 


-- 
Cees de Groot               http://www.cdegroot.com     <cg at cdegroot.com>
GnuPG 1024D/E0989E8B 0016 F679 F38D 5946 4ECD  1986 F303 937F E098 9E8B
Cogito ergo evigilo