Corporate greed abound

This morning I decided to catch up on some news articles (Wired, C|Net, and Slashdot, the nerdy trinity) and was again angered by the examples of corporate greed and complete disregard for us, the people (you know, the ones with the money), in their strategies.

First was news regarding the future of computers. TCPA (or ‘Trusted Computing’, an encryption system between the hardware and software) and DRM (Digital Rights Management, the system content distributors use to lock down your purchases) are working together actively. Initially TCPA described as a way of locking out malware (such as viruses and spyware) only. It’s clear now that the media & content restrictions possibilities are endless. Without getting too tinfoil hat, it’s certainly possible (probable? we’ll see) for new PC’s to reject my ability to install some software that’s not signed (say, Linux or some other open source software), or play my media that’s not signed (say, my own self-ripped MP3 or OGG files). I find it obtrusive and invasive that the next piece of computer hardware I buy will contain components that can track my usage and send data about my activities all over the web.

Grrr!

Next I read an article about how new high-definition disc players (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) may not have output support for component (a 3-plug system that all HDTV’s have, used to deliver high-definition picture from devices such as your dish receiver) because component is analog, and there is no way for content makers to restrict your viewing with it. Instead, in order to watch the new shiny HD-DVD disc you bought at full high definition, your TV will need to have an HDMI input (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) which is digital and can be restricted with DRM. The problem is, according to the article, nobody is talking about it and it will affect a lot of people. What may happen is if you only have component on your HDTV, it may drop the resolution down to what current DVD resolution (480p), thus removing any benefit of HD discs.

This sucks for a lot of people because until relatively recently many HDTV’s didn’t even have HDMI inputs, and if it did, there was only one (compared to multiple component inputs so people can plug in their Dish receiver, their XBox 360, etc.). Here again we see content makers pushing hardware makers into things not based on market pressures, but based on their desires to lock down what we do with the things we buy.

Double-Grr!!

Maybe we need to be reminded of how far corporate greed will go to make an extra penny, but I don’t see either TCPA & DRM or the new high-definition disc issues being things that benefit us (the people making the purchasing decisions) in any way. I’m more inclined to see it as another way for these big corporations to commit yet another invasive act (crime some would say), and this time we have no recourse thanks to the DMCA. I can’t hack my PC to not send personal data over the net, becuase I’d be breaking the law. I have to just take it. But I’m not going to be smiling.