Microsoft has just gone too far... Again
Some of you may already have heard this, but it's news to me, and something which I feel I have to make a lot of noise about. Microsoft, in cooperation with various hardware vendors, has recently announced something they call Palladium (TCPA). What it boils down to is that in future versions of windows you will be required to have a chip in your computer called a Fritz chip. This chip will work with Windows to verify that any and all software on your computer is legal. Doesn't sound too bad, but it gets a lot worse. They also would have the "right" to delete any "objectionable" material they find on your computer. Even things such as rantings about certain politicians. Not too mention they could very easily block all competitor products. They're also using it to target Linux, and the GPL movement (and don't forget, there are many GPL products on Windows - the majority of the software I use on my computer and for web site design is under the GPL license). They target it because they will make documents much more restricted. For instance, your will no longer be able to read your word documents in programs other than Microsoft Word (I personally use Abi Word, a comparable, and completely free, word processor that can work with Word files). This means you also will not be able to read these files on Linux systems, or other operating systems. Also, companies will be able to make CDs that only work for a few days, or only on your birthday. As it is said in a FAQ on TCPA/Palladium, "The possibilities seem to be limited only by the marketers' imagination." And let me assure you, THAT IS A VERY BAD THING in itself (I've recently heard stories of companies that want to put advertisements on people's tombstones for example). There is much more to this horrorific new idea, but I couldn't finish reading it before I had to go blow off some steam. If you're interested, further details on TSPA/Palladium are here.
