DRM Watch: Impact on the Web, TPM, Lockdowns, and Games
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-21 16:30:55 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-21 16:31:47 UTC
After Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee's keynote talk at SXSW, he answered a question about the controversial plan to add DRM to next version of HTML. HTML 5, a standard currently under debate at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the latest battleground in the long-running war over the design of general-purpose computers. Berners-Lee defended the proposition, and claimed that without it, more of the Web would be locked up in un-searchable, unlinkable formats like Flash.
Some in the entertainment industry have long harboured fantasies about redesigning computers to disobey their owners, as part of a profit-maximisation strategy that depends on being able to charge you piecemeal for the right to use the files on your hard-drive.
-
Apple does not support the Trusted Platform Module [9] that Microsoft will require all PC makers to support starting next year...
-
Keurig is setting itself up to attempt a type of coffee "DRM" on the pods used in its coffee-making machines, according to a report from Techdirt. Keurig's next-gen machines would be unable to interact with third-party coffee pods, thus locking customers into buying only the Keurig-branded K-cups or those of approved partners.
-
Nintendo fans, mark your calendars for May 20, 2014. As Nintendo announced yesterday, that's the last day you'll be able to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play hundreds of online games on the Wii and Nintendo DS. Single-player modes for those games will still work, of course, but any parts of the games that require an Internet connection will be completely non-functional in a matter of months.
-
The Unlocking Consumer Choice Act (H.R. 1123), which was introduced in March by Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was widely supported by members on both sides of the aisle.
-
Humble feel it would harm their reputation to ask a developer to sit out and wait for the next bundle for the sake of a Linux version.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- European Patent Office (EPO) Crisis: Huge EPO Strikes, Profound Corruption, and Cocaine Use by Managers Tolerated
- These strikes won't be ending any time soon
- 25 Years With PalmOS
- That my Palm PDA still works in 2026 (not in mint condition but close to that) says a lot about the "build quality" of gadgets 20+ years ago
- Microsoft Has Spent Months Preparing Lists of People to Cull in Massive Wave of Layoffs (Allegedly Start of July)
- There is some consensus that we're weeks away from mega-layoffs at Microsoft
- Gemini Links 06/06/2026: "Competing" With LLMs and "Automation of Any Kind"
- Links for the day
- IBM is "Making an Exit". Only the Executives Will Get Rich.
- failure disguised as success
- 2026 is the Year of Blockchains, Says IBM's CEO a Decade Ago?
- "falling upwards"
-
- Ubuntu is Losing to Other GNU/Linux Distros
- "Linux Mint"
- Old Articles Explaining That Patents - Especially Software Patents - Are Bad for Innovation
- We've omitted more than 50% of the articles we had gathered as candidates for inclusion
- Why GNU and FSF Will Choose AV1 Over AV2 (It's More Widely Supported)
- for the foreseeable future they'll stick with AV1
- Mass Layoffs (RAs) and PIPs (Excuses to Sack) at IBM: Insiders Tell No Relation to Actual Performance
- If many thousands are impacted by this, then certainly it is newsworthy
- Links 06/06/2026: LinkedIn Infested With Spies, Ethernet WiFi Router On Pi Pico 2W
- Links for the day
- Why We Dumped Online Shopping (Groceries)
- subsidies kept the "online" stuff artificially cheap
- Microsoft Fell to All-Time Low in Monaco Last Month
- So says statCounter anyway
- Lawsuits That Don't Work
- Not as expected anyway
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 99 Out of 200: Graveley and Garrett Seem to Have Crashed Brett Wilson LLP (Worse Than Taking Russian Oligarchs as SLAPP Clients)
- a state of disarray
- Links 06/06/2026: 'Linux' Foundation Openwashing Slop on Microsoft's Payroll, Ukraine Wants Permanent Ceasefire With Russia
- Links for the day
- 50% of the 'Gains' Made by "Quantum" Hype Already Evaporated
- "It was all hype about quantum nonsense. Heading back to reality now. Expect sub-$220 after earnings release next month."
- Heap of Trash Online, Not Just the Fault of LLM Slop But Enabled by Slop
- Google News has just promoted a pair of prolific slopfarms
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 05, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, June 05, 2026
- Links 05/06/2026: Lawyers in Trouble for Citing Cases That Don't Exist (Slop Too Bad to Justify Costs; Even It It Did Work, It Would Still be Far Too Expensive)
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Bears in the Streets, WWII Revisionism, and Westworld
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's LinkedIn Called "Dying Platform" by One Who Worked There
- The co-founder of LinkedIn has just stepped down too
- GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) Layoffs Are Due to Surging Debt, or About 120 Billion Dollars Borrowed in One Year Alone
- It's well above 150 billion dollars if one adds Oracle
- After One Jeffrey Epstein Associate 'Leaves' Microsoft's Board Another Jeffrey Epstein Associate Steps Down, Workers Concerned About the Mass Layoffs
- How many more loans can Microsoft receive? Those loans are becoming increasingly risky.
- IBM Exploits Overambitious, Hungry Young Men to Help the "Great Quantum Hype Campaign" (Pumping the Stock Based on Deliberate Misinformation or Outright Disinformation)
- The boot-licking campaign is live...
- What Will Likely Happen When the Slop Bubble Pops (and When It'll be Widely Accepted That It Popped)
- all the "most successful" slop companies are so deep in debt
- The Register MS is Part of the Problem, It's Publishing "AI" SPAM Because it's Paid by Chinese Military-Connected Firms
- Given that The Register MS is run by a Microsofter (since last summer), destruction seems inevitable
- Most Coders Used to be Women, Not Men (and Men Who Dropped Out of College Now Plunder Everything They Can)
- "Ethics For Hackers"
- IBM's CEO Does Not Use GNU/Linux, So Why Did He Suggest Buying Red Hat Only to Lay Off Its Workers, Market Slop Instead of Linux, and Sack UNIX Professionals?
- Shortly after IBM had bought Red Hat and there were mass layoffs we pointed out that Red Hat's CEO was not using GNU/Linux
- If You're Not Focusing on Software Freedom, All You'll Get is Slopware and Buzzwords
- If you're not focusing on attaining Software Freedom (and remember "Linux" is just a brand), then you're losing sight of the goals that actually matter
- Red Hat/IBM: Microsoft is Our Partner of the Year
- Red Hat is a really bad gravy
- Gemini Links 05/06/2026: Enshittification of Institutes for Project Management, Codebases Contaminated With Slop, Personal Stories
- Links for the day
- Communicating With Freedom - Part II - Quibble Breathing New Life Into LibreJS
- Notice how work on one thing led to thousands of lines of code added to a mostly dormant (but nevertheless important) project
- Slop Has no ROI, an Economy Built on False Assumptions of Slop is Doomed
- we're all going to suffer from this Ponzi scheme
- Links 05/06/2026: More GAFAM Layoffs, Google Faces Regulatory Crackdown in UK Over Plagiarism in "AI" Clothing
- Links for the day
- Rumour That Layoffs at Microsoft Will Kick Off on July 1st, 2026 (Impacting 10,000 or More Workers)
- this is what the rumour mill or the word through the grapevine is
- Mission:Libre, Which Teaches Young People Free Software Ideals, Needs Financial Backing
- plea for assistance with Mission:Libre
- The Slop Ponzi Scheme is a Problem and Threat to All of Us (Even Those Who Don't Invest in or Use Slop at All)
- This problem is systemic, not contained
- "Blind Justice" Examines the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Turning a Blind Eye to Abuse by British Solicitors
- We have some jaw-dropping examples of how the SRA does not do actual regulation - to the point where its staff does not actual work and does not look into any evidence at all!
- 7 Days From Now the FSF's Founder Gives a Talk in Bern, the FSF Has Just Advertised This
- Meanwhile the FSF (or GNU) processes and uploads many recent talks by RMS
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Down But Not Out – Costa's Comeback
- he managed to secure a top-level EU position in June 2024
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 04, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, June 04, 2026
- Links 04/06/2026: Self-hosting Remotely and GemText Emphasis
- Links for the day
- Links 04/06/2026: Ukraine’s Daily Moment of Silence and Uber Lays off 23% of HR
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 98 Out of 200: Microsoft Threatening Real Security Researcher With Criminal Investigation for Talking About Microsoft's Bug Doors/Back Doors
- The crime should be the back doors (deliberate attack on every user's data protection), not talking about those back doors
- Microsoft Would Get Away Even With Pedophilia
- "Microsoft should never be above the law"
- Journalists Should be Ashamed for Parroting False Claims From IBM Management About "Quantum Computing", Say IBM Insiders Who Work on "Quantum Computing"
- IBM is a buzzwords vendor. International Buzzwords Machines.
- Free Software is Nourishment to Software Users, Unlike Proprietary Software
- Quit treating "mere users" of software "like animals"
- The "Peanut Gallery" of GAFAM Has Infiltrated Free Software Projects or Disrupts Free Software Communities
- They contribute nearly nothing and do substantial damage; they're freeloaders who attack the most productive members of projects
- Coding is Not a Quantity Game (It Never Was!)
- "less is more"
- Exposing Corruption Using a Highly Resilient Platform
- Growing levels of trust, based on our track record, help us attract whistleblowers
- Mass Layoffs Expected at Microsoft in July 2026
- They're preparing more "lists" of people
- Reflection on EPO Leadership That Harbours Cocaine, IBM Leadership That Pumps-and-Dumps the Shares, and More
- ManCity replaced Manuel Pellegrini with a more famous manager it didn't envision winning 20 titles in 10 years (it could only hope) [...] Team-building is something that "Pep" seemed to be good at, as was Jürgen Klopp
- Pump and Dump by IBM Insider Traders: Nickle LaMoreaux, Gary Cohn, James Kavanaugh, Arvind Krishna, Robert Thomas, and Others
- the shares are already collapsing
- FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Has Weakened If Not Ruined What's Left of Big Media
- Many things that have existed for decades are now being rebranded as "AI"
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 97 Out of 200: Garrett in Hiding (From the Simple Observable Fact He's Closely Connected to the Microsofter Who Strangles Women, Tells Women to Kill Themselves, and Worse)
- They use one another; they are coordinating this via the SLAPP industry in another continent
- Links 04/06/2026: Microsoft Threatening Security Researcher for Naming Back Doors in BitLocker, "Demand is Booming for" Old Tech
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 04/06/2026: "Word Vomit", Slop", and Moving to Gopher/Gemini
- Links for the day
- Rust Outsources its Financing (or Financial Control) to Microsoft
- How long before the third "E"?
- "Format Sovereignty" Can Only be Accomplished With LaTeX or OpenDocument Format (ODF) or Vendor-Neutral Standards for Editable Documents
- Microsoft is, in effect, above the law
- IBM's Shares Fell Nearly 13% in One Day (Including After Hours)
- its main product is false promises
- The Cyber Show on the Importance of Software Freedom and Why GNU/Linux Could Not be Stopped
- an excellent article
- Drew DeVault Can Still Redeem His Reputation. Revisiting His Attacks (and Attack Site) on Richard Stallman Might be a Good Start.
- DeVault has openly apologised (this past spring)
- The Register MS is Publishing Paid SPAM; Some of It is Designed to Prop Up the "AI" Pyramid Scheme
- The Register MS participates in scams
- European Patent Office (EPO) Series: "Operation Influencer"
- Costa's political career was far from finished
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 03, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, June 03, 2026
