Total Lock-down Ambitions - Part IV - The Latest Examples and the Perils (in Summary)
Here's something "from when RH [Red Hat] was pro-FOSS," an associate said ("The DRM graveyard: A brief history of digital rights management in music")
Ruth now works for an oppressive proprietary malware firm [1, 2]. Defector, opportunistic openwasher, or unprincipled greedy corporate puppet?
TODAY we openly express our views on where things stand. It's an open-ended conclusion as we may decide to follow up some time in the future, as new stories and threats arise. Over at GNU, Rob Musial has just published an article about "Malware in Proprietary Software - 2024 Catch-up". It contains some good examples, including "back doors, DRM, tethering, and others". Further down it elaborates on: Proprietary Addictions, Apple's Operating Systems Are Malware, Proprietary Obsolescence, Microsoft's Software is Malware, and Malware In Cars.
For further reading take a look at Musial's nice outline. It's a day old.
We've also just noticed UEFI 'secure' boot in the news again ("New UEFI vulnerability bypasses Secure Boot — bootkits stay undetected even after OS re-install"). The article states: "A new UEFI vulnerability has been discovered that is spread through multiple system recovery tools. Bleeping Computer reports that the vulnerability enables attackers to bypass Secure Boot and deploy bootkits that can be invisible to the operating system. Microsoft has officially flagged the vulnerability with the codename CVE-2024-7344 Howyar Taiwan Secure Boot Bypass."
There's already LLM slop about it, likely generated by Microsoft chaffbots.
This subject is particularly important to us because things we've long said about it are being proven right all the time (since 2012). We also ended up becoming the target of extreme online abuse (for 13 years already!) by Microsoft's pushers of DRM, TPM, and UEFI 'secure' boot. They casually attack the prominent Free software proponents and even SLAPP some. As noted this morning: "To be very clear, reporting facts isn't illegal. Showing public posts of public figures isn't illegal. It's essential in a democratic society."
"Another UEFI bootkit is in the news," an associate has said, and "UEFI does not only prevent Linux from booting but through unnecessary extra complexity introduces many otherwise avoidable security holes."
See what Musial (link above) said about "back doors, DRM, tethering, and others". No wonder the Microsofters so viciously attack the FSF these days.
When we started this series 4 days ago (see Part I, Part II, and Part III) we wanted to focus on how TPM (proprietary lockdown) was meant to really serve DRM, for the most part. TPM pushers are in effect promoting DRM, among even worse schemes.
None of this will lead anywhere good. It cannot. And no, it's not about security. Appliances and repair thereof (monopoly pricing tactics) are one common example of what this means to so-called 'consumers'. Apropos DRM, this year "FTC sues John Deere for unfairly raising repair costs on farm equipment" and there's an active discussion about it ("FTC, States Sue Deere & Company to Protect Farmers from Unfair Corporate Tactics, High Repair Costs"). Notice how the titles consistently leave out terms like "DRM" and instead focus on "costs" (without identifying the underlying cause). That's like talking about TikTok as a national security threat to Western nations due to privacy alone, not due to how it is manipulating many millions of people. The core problems must be discussed, rather than dealing with their outcomes alone (addition, health problems, bouts of depression), more so if those problems are deliberate and coordinated - i.e. exactly what's planned with DRM all along (by a cabal of copyright profiteers or a "conspiracy" of technology and copyright giants). An associate says that "individual health and public health are concerns with ByteDance's TikTok, but they should not be allowed to distract from the national security threat and mass manipulation".
Likewise, when it comes to TPM and DRM, we must regularly remind people why exactly they are dangerous and what they do in practice. The issue isn't, "OH, I NEED TO BUY A NEW PC FOR VISTA 11". That's not what matters most.
Like we said in parts 2 and 3, finding information about DRM (more so online, not to mention the troubles with an LLM slop epidemic) is no longer easy. The media - or what's left of it at this point - omits this from its lexicon.
So we need to bring the issue up again. And again and again. For sure it'll come up again later this year. We've spent a lot of money holding pushers of TPM accountable [1, 2].
Don't underestimate the threat. In a year or two it's possible that YouTube will no longer be usable or accessible except from "approved" or "certified" devices (i.e. hardware designed not to obey its user). They're fast-tracking this. They have a vision and they have a battalion of online trolls to defame those who stand in their way. They've not given up on these insidious tactics. Having said that, more people can smell them from a great distance now. This makes these tactics less effective and sometimes an own goal. █