Defective. By design.

Shelved away in our DRM category we happen to have a lot of posts on the subject, some of which cover Novell's ambivalent take on this issue. Novell is, after all, a largely proprietary software company.

It seemed worthwhile to draw attention to the attitude towards DRM where proprietary operating systems are dominant (mostly desktops). Microsoft's attitude towards DRM we have already covered in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Microsoft openly says that it likes DRM and according to this new report from The Register, things can get worse than Vista.

Microsoft is adopting technology from EMC's RSA security division for Windows to police data and prevent loss and theft of information.

[...]

Microsoft would not be drawn on whether the DLP engine will be built into Office or the forthcoming Windows 7. Office would be logical move given it features the Outlook client used by Exchange and is where potentially sensitive documents can be created in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Why is RSA being adopted? Is it for whatever is says on the tin? Such things are often phased in using "security" as an excuse, but this turns out to be financial security to media monopolies. It's a two-edged sword. Are backup features more about forensics, for example?

"DRM is the future."

--Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Either way, as reiterated in this article, Microsoft refuses to consider practical examples and steer away from DRM, which is not effective. It harms honest people and fails to limit copying by those who are sufficiently determined.

Valve says DRM is stupid, but Microsoft still doesn't get it

Valve is a wonderfully open company—in many cases, direct questions sent to the publisher will be answered by a member of the creative team within hours. One gamer recently e-mailed Valve and asked why he saw EA's logo on a commercial for Left 4 Dead: he bought the game via Steam but didn't want to support EA after the Spore DRM debacle. He got a reply from a managing director at the company, Gabe Newell, that was to the point: EA only handles distribution for the physical product, and Valve thinks most DRM is "just dumb."

In order to defend its DRM and lock-in, Apple continues its appalling crusade and legally harasses a blogger for it.

Apple copies Microsoft tactics in Itunes row

[...]

Sam Odio, operator of bluwiki, did what Jobs' Mob demanded only because he said he lacked the money to take on the fruit-themed toymaker.

He told AP that, when a lawyer calls you up and implicitly threatens litigation that would bankrupt your little project, you obviously have no choice but to comply.

The next time Apple pretends that it only implements DRM [1, 2] because of the music industry, such examples are worth bearing in mind. Better options do exist [3].

It is almost amusing that Apple/Mac enthusiasts vilified Vista for DRM whilst the company they so loyally defended goes down the same route, only later. Free software is a safe haven; replacing one proprietary 'master' with another is no solution and Novell, by the way, is still predominantly proprietary (with exceptions. ⬆

_____ [1] Apple's new MacBooks have built-in copy protection measures

Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.

[2] EFF: Apple DisplayPort DRM Will Lead to More Piracy

When Apple released its new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, as well as updated MacBook Air models, one feature of those latest laptops touted by Apple was their Mini DisplayPort video connection. This new connector is part of an open standard and is smaller than the DVI, mini-DVI, and micro-DVI ports found on the previous generation of Apple laptops. But there's one feature of the Mini DisplayPort on Apple laptops that isn't sitting well with many users--High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).

[3] MP3 Store Guide: ‘Don’t buy DRM’ (like iTunes)

Yesterday korporate download sites HMV, Woolworths, 7digital, Digitalstores, Tescodigital, Tunetribe, and Play.co launched a new ‘100% MP3 compatible’ logo devised by the Entertainment Retailers Association.