03.21.14

DRM Watch: Impact on the Web, TPM, Lockdowns, and Games

Posted in News Roundup at 11:30 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

What I wish Tim Berners-Lee understood about DRM

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.
A clear-eyed guide to Mac OS X’s actual security risks

Apple does not support the Trusted Platform Module [9] that Microsoft will require all PC makers to support starting next year…
Keurig’s next generation of coffee machines will have DRM lockdown

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.
The day the Mario Kart died: Nintendo’s kill switch and the future of online consoles

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.
House Passes Cellphone Unlocking Bill While New Provision Causes Withdrawals

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.
The Reason Some Games Are Delayed For Linux In Humble Indie Bundles

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.

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