On Thursday, July 4, 2002, at 05:49 PM, Lucky Green wrote:
I am looking for a quote by a TCPA or Palladium principal that states that TCPA and/or Palladium will be voluntary or optional. Google was not helpful. Did anybody on here run across such a quote in one of the interviews recently published? Please include the URL/citation.
And even if such a quote is found, such a promise will not be legally binding. We should be very worried about the news that Intel and AMD are already signing up to include some form of DRM or BBI (Big Brother Inside) "rights enforcement" circuitry in future chips. (If MS provided the specs separately to Intel and AMD, and perhaps other vendors of CPUs, then perhaps no violations of the antitrust laws occurred. If, however, Intel and AMD got together and came to an agreement on what BBI circuitry to include, this almost certainly would violate the Sherman, Clayton, etc. Acts. While I am not a fan of antitrust laws, we may want to use them to stop spyware from being included in CPUs.) Some have argued that such circuitry is harmless so long as it is "voluntary." I disagree. It's a dangerous as builders includng video cameras in homes with the proviso that the video signal would only be used to enforce agreed-upon uses of products...or with a court order from the government. Though this is only speculation at this point (few of us, least of all me, have the inside track on what Microsoft, Intel, and AMD are plotting, or what the discussions with Congress, the NSA, HomeSec, and the FBI have covered), I think building in Big Brother is dangerous no matter what "promises" or "assurances" have been given. "The cyanide release mechanisms adopted voluntarily by the National Homebuilding Association and the Zoning Approval Boards represent no threat to law-abiding Americans. Release of cyanide requires a valid court order signed by at least a GS-9 employee." Last time Intel tried to activate its CPU BBI circuitry, AMD very publicly said "We won't do it!" and Intel backed down. From what is dribbling out of Redmond and D.C. this time around, it looks like AMD has been convinced (by who?) to include DRM/BBI spyware in future CPUs. These vendors have _probably_ (I am speculating) received assurance that spyware will be _mandated_, to head off exactly the kind of egg-on-its-face problem Intel experienced. In game theory terms, none of the vendors look forward to having a competitor "defect" and then tout their "we won't spy on your computer" CPU. They must all hang together, or hang separately. I expect it will be "voluntary mandatory." (I remain skeptical about stopping piracy, for other reasons.) --Tim May (Mandatory Voluntary Internet Self-Rating Follows) V-CHIP CONTENT WARNING: THIS POST IS RATED: R, V, NPC, RI, S, I13. [For processing by the required-by-1998 V-chips, those reading this post from an archive must set their V-chip to "42-0666." I will not be held responsible for posts incorrectly filtered-out by a V-chip that has been by-passed, hot-chipped, or incorrectly programmed.] ***WARNING!*** It has become necessary to warn potential readers of my messages before they proceed further. 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