Ross's TCPA paper

[Mike Rosing]

On Sun, 23 Jun 2002, Lucky Green wrote:

> Anonymous writes:
> > Lucky Green writes regarding Ross Anderson's paper at:
> > Ross and Lucky should justify their claims to the community
> > in general and to the members of the TCPA in particular.  If
> > you're going to make accusations, you are obliged to offer
> > evidence.  Is the TCPA really, as they claim, a secretive
> > effort to get DRM hardware into consumer PCs? Or is it, as
> > the documents on the web site claim, a general effort to
> > improve the security in systems and to provide new
> > capabilities for improving the trustworthiness of computing platforms?
>
> Anonymous raises a valid question. To hand Anonymous additional rope, I
> will even assure the reader that when questioned directly, the members
> of the TCPA will insist that their efforts in the context of TCPA are
> concerned with increasing platform security in general and are not
> targeted at providing a DRM solution.
>
> Unfortunately, and I apologize for having to disappoint the reader, I do
> not feel at liberty to provide the proof Anonymous is requesting myself,
> though perhaps Ross might. (I have no first-hand knowledge of what Ross
> may or may not be able to provide).

That makes the claim a might weak, at least in my perspective.

> I however encourage readers familiar with the state of the art in PC
> platform security to read the TCPA specifications, read the TCPA's
> membership list, read the Hollings bill, and then ask themselves if they
> are aware of, or can locate somebody who is aware of, any other
> technical solution that enjoys a similar level of PC platform industry
> support, is anywhere as near to wide-spread production as TPM's, and is
> of sufficient integration into the platform to be able to form the
> platform basis for meeting the requirements of the Hollings bill.

Is the Hollings bill you refer to S.2048?  In S.2048 they want to "plug
the analog hole".  It's far worse both econmicly and "big brother" wise.

How are they going to deal with all the processors now running that don't
have this "fritz" chip?  Deny them access to data?  Won't win over a whole
lot of votes that way, pissing off every grandfather in the country.

Patience, persistence, truth,
Dr. mike