[openstandaarden] Palladium

[Geert De Maerschalck]

Ik stuur dit ter informatie door aan jullie...
Geert
----------------------------------------------------

 The Beginning of the End of Freedom on the Internet
On Monday, July 1, Microsoft announced plans for a new product known as
'Palladium' that it claims will assure 'security' and 'copyright protection'
on the internet. Advocates for freedom of _expression and privacy, though,
point out that the processor-based digital authentication system will enable
Microsoft to effectively remote-control home PCs. If the system becomes
widely adopted, people will be forced to buy Palladium-enabled computers.
Palladium is only roughly outlined, but what is known indicates that it is
almost certain to put an end to Open Source software as we know it—i.e.,
Linux. Palladium would also give Microsoft unlimited access to your personal
internet history, email history, email encryption keys and even the contents
of your hard drive. It would also enable centrally-controlled,
hardware-based blocking of websites that it deems 'insecure' and hence
'non-Palladium-approved'.
"It's the ultimate in an Orwellian presentation of the issue," says Chris
Hoofnagle, the legislative counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information
Center. "You dress up an invasive tool as a helpful one."
Once this sort of external control is enabled, it is not only Microsoft that
would have what is, in effect, complete control of your computer. For
example, if the government were to label an organization as 'terrorist', a
'threat to national security', 'illegal', or 'socially inappropriate', that
organization's website could be blocked to anyone with a Palladium-enabled
computer. Non-Palladium-enabled computers would be identified as 'insecure'
and have limited or no access to the internet.
Sites like Indymedia that feature creative and radical individual
expressions could be marginalized and kept from public view. Likewise,
anyone who has unauthorized music or software on their machine would not be
able to play/use it. If the government does not like what you are doing on
your computer, they can wipe your hard-drive and lock you out of it.
The internet has become a powerful tool for individuals to communicate,
educate themselves, organize and oppose centralized domination. This
initiative is a primary component in seizing the internet from the
individual and putting it under centralized control. [ Read more... ]

http://victoria.indymedia.org/features/technology/