Another proof of Vista being EVIL.....
A security researcher at the university of New Zealand has taken a deeper look and it ain't pretty.
Anyone who knows how painful DRM can be should understand the seriousness of Vista's DRM system.
As for me, I'll live with my XP as long as I can and OS X is already a part of my life.
Vista??.... Hasta la Vista... duh
What a crock of...
I've been running Vista Ultimate since it was released to business partners and have not had any issues this guys speaks of.
Maybe he should purchase hardware that was made in this century to test on.
Yea, the DRM is a bit aggressive, but no where near the doom and gloom this nut job is saying.
And he's so full of it on the AES encryption of video content as well as it would be totally impractical and unnecessary for internal communications. I can see it being used for transferring to an EXTERNAL device, but I can tell you ALL of it is not encrypted. I can push analog and digital video through my video capture board or any other video interface just fine. And it's NOT premium content purchased by anyone.
wooh rjohnstone, always tell it just like it is; 'cause thats exactly how i feel!
wow that's crazy, i wasn't ever gonna use vista (as long as i could help it) but after reading this, i don't even wanna be near it....
You'll have to stick to those DRM technologies as soon as it comes to HD-DVD/BluRay disks, or you simply won't be able to watch movies 
And it's not Windows' fault alone - blame RIAA and MPAA and all greedy Universal/Fox/Sony bastards for that.
And - I forgot - Apple among them, for they're the biggest company exploating DRM in their ITMS/iPod tandem - and everyone seems to like it.
Another common mistake of believing everything you hear.
I couldn't agree more with rjohnstone.
Please.... Do NOT say that Vista DOES not have DRM implemented in it's system deeply, not just in media player or so. This is not the first document which I've read and it's definitely not the case of Believing everything you hear.
I never said DRM wasn't there.
I said it's a bit aggressive, but not AS BAD as the article was implying.
Content protection in Vista is key to protecting system files and user's documents and files.
The article was referring specifically to multimedia content (wmv, mpeg, mp3, etc...), to which I know for a fact is BS. I've ripped my own CD's (with and without built-in DRM) and have been able to transfer them to other media and devices without issue. I've also recorded and downloaded video content, again, I could move, copy or transfer without issue.
I would like to see his actual test case put up against legitimate real world activities.
Not hypothetical scenarios.
Its not that hypothetical ... vendors for special hardware might not have DRM certified hardware - thats what he is saying on the one hand.
On the other hand he is writing that if Microsoft decides that a special driver is not certified anymore all the hardware might stop working.
If you take into consideration that Microsoft Operating Systems are also used in critical environments I think it is indeed a problem. Think of like a hospital using digital X-Ray.
Its not that hypothetical ... vendors for special hardware might not have DRM certified hardware - thats what he is saying on the one hand.On the other hand he is writing that if Microsoft decides that a special driver is not certified anymore all the hardware might stop working.
If you take into consideration that Microsoft Operating Systems are also used in critical environments I think it is indeed a problem. Think of like a hospital using digital X-Ray.
I know what comment you are referring to...
Vista has another playback quality reduction measure. It requires that 'any interface that provides high-quality output degrade the signal quality that passes through it if premium content is present. This is done through a "constrictor" that downgrades the signal to a much lower-quality one, then up-scales it again back to the original spec, but with a significant loss in quality.' If this happens with a medical imaging application then artifacts introduced by the constrictor can 'cause mis-diagnoses and in extreme cases even become life-threatening.'
In the litigious society we live in today, it will never happen.
Microsoft would find themselves back in the courtroom with a pile of lawsuits on their hands.
None of the hardware I'm using has special, certified DRM drivers. They don't exist at this time.
It would be in Microsoft's own best interest to not over emphasize the need for DRM certified drivers when they are not necessary for normal operation of the system.
The imaging system the article is referring to that is used in hospitals for viewing online x-rays and CT scans does not run on Windows anyway. They are typical run on SGI systems.
What the article is talking about is multimedia "content access" and the over use of DRM to manage it's access. Hardly a "mission critical" issue and definitely not a show stopper for any system running normal business software. And ALL the hardware would not cease to function, only the ONE piece in question. Which back to my point... I have yet to have any hardware fail to function properly due to the lack of DRM certified drivers.
Most of the hardware I'm using is not that old at all... less than a year, yet the vendor does not officially support it under Vista.
It still works just fine. I can send a digital audio stream out an S/PDIF port on my sound card to my stereo system just fine. If it's "covertly degrading the quality" of my signal, it's dong a piss poor job of it as it sounds great.
Complete BS. I've played back DRM CD's and even purchased music through my Non-Vista compliant sound card without any issues.Whenever any audio derived from premium content is played on a Vista PC, the disabling of output devices and downgrading of signal quality takes place.
Again... I'd like to see his test system's specs.
rjohnstone, enlightening. I still haven't installed 5744 (RC2) on laptop, yet. This gave me pause. I no longer have that reason to keep me from installing it. Just Bluetooth drivers. Toshiba has only released Bluetooth drivers for certain models.
Can I say I'm not a fan of DRM? All this money being wasted on protecting intellectual rights could be better spent on better material (music, movies, etc.). Right?
Complete BS. I've played back DRM CD's and even purchased music through my Non-Vista compliant sound card without any issues.Again... I'd like to see his test system's specs.
That is not the situation at hand you describe. Take an average 'vista' pc of, say, 2009 - with some BRD-drive e.g. New media specifications require it to be encrypted - and that's the premium content which is being spoken about in the article, not those "DRM CDs" and unencrypted MP3s you purchased. And then, when you try to play that encrypted content, you'll require a sound/video card, capable of decrypting it, and it's sole ability of decripting content depends on a certificate from microsoft/content manufacturer, AND a "drm-compliant" output device.
So there are two ways to affect you:
SO, as far as non-DRMmed media exist, yes, the article is bullshit. But in a couple of years, when every recording/publishing company will finish transfer to BRD/HD-DVD - there will be no escape.
As I mentioned earlier - consider an iPod/ITMS infrastructure - effectively unpenetrable. The only way around is to break encryption and reencode content to non-protected format. But first of all, that'll lead to sound quality reduction, which is not what you would want with HD. And anyway, if MS-DRM codecs will eventually be implemented as hardware - breaking encryption will be a hard task if only possible.
Phew.... sorry, for my English - I'm really bad with it 
Couldn't have made it easier to understand, thanks a lot _cell.
That's exactly my point was to post this link.
Thanks Cell... all good points.
Hopefully the music and movie industry don't go crazy with DRM.
There comes a point where everyone will say screw it and not bother.
They will see their profits fall and have to make a compromise.
Another proof of Vista being EVIL.....A security researcher at the university of New Zealand
There is no "University of New Zealand", It's "University of Auckland" in New Zealand.....please "quote" information properly when you do so 
!
And lets not forget that OS X will have these very same DRM issues as well if they want to play in the multimedia market with everyone else.
DRM is not platform dependent and Apple will have to play ball with the movie studios and record industries demands if they want to have a future share in this market.
Vista isn't EVIL about DRM, it's implementing it in a way that keeps the movie studios and record companies happy.
Think I'll go and get the most kick-@$$ video card and sound card money can buy right now, before the DRM heavy drivers are implemented.
The Problem is, Microsoft running it's OS over 90% of consumer PCs... makes a bigger difference or impact implementing such stuff. I know corporate ball games are way above ethics and well.. it's all Money Talk N People Walk stuff, but for once I would like to think that someone having such big market share should consider about Users and do something that stands for them, not for bunch of bigwig studios.
Considering what Bill Gates expressed this thoughts over DRM recently : http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/12/14/bill-...-future-of-drm/
Bill Gates said these fine things about DRM:
- "DRM is not where it should be"
- "causes too much pain for legitmate buyers"
- "huge problems"
- "People should just buy a cd and rip it. You are legal then."
Although he may not be currently active in MS headquarters, He still is MS Bigshot.
I don't have link right now, but I very well remember reading Steve saying similar things about Usage Rights of End User.
All I wish that someone like him or Steve Jobs should do something about it. I'm not saying Apple is saint when I say Vista is evil. Even though iTunes have DRM'ed songs, it still let you share over three computers and burn a CD (at least that's what I remember reading in early days of iTMS) and Steve DID take a firm stand about keeping price structure of iTMS stable, against the greedy record companies who wanted to milk more money from this hugeass iCow.
Sadly, it is inevitable that we will be seeing DRM almost everywhere soon... and that's what my point was cause what better and bigger way it could've been for Studios and Record companies to implement their DRM, than Windows on most of PCs.
I'm with you on that... Microsoft could have refused to incorporate it into Vista and let it be a 3rd party add-on, but they would have lost a lot of corp. backing from some of the bigger companies that want it there.
I'm still digging around in Vista looking for dirty little secrets, but so far it looks like business as usual.
On the plus side, my wife actually likes Vista over XP. She says it's easier to get around and she can now find all her stuff (pics, music and work related documents).
The search function actually works like it's supposed to! Microsoft actually got something to work properly.
I hope that Apple does not put DRM all over the place in Leopard. I'm sure they will to some extent, but I hope they keep it to a minimum.
I'm with you on that... Microsoft could have refused to incorporate it into Vista and let it be a 3rd party add-on, but they would have lost a lot of corp. backing from some of the bigger companies that want it there.I'm still digging around in Vista looking for dirty little secrets, but so far it looks like business as usual.
On the plus side, my wife actually likes Vista over XP. She says it's easier to get around and she can now find all her stuff (pics, music and work related documents).
The search function actually works like it's supposed to! Microsoft actually got something to work properly.
I hope that Apple does not put DRM all over the place in Leopard. I'm sure they will to some extent, but I hope they keep it to a minimum.
I agree.
Apple and Microsoft should have refused to put DRM in until the industry (music, film, etc.) fixes it where it isn't a pain in the rear for legal users. Of course that same industry might have tried to sue either or both.
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