I just don't see how you can add "DRM kernel support" to an OpenSource
kernel and somehow completely protect vendor binaries.
It really doesn't take much to boot a kernel (virtually, or on hardware
with software breakpoints - think SoftICE), let it load DRM protected
binary kernel drivers, and freeze it while the machine is running to
allow a reverse engineer to see the vendor's "protected" code.
Most kernel device driver writers would will simply for the ability to
see the IO/DMA/etc that a binary driver goes through - simple emulation
is often enough to get the idea behind how a piece of hardware is
initialized and used.
As long as no hardware exists to deny software access to "protected"
code, software is decoding and running the proected software - making
reverse engineering trivial.
DRM protected media is even sillier - if the media will eventually come
out a PCM audio card or an X11/DRI video window, what's to stop someone
from wedging a capture program into that stream and re-encoding the media?
The Microsoft XBox has DRM hardware to prevent tampering - software
flaws are its achilles heel, you don't even need a mod chip to get into
one anymore.
DRM is a failed concept. Von Neumann computing (software) simply cannot
be hardened unless the *hardware* is hardened, controlled, and monitored
- and even then, it's merely a matter of time before it is cracked.
Digital media (software, audio, movies, all of it) are simply too
trivial to capture and copy. It's the nature of the medium.
It also doesn't make much fiscal sense.
In our capitalistic society, the consumer market will dictate demand for
these devices. If folks do not see the value in the DRM hardware, they
simply will not pay for it. Geeks are the early adopters - we simply
don't want it. Most consumers are cost conscious - they won't pay the
extra cost for a DRM enabled box vs a non-DRM enabled one (particularly
if they don't know what it means).
If vendors can get the chips cheap enough to work into their boards for
*free* (or Microsoft and other media conglomerates can subsidize it), we
might have something to worry about. Think, however, about the
shunning hardware vendors will receive from the geeks of the world when
they try to put this hardware out in the market. Rule #1 in capitalism:
never disenfranchise or alienate your customers.
This is how I see it anyway, for whatever that's worth.
-- - Ian C. Blenke <icblenke@nks.net> (This message bound by the following: http://www.nks.net/email_disclaimer.html)----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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