WINDOWS7 and OSX secretly working for RIAA - MPAA?

(Windows7 part first, if you want to skip ahead (don't do it) the OS-X part will be easy to find below)

in an article defending microsoft against an attack on windows 7 drm by slashdot, Peter Bright over at arse technica wrote the following that I would like to dissect. mind you, its almost a year old but its relevant to new news that has come out.

After pointing out there is no reason to expect windows7 to backtrack on vista's drm, he explains the current situation like so.

"The Protected Video Path—designed to provide a secure way of playing back Blu-ray and HD DVD video—was new to Vista. When PVP is active, drivers must ensure that they keep the video safe. In particular, this means disabling high-resolution unencrypted outputs lest they be used to dump the decrypted, decoded video."

Strangely enough the original video data, if it had been recorded in this method, would still be kept INTACT so I dunno about calling it an issue of SAFE or an UNSAFE state.

"On top of PVP, Vista includes a secure audio path called Protected User Mode Audio, or PUMA... it is there to protect audio from being recorded or otherwise captured."

The use of the word protected is interesting. The security system is there to PREVENT something from happening. The debate on whether it is a legal or illegal thing its preventing is another matter

"Little or no media actually demands the use of the protected paths, so on most users' systems, Windows never invokes them.

Play back unprotected media on a Vista machine and the DRM subsystems simply don't get used.

All these Vista DRM features are found in Windows 7. But just as with Vista before it, the vast majority of users will never see the DRM in any practical sense; the features are there just in case Hollywood decides to make use of them. The overblown, unrealistic, and just plain made up horrors of DRM in Windows Vista never came to pass (in spite of the huge publicity that the Gutmann diatribe received), and so it will be with Windows 7."

Lets try our best to ignore his double speak and just take it at face value. hell, let's even go so far as to say you only rent media even when you think you have bought a "hard copy".

damn, we're all lucky they let us pay to see it long enough to finish watching it eh?

but then we bump into this article..

the interesting facts are that a windows update caused:

"Shutdown problems consistently occur after running media center. Also have problems with recorded TV programs. Intermittently can't burn a recorded TV program to disc. After this failure occurs, a subsequent shutdown produces a hang 100% of the time."

Meanwhile the patch was a simple one only meant to address

"..keyboard malfunctions, notification icons, and screen saver problems."

I find it hard to believe just how many people are commenting on message boards about this issue, without any comments on the patch being another failed attempt by the RIAA and/or MPAA to install root kits or the equivalent embedded software - just this time with Microsoft's secretive co-operation.

Secretive though? Of course there are no patches for software that admits it installs better anti-piracy counter measures. Those are always hidden amongst the patches for minor throwaway issues.

On their side.. humans seldom if ever opt in to deals that prevent them from getting things for free.. its just the mammal imperative.

EVEN IF I WAS OK WITH DRACONIAN MEASURES, I WOULDN'T BE IF THEY BROKE MY COMPUTER!!

OS-X is not free from this either

Just read a story, which explains how Mac Pro users are suffering through problems just as outrageous - and it all seems to tie into running sound ports?? how very "Protected User Mode Audio-esque" of them..

"The problem manifests as what has been described as excessive increases in power use and processor core heat when playing songs in iTunes, watching videos via Quicktime, or even when keeping USB or FireWire-based audio interfaces plugged in and active. While hardware monitors only report a small percentage of processor use, it can still cause performance decreases of up to 20 percent for other tasks...

...Strangely, booting affected Mac Pros into Windows 7 also eliminates the problems, leading one user to suspect the issue is related to power management kernel extensions. Additional tests show that the problem happens even when FireWire or USB audio interfaces are plugged, even if they aren't actively being used."

Please people.. start the conspiracy now about how your computer is not your computer anymore. Because we need to get everyone interested in how their machines are being gimped or they'll just keep pushing machines that do less and less onto the buying public

and then those of us who care will only be able to say, "when I was a kid, computers did what you wanted, not what big brother wanted - that was called television"