Distrusted computing
Superb John Markoff article in this morning's Times explores why the Microsoft/Intel "trusted computing" initiative should probably be named, as one source suggests to Markoff, "Don't Trust You computing."
Steve Jobs argues that hardware-based security is unlikely to achieve its goal, and Mitch Kapor points out that Microsoft can't really be trusted when it promises that the non-encrypted, non-DRM-laden "open" part of the operating system will always be an option.
This is an important piece on a big subject. Plans for this closed-computing model -- formerly known as Palladium -- are rolling down the tracks already. If you cherish the open model of computing, in which you decide what happens on your computer and you control your own data, then "trusted computing" is something to worry about.
|
