Its clearly evident how hell-bent the entertainment industry is on conquering the digital realm one way or another. The first way that comes to anyones mind is through brute force. RIAA’s and also now the MPAA’s actions epitomize the term ‘brute force’. But as we wade further and further into the battle and find out more and more that brute force just won’t work, we must assume that the industry also realizes this. This is something that is evident in their other attempt to conquer the digital realm. DRM is now a hot area. It is my opinion, personally, that most consumers do not like DRM. Its obtrusive, annoying, and most of all restrictive. But DRM isn’t only confined to ‘thwarting’ would-be file sharers. We are coming onto an era where streaming video is a viable way to distribute entertainment. The industry knows this and is working fast to take advantage of it. And along side them holding their hand is Microsoft. They have been working hard for the past few years to make the digital realm a place fertile for entertainment companies. Just take a look at their
Trusted Computing Group (Just look at the url and you’ll notice it uses SSL, makes you feel secure, doesn’t it?) This project is quite scary if you look at Microsoft’s history of abusing its power and how much potential this project gives them to abuse it. The driving factor of the home computer is entertainment. They know it, we all know it. And if any open source company wants to survive on the desktop -- and with some DRM schemes -- on the server as well, now is the time to challenge Microsoft’s claim on this territory. It took the industry a while before they finally accepted VHS as a viable means to make money, and it will take them just as long again. The clock is ticking.
