Palladium has had me freaked out all day. Strongarm DRM lockdowns at the hardware level
have been attempted in the past, for example with hard drives,
without gaining industry support. However, with Palladium, Microsoft completely wraps things up with its
Digital Rights Management Operating System, all the way down to the metal. The idea of encryption keys sealed in
tamper-proof hardware, and controlled by corporate America, is a bit Orwellian for my tastes. With Microsoft
leading the charge, will the Blockbusters and WalMarts be far behind? Linux may not even have a shot at
being a compliant DRMOS. The result will be corporate control of the vast majority of the population,
marginalizing (and criminalizing, thanks DMCA) anyone attempting to “conscientiously object” and obtain their
fair use rights (which will no longer be a trivial task).
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