What makes this different from all the other failed copy-protection schemes of the past? Open source costs less and is more secure, right? Sure, maybe Wintel will muscle some of the lesser industry lights into an alliance, but why should East Asia/the EU/Eastern Europe/SE Asia go along with this?
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Yes, at first glance, this does appear to be merely a more ambitious version of past attempts to control software access and enforce licensing agreements.
There is however, an order of magnitude (at least) of difference.
Microsoft and Intel, along with the other participating firms, are seeking to create a 'trusted' grid of hardware and software - a closed world of compliance. Those outside of this grid will be exiles and perhaps, outlaws.
Within the PC, each hardware component will confirm its 'legality', by submitting security certificates to the CPU, which will have a new assignment: digital rights management cop. Software will confirm legality by submitting certification tokens to both a hardware authorization layer and via authorization with the vendor (a sort of cryptological login).
This changes the machine from being a general purpose device, into a software/hardware/content compliance apparatus. Past efforts operated in isolation from other components of the system - this will turn the entire system (including the Internet) into one, immense, monitoring matrix.
Intel and AMD's involvement means that the hardware layer will become a reality. Microsoft's 'leadership' means that the application programming interfaces (APIs) for cooperation with the new digital rights management hardware will be crammed down millions of developer and vendor throats. As the FAQ states, software vendors love this because it gives them vast and flexible new powers - to rent applications, turn them off remotely if not in compliance, etc.
What about open source?
Because this is being spun as an effort to make the Internet more secure, and enjoys support in Congress and the military, there is the possibility that open source systems, such as Linux, will be considered untrusted intrusions upon the newly 'secured' net. There is, I believe, at least one Congressional bill (I need to confirm this) that seeks to create the legal structure that may make this nightmare a reality. To play along, Linux vendors would need to create analog APIs to participate in the trusted world.
Also, don't forget that the hardware is changing. It will actively verify that all software - including the OS - is 'trusted'. Will open source OS's and applications be included?
What about Europe/Asia?
As Eubulides pointed out in his post, international bodies, such as the WTO, will employ their strongarm tactics against those nations that wish to be a part of the Internet but want no part of the compliance matrix. And, again, the hardware layer adds an inescapable character to this. Asian and European firms/users will use AMD and Intel CPUs, which means they will have rights-management computers. Which means, additionally, that they will be forced to comply or create an entirely seperate system - from the ground up - or use old hardware for many years to come.
This is truly the logical culmination of Microsoft's twenty odd years of paranoid aggression and relentless effort to absorb, eliminate or neutralize competition.
The ghosts of clever aggressors past are tipping their ethereal hats in acknowledgement of the audacity and perverse brilliance of the scheme. As Jacques Ellul observed in "The Technological Society" about our way of life in general, it will be a system from which there's no easy escape.
Of course, as with any complex system, there will be holes and bugs and exploitable flaws and, this may not quite come together for one reason or another. Even so, should this become reality (and it appears to be well on its way) computing as we've come to know it will disappear.
Windows Server 2003 and the new chips from Intel and AMD are the first full components to see the light of day. More will come.
DRM
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