Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Vista and More: Piecing Together Microsoft's DRM Puzzle

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
The eSchool News this week came out with a very uncritical look at the upcoming deployment of Windows Vista and the choices educational institutions will have to make. Perhaps a more appropriate read might be this article from Computer World in Vista's digital rights management (DRM) technology. But that's something, I guess, that the promotional pieces will overlook; as the article states, "it's hard to sing the praises of technology designed to make life harder for its users." Vista also realizes the ultimate triumph of DRM: forcing you to use Microsoft (or certified partner) hardware. "If it finds a noncompliant device, it can downgrade the content stream to deliver a lower-quality picture -- or it can even refuse to play the content at all." This is a detailed article - if you have anything at all to do with software purchases, you should make sure you read it.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 03, 2024 2:59 p.m.

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