Re: Call for support for 'citizens to fight back against online censorship and surveillance' and to have a vote on the 'web we want'

On Dec 16, 2013, at 20:43 , Casey Callaghan <caseyc37@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 16 December 2013 21:30, David Singer <singer@apple.com> wrote:
>> Fred
>> 
>> you continue to confuse surveillance and DRM; the fact that you don’t like either does not, in fact, make them the same or even related problems.
> 
> 
> As I understand the situation, the purpose of DRM is to ensure that a
> certain piece of media is consumed only in accordance with the rules
> laid down by the seller of said media (usually, this implies a limited
> number of viewings, of viewed only on a single computer).
> 
> There are two ways, as far as I can see, in which this can be
> implemented. The first is control; the DRM technology can attempt to
> take control of the computer, at least with regard to certain
> activities (e.g. copying the entertainment media onto a CD) away from
> the user. A particularly infamous example of this approach is the Sony
> rootkit.

If the spooks wanted to install software on lots of computers, almost the last route I would choose if I were them would be working with a vendor.  They lose ‘reach’ and now they have to disclose that vendor, work with them, and so on.  They are already apparently good at writing worms, viruses, and the like.  And we’re not talking about control, anyway.

However, if you want to know what people are doing online, it’s easier to watch the wires, and the backend servers, where data is already concentrated for you, and flowing, and your monitoring is all yours and can be undetected.  This is what they seem to have done and be doing.

> The second possible approach is, yes, surveillance; the seller ensures
> that they know about any uses of the media, and can identify illegal
> ones or duplicate registrations and take relevant steps.

You’re using a completely different meaning of the word ‘surveillance’ here.  Scanning the internet looking for copies of your media available on public servers is not the same as building dossiers about individuals.

> Is there some approach to DRM that I am missing, some way to handle it
> that does not fall under either Control or Surveillance?

Yes.

David Singer
Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.

Received on Tuesday, 17 December 2013 19:48:40 UTC