For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Subscribe to
Computerworld 40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.
Copy Protection: Just Say No
or
Other Networking and Internet Stories
|
|
|
|
September 04, 2000 (Computerworld) -- Longtime Computerworld readers will know I have been an enthusiastic supporter of Microsoft Corp.'s electronic-book projects, including its ClearType font-rendering technology and Microsoft Reader software on the Pocket PC. Recently, Microsoft released Reader for the PC platform, and for the first time I learned the details of the company's copy-protection policy. ClearType's technological brilliance has been overshadowed by an irrational and unprecedented set of restrictions whose fairness is highly questionable.
After a simple 8MB download, nothing else is straightforward. After the setup finishes, you have to "activate" the program before you can purchase electronic books. The instructions say it's a "simple, one-click process that only needs to be done once for each PC." Well, to use the program, you need an account with Microsoft Passport, so I created one. In five minutes, I was back to Reader Activation, and I made that single click.
This brought up what looked like a Reader page but was really a browser window, and then downloaded a "Secure Repository" and an encrypted Activation Certificate that "certifies your copy of Microsoft Reader as being enabled for viewing protected content."
Microsoft then loads information about your system, including a computer hardware identification code. Microsoft says this "respects the privacy of information about your computer hardware" while still giving "access to many premium eBook titles that have been copy protected."
That seemed to be innocent enough. Then I saw this question: "How many computers can I activate Reader on?" Just two, it turns out; if you want more than that, you need additional Passport accounts. Now, with the gloves off, the iron fist is exposed: "However, if you purchase an eBook on a computer where you activated the Reader with your first Passport, you won't be able to read that title on a computer where the Reader was activated using your second Passport."
While this sort of limitation has technically been a part of end-user license agreements for years, it has been infeasible and politically difficult to enforce such constraints.
Now the limit can indeed be enforced technologically, and the restrictions are far more stringent. They don't even pass the commonsense test. This is exactly as if I had to register my CD players at the music store and, thereafter, I could play my discs on only those two players.
What happens when Computerworld replaces my laptop or I buy a new computer or replace a hard drive, and I can't read the books I paid for?
I visited http://ebooks.barnes andnoble.com/ms_reader to see how electronic books were priced.
|
Print this Story |
|
Send Us Feedback |
|
E-mail this Story |
|
Digg this Story |
|
Slashdot this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone |
 See your link here
|
 |
||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
|
Advance your BlackBerry(R) solution management know-how this July
Download this Executive Briefing now (a $195.00 value), compliments of ProCurve Networking by HP.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
- DNS hole prompts synchronized patching effort by IT vendors
- Microsoft plugs nine holes in Windows, DNS, SQL
- Symantec warns of new Word attack
- More top stories
| XenServer FREE trial Citrix XenServer is the simplest and most effective way to virtualize and provision servers. XenServer combines comprehensive server virtualization capabilities with unparalleled scalability, performance, economics, and ease-of-use. Based on the open source Xen hypervisor, XenServer delivers fast performance, easy management, and advanced features such as live migration. |
Who needs Mrs. Doubtfire? When it comes to spot-on "advice," we've got Aunt Donna.
|
Accelerate your pursuit of perfection For almost 80 years, Kodak has been helping banks, insurance companies, healthcare providers, government agencies and other businesses produce billions of document images. So Kodak is uniquely positioned to know and deliver–what customers want: easy-to-use scanners that output the best possible image quality. Download this white paper now!
|
 Networking Know-HowFor tips and best practices on building anything in the network, see Sandra Gittlen's regular column. Click here to read the latest column by Sandra Gittlen |
 |
 |
Troubleshooting Remote Site Networks - Best Practices
Management and remote site employees expect the same level of network service as the headquarters site. However, when IT staff are faced with limited resources to support remote site networks, often the applications, services and performance at those sites is not as robust as the headquarters site. See how to deliver a high level of network service at remote sites using the best practices outlined in this white paper.Read whitepaper now |
Super-size your LAN with fiber
Fiber optic technology frees the Local Area Network (LAN) from the confines of a single building, allowing a LAN to extend across a campus or a metropolitan area. Read how the selection of fiber optic components affects repeaterless transmission distance and how one school district used fiber to build a more reliable and more cost effective high-speed, district-wide network. Also, read how Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) ownership may require self-assessment of network performance.Read whitepaper now |
Determining the cause of poor application performance
Are users constantly complaining that your network is too slow? Or that they canât connect or can't stay connected? Are network applications hanging and slowing productivity? Do you spend way too much time trying to isolate the source of the problem and to prove that often the issue isn't the network at all but the application? In this on demand webcast, learn best practices and common root causes of application problems using case studies and live network traffic.Watch webcast now |
