[sdiy] TCPA / Palladium -- more trouble for DIYers & hardware hackers

[Neil Johnson]

> >http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html

> Way too much OT stuff on this list lately.

Not necessarily -- this TCPA stuff could, and more than likely will,
impact on what it is that we do.  Some things to think about:

1) Price of software (including those lovely PCB CAD programs) will
increase to offset the increased costs of qualifying programs for TCPA
authenticity.

2) Designing and building PC hardware (PCI cards for example) will be more
expensive to support TCPA, together with the extra burden in software
driver development.  Result: DIY PC card entry point goes up.  Moot point
if you just build analogue synths, but this list is _not_ specifically
analogue.

3) The whole DRM issue is worth watching as it will affect what we do.
Even now it has an effect -- everytime you buy a tape or CDR you pay a
percentage to the RIAA/etc.  Why?  To help offset the cost of piracy,
which because you have bought the means to copy something you *might*
be a pirate, ho ho ho.

4) Ever played a sound file on your PC?  Ever used your PC to record
audio, maybe turn it into a MP3 to pass on/upload to MP3.com?  Suppose the
RIAA/MPAA decided MP3.com was a "Bad Thing"..?  Who do you think has the
nastier lawyers??  More to the point, who is more likely to have the law
changed to support/protect their interests?

Sadly we are a minority, which sometimes can be a blessing, and sometimes
a curse.  When the big boys slug it out, us little guys stand to get
squashed in their fight.  Its quite scary the tales the guys in the
security group have in store.  If you don't know, Ross is head of the
security research group here, and is a world leader in computer security.
Check out his homepage for more:

	http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14

This was more a "news" item than a thread, an item that we should all be
aware of.  The world is a screwy place these days, sadly.

On a more diy note, this evening's dumpster-diving trip turned up a
Power-One module, yeah! +/- 15V @ 0.8A, and +5V @ 3A.  And a few nice
toggle switches too.

Oh, and if anyone has any final comments/opinions/thoughts on panels and
connectors then please email me offlist before the weekend as I'll be
finalising the results of my little survey.

Cheers,
Neil

--
Neil Johnson :: Computer Laboratory :: University of Cambridge ::
http://www.njohnson.co.uk          http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~nej22
----  IEE Cambridge Branch: http://www.iee-cambridge.org.uk  ----