We have to start now--let Microsoft know you will not stand for this impending blackmail--get OpenOffice now and start saving your documents in open document format (click on OpenOffice link in sidebar)
BAB
Technology called "Information Rights Management," combined with copyright law and Windows Vista, give Microsoft the tools to hold users' data hostage in Office, says Cory Doctorow.
By Cory Doctorow
InformationWeek
Dec 5, 2006 08:19 PM
What if you could rig it so that competing with your flagship product was against the law? Under 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act, breaking an anti-copying system is illegal, even if you're breaking it for a legal reason. For example, it's against the law to compete head-on with the iPod by making a device that plays... Apple's proprietary music, or by making an iPod add-on that plays your own proprietary music. Nice deal for Apple.
Microsoft gets the same deal, courtesy of something called "Information Rights Management," a use-restriction system for Office files, such as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets.
We've had access control for documents for years, through traditional cryptography. Using PGP or a similar product, you can encrypt your files so that only people who have the keys can read them.
But Information Rights Management (IRM), first introduced in Office 2003, goes further -- it doesn't just control who can open the document, it also controls what they can do with it afterwards. Crypto is like an ATM that only lets you get money after you authenticate yourself with your card and PIN. IRM is like some kind of nefarious goon hired by the bank to follow you around after you get your money out, controlling how you spend it.
With IRM, an Office user can specify whether her documents can be printed, saved, edited, forwarded -- she can even revoke access to the documents after sending them out, blocking leaks after they occur. Documents travel with XML expressions explaining how they can and can't be used.
Now, if anyone was allowed to make a document reader, it would be simple to make a reader that ignores the rules. This is a perennial problem for Adobe's password-restricted PDFs -- the only thing that distinguishes them from normal PDFs is a bit that says, "I am a restricted PDF." Just make a PDF reader that ignores the bit and you've defeated the "security." It's about as secure as one of those bogus "Confidentiality notices" that your mail-server pastes in at the bottom of every email you send.
There are plenty of readers for Microsoft's Office formats these days. Apple makes at least two -- Pages and TextEditor. Google and RIM both have Office readers they use to convert Office documents to other formats. And there's also free readers like OpenOffice.org, which are open source and so can be modified by anyone with the interest to write or commission new code for them.
But now that the format is well understood, Microsoft needs another way to ensure that it only hands keys out to readers that can be trusted to follow the rules that accompany them. Pages or OpenOffice.org can request a set of document keys just as readily as Office can. Microsoft can try to create secret handshakes to make sure it only gives out the keys to authorized parties, but just as the document format can be cracked, so can the handshaking.
IRM has an answer. Unlike a crippled PDF, a restricted Word file is encrypted. Only authorized readers will get the keys. This technology will return Office users to the days before the file format had been reverse-engineered by competing products like WordPerfect, where reading an Office file meant licensing the file-format from Microsoft.
If anyone makes a client that listens to its owner instead of Microsoft, then the system collapses. No-print, no-forward, revoke and other flags for the document can simply be ignored. Once Microsoft sends a decryption key to an untrusted party, all bets are off -- Microsoft loses its lock-in and you lose any notional security benefits from IRM.
This has been a purely theoretical problem until recently -- but the advent of Vista and Trusted Computing should put it front-and-square on your radar.
Microsoft has an industrial-strength answer to the problem of figuring out whether a remote client is authorized to request keys. Trusted Computing. For years now, most PC manufacturers have been shipping machines with an inactive "Trusted Computing Module" on the motherboard. These modules can be used to sign the BIOS, bootloader, operating system, and application, producing an "attestation" about the precise configuration of a PC. If your PC doesn't pass muster -- because you're running a third-party document reader, or a modified OS, or an OS inside a virtual machine -- then you don't get any keys.
What this means is that Apple can make Pages, Google can make its Doc-converter, and OpenOffice.org can make its interoperable products, but none of these will be able to get the keys necessary to read "protected" documents unless they're on the white-list of "trusted" clients.
What's more, adding crypto to the mix takes us into another realm: the realm of copyright law. The same copyright law that prohibits competing head on with Apple also prohibits competing head-on with IRM. EDI and other middleware companies built their fortunes on writing software that unlocks your data from Vendor A's format so you can use it with Vendor B's product. But once Vendor A's data-store is encrypted, you run afoul of the law merely by figuring out how to read it without permission.
Vista is the first operating system to begin to use the features of the Trusted Computing Module, though for now, Microsoft is eschewing the use of "Remote Attestation" where software is verified over a network (they've made no promise about doing this forever, of course). No company has spent more time and money on preventing its competitors from reading its documents: remember the fight at the Massachusetts state-house over the proposal to require that government documents be kept in open file-formats?
The deck is stacked against open file formats. Risk-averse enterprises love the idea of revocable documents -- HIPPA compliance, for example, is made infinitely simpler if any health record that leaks out of the hospital can simply have its "read privileges" revoked. This won't keep patients safer. As Don Marti says, "Bill Gates pitch[ed] DRM using the example of an HIV test result, which is literally one bit of information. If you hired someone untrustworthy enough to leak that but unable to remember it, you don't need DRM, you need to fix your hiring process." But it will go a long way towards satisfying picky compliance officers. Look for mail-server advertising that implies that unless you buy some fancy product that auto-converts plain Office documents to "revocable" ones, you're being negligent.
No one ever opts for "less security." Naive users will pull the "security" slider in Office all the way over the right. It's an attractive nuisance, begging to be abused.
The Trusted Computing Module has sat silently on the motherboard for years now. Adding Vista and IRM to it is takes it from egg to larva, and turning on remote attestation in a year or two, once everyone is on next-generation Office, will bring the larva to adulthood, complete with venomous stinger.
Cory Doctorow is co-editor of the Boing Boing blog, as well as a journalist, Internet activist, and science-fiction writer.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Woman Under Fire After In-Flight Flatulence
I just love that headline
BAB
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- What do you do if you pass embarrassing gas on an airplane? One woman found out what not to do.
A Nashville International Airport spokeswoman said an American Airlines plane bound for Texas had to make an emergency landing Monday morning in Nashville after matches were lit in flight.
The pilot said the concern was... what passengers said they smelled inside the aircraft and that he did not feel it was safe to continue on.
"About 6:30 this morning, an American Airlines pilot called the FAA tower reporting that passengers were smelling fumes like matches being struck within the cabin," said airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance.
The 99 passengers and five crew members were taken inside the terminal after landing so the plane could be checked out.
"They did find evidence of where matches had been struck in an individual's seating area. That individual is being questioned by the FBI at this time," Lowrance said.
A woman passenger told investigators that she lit matches to mask gas that she emitted.
"You can take up to eight books of safety matches, the paper matches, onto the aircraft," Lowrance said.
Just before noon authorities said the passengers re-boarded the plane and continued on to Texas.
The female passenger was released without being charged, but was not allowed back on the American Airlines flight.
BAB
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- What do you do if you pass embarrassing gas on an airplane? One woman found out what not to do.
A Nashville International Airport spokeswoman said an American Airlines plane bound for Texas had to make an emergency landing Monday morning in Nashville after matches were lit in flight.
The pilot said the concern was... what passengers said they smelled inside the aircraft and that he did not feel it was safe to continue on.
"About 6:30 this morning, an American Airlines pilot called the FAA tower reporting that passengers were smelling fumes like matches being struck within the cabin," said airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance.
The 99 passengers and five crew members were taken inside the terminal after landing so the plane could be checked out.
"They did find evidence of where matches had been struck in an individual's seating area. That individual is being questioned by the FBI at this time," Lowrance said.
A woman passenger told investigators that she lit matches to mask gas that she emitted.
"You can take up to eight books of safety matches, the paper matches, onto the aircraft," Lowrance said.
Just before noon authorities said the passengers re-boarded the plane and continued on to Texas.
The female passenger was released without being charged, but was not allowed back on the American Airlines flight.
Andy Rooney: Racist commentary is a hoax
NEW YORK (AP) -- Andy Rooney has never been shy about his opinions, but now he's being bedeviled by somebody else's words being circulated under his name.
Rooney said on Tuesday that a racist commentary falsely... attributed to him is circulating over the Internet and through e-mails. The "60 Minutes" essayist wants anyone who might have seen it to know he had nothing to do with it.
"I suppose it's not important, but I hate the fact that people think I've been writing these things," he told The Associated Press. "That's hurtful to me."
The missive, which Rooney said had been passed along to him via e-mail several times, is a list of several anti-minority statements. One of the printable ones: "I have the right not to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird or tick me off."
Because he's well known and has a clearly identifiable style, Rooney has been the victim of other such hoaxes in the past. Another commentary falsely circulated under his name praises the virtues of women over age 30.
"Someone on the street yesterday said 'I read your piece about older women,' " Rooney said. "All I ever say is 'I didn't write it and I'm trying to sue the guy who did.' "
Rooney said he tracked down a Colorado address of someone who supposedly wrote the missive about older women. When in the state recently, he said he went to the address, only to find it was a post office box.
"I don't know what I would have done," said Rooney, who turns 88 next month. "Nothing physical."
Rooney is a frequent victim of statements falsely attributed to him and spread widely across the Net, along with George Carlin and Bill Gates, said Barbara Mikkelson, who runs snopes.com, a Web site devoted to tracking down urban myths and other scams.
Rooney is "almost a special case because he's widely regarded as a commentator who comments on the human condition," she said. "That's possibly why all these polemics get stuffed in his mouth.
"The only defense you have is to as publicly as possible say 'it wasn't me,' " she said, "and that will never slow it down completely."
The CBS News commentator said he recognized there's a danger in giving attention to whoever is doing these things.
"My tendency, from having been a newsman for so many years, is if all the truth about everything came out, things are better."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
Jan's Aunt Mickey
Minnette Nelson "Mickey"
Nelson, Minnette Age 95 Born & raised in St. Paul Passed away peacefully 11/28/06. Preceded in death by husband, Leslie; sisters, Anne Hoska, Bertene Johnson, Gladys "Sis" O'Roarke; brothers, Dan Denissen and Pete Denisson. Survived by children, Gayle Lopez and Judy (Tony) Christensen; grandchildren, Annette Lopez, Holly (Greg) Rome and Ryan (Emily) Christensen; great-grandsons, Alex and Jacob Rome; brother, Al Denisson; sister-in-law, Marian Nelson; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; other relatives and friends. Mickey was a 1929 graduate of Mechanic Arts H.S. Retired from Webb Publishing Co. Visitation Sun. 12/3, 6-8 PM at WULFF FUNERAL HOME, 1485 White Bear Ave. Funeral service Mon. 12/4 at 11AM at ARLINGTON HILLS LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1115 Greenbrier Ave., with add'l visitation 1 hr prior to service at church. Interment Roselawn. Wulff Funeral Home (651) 776-1555
Published in the Pioneer Press on 12/1/2006.
Click here for actual article or to sign guestbook
Nelson, Minnette Age 95 Born & raised in St. Paul Passed away peacefully 11/28/06. Preceded in death by husband, Leslie; sisters, Anne Hoska, Bertene Johnson, Gladys "Sis" O'Roarke; brothers, Dan Denissen and Pete Denisson. Survived by children, Gayle Lopez and Judy (Tony) Christensen; grandchildren, Annette Lopez, Holly (Greg) Rome and Ryan (Emily) Christensen; great-grandsons, Alex and Jacob Rome; brother, Al Denisson; sister-in-law, Marian Nelson; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; other relatives and friends. Mickey was a 1929 graduate of Mechanic Arts H.S. Retired from Webb Publishing Co. Visitation Sun. 12/3, 6-8 PM at WULFF FUNERAL HOME, 1485 White Bear Ave. Funeral service Mon. 12/4 at 11AM at ARLINGTON HILLS LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1115 Greenbrier Ave., with add'l visitation 1 hr prior to service at church. Interment Roselawn. Wulff Funeral Home (651) 776-1555
Published in the Pioneer Press on 12/1/2006.
Click here for actual article or to sign guestbook
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Bush Nuts--Are George W. Bush lovers certifiable?
November 23, 2006
By Andy Bromage
A collective “I told you so” will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.
Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.
Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on... a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.
But before you go thinking all your conservative friends are psychotic, listen to Lohse’s explanation.
“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”
The study was an advocacy project of sorts, designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them to go to the polls, Lohse explains. The Bush trend was revealed later on.
The study used Modified General Assessment Functioning, or MGAF, a 100-point scale that measures the functioning of disabled patients. A second scale, developed by Rakfeldt, was also used. Knowledge of current issues, government and politics were assessed on a 12-item scale devised by the study authors.
“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says.
Lohse says the trend isn’t unique to Bush: A 1977 study by Frumkin & Ibrahim found psychiatric patients preferred Nixon over McGovern in the 1972 election.
Rakfeldt says the study was legitimate, though not intended to show what it did.
“Yes it was a legitimate study but these data were mined after the fact,” Rakfeldt says. “You can ask new questions of the data. I haven’t looked at” Lohse’s conclusions regarding Bush, Rakfeldt says.
“That doesn’t make it illegitimate, it just wasn’t part of the original project.”
For his part, Lohse is a self-described “Reagan revolution fanatic” but said that W. is just “beyond the pale.” ●
abromage@newhavenadvocate.com
By Andy Bromage
A collective “I told you so” will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.
Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.
Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on... a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.
But before you go thinking all your conservative friends are psychotic, listen to Lohse’s explanation.
“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”
The study was an advocacy project of sorts, designed to register mentally ill voters and encourage them to go to the polls, Lohse explains. The Bush trend was revealed later on.
The study used Modified General Assessment Functioning, or MGAF, a 100-point scale that measures the functioning of disabled patients. A second scale, developed by Rakfeldt, was also used. Knowledge of current issues, government and politics were assessed on a 12-item scale devised by the study authors.
“Bush supporters had significantly less knowledge about current issues, government and politics than those who supported Kerry,” the study says.
Lohse says the trend isn’t unique to Bush: A 1977 study by Frumkin & Ibrahim found psychiatric patients preferred Nixon over McGovern in the 1972 election.
Rakfeldt says the study was legitimate, though not intended to show what it did.
“Yes it was a legitimate study but these data were mined after the fact,” Rakfeldt says. “You can ask new questions of the data. I haven’t looked at” Lohse’s conclusions regarding Bush, Rakfeldt says.
“That doesn’t make it illegitimate, it just wasn’t part of the original project.”
For his part, Lohse is a self-described “Reagan revolution fanatic” but said that W. is just “beyond the pale.” ●
abromage@newhavenadvocate.com
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
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