more on Network management and control (was: "Re: more on 1972 ARPANET Film ...")

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Adam Fields <ip20398470293845 () aquick org>
Date: March 20, 2006 9:38:08 AM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Network management and control (was: "Re:  
more on 1972 ARPANET Film ...")

For IP, if you wish:

On Mon, Mar 20, 2006 at 08:24:07AM -0500, David Farber wrote:
[...]
> One concern that is rarely, if every, discussed is how our drive to
> secure this and DRM that is creating a situation where, if the net is
> ever broken, it could be very difficult to reassemble (especially as
> we construct ever more intricate dependencies between the net and
> other infrastructures like the phone system and power grid.)
>
> My own particular concern is what happens to communities that suffer
> human or natural disasters and have the people, competence,
> equipment, and electrical power to start locally rebuilding their
> communications infrastructure but find that they can not do it
> because due to security and DRM locks they simply do not have the
> power or authority.
[...]

I've made this case for a long time, and I think it's a pretty simple
one to make. Security is a process, and yet DRM as it currently exists
provides no override for boundary cases.

DRM works in one of two ways - communication, or rules. Either the
system gets some live authorization to allow access, or it has a set
of canned responses for whether it does or not. The former doesn't
work if the lines are down, and the latter can't be bypassed by a
human in an emergency.

DRM is a security risk, plain and simple.

I wrote a blog about this for the EFF15 blogathon:

http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/08/01/why-i-oppose-drm/

--
                                - Adam

** Expert Technical Project and Business Management
**** System Performance Analysis and Architecture
****** [ http://www.adamfields.com ]

[ http://www.aquick.org/blog ] ............ Blog
[ http://www.adamfields.com/resume.html ].. Experience
[ http://www.flickr.com/photos/fields ] ... Photos
[ http://www.aquicki.com/wiki ].............Wiki


-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/