IP: TAMING THE CONSUMER'S COMPUTER

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>


TAMING THE CONSUMER'S COMPUTER
Issue: Intellectual Property

[Op-Ed] The media industry is eager to insure that the next generation of
personal computers is unable to deliver unauthorized movies, music and other
content. Recently, top entertainment executives asked that Congress to
intervene if industry failed to deliver the necessary technology to
safeguard its products. Jonathan L. Zittrain described plans for new
"trusted" PC's that be "digital gatekeepers that act like the bouncers
outside a nightclub, ensuring that only software that looks or behaves a
certain way is allowed in." But he warns that this shift from open platforms
to closed appliance could threaten "competition, innovation and consumer
freedom."  While Zittrain see the move toward  more trustworthy PC's as
inevitable, he is concerned about the what the consumer will lose.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan L. Zittrain (assistant professor
at Harvard Law School and a director of its Berkman Center for Internet &
Society)]

<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/11/opinion/11ZITT.html>



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