gates on : Securing A Computer, Not A Market

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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Securing A Computer, Not A Market
NEW ORLEANS, May 6, 2003
Consumers shouldn't be worried that Microsoft Corp.'s new security
technology will wrest control of their PCs and give it to media companies,
Bill Gates said Tuesday. They can always choose not to use it, he said.

The Microsoft co-founder expects consumers as well as governments and
businesses to embrace the system, which hard-wires security into silicon
chips rather than just software. It's designed to offer unprecedented levels
of protection against hacking and eavesdropping.

³This is a mechanism that if people want to use, for example, to protect
medical records, they can use it,² Gates said in an interview with The
Associated Press. ³It's a lot of work to do this stuff, and we think
consumers will want those privacy guarantees. If they don't want them, then
fine, ask me about our other work.²

The technology has raised eyebrows not only for the absolute control it
would grant such creators of digital content as music and movie companies
but also because it is being driven by Microsoft, which has a reputation for
strong-arming the computer industry.

Gates spoke about the technology, known officially as the ³Next Generation
Secure Computing Base,² at the 12th annual Windows Hardware Engineering
Conference, where developers were getting their first look at it.

The technology is a key element of the software giant's effort to create a
more secure computing environment, which would be a tremendous boon, Gates
said. 

The creators of top-secret government documents, financial records or other
sensitive material could assign rights to sensitive files, allowing them to
be viewed only on trusted computers running the system. Anyone else ‹
hackers included ‹ would be locked out.

But the same platform could be employed by content creators ‹ who include
software makers like Microsoft. They could severely limit how materials are
copied or even how long they last ‹ a stark contrast from the freedoms of
today's computers. 

Gates said the format of digital content is up to their creators, and
Microsoft is only providing a platform on which record labels and movie
studios ‹ as well as others ‹ can build. He said it's in the content
provider's interest to use simple copy protection schemes.

³What you are seeing now is recognition they need to provide their content
in easily accessible forms or else it ends up encouraging piracy,² Gates
told the AP. 

He said Microsoft is not working in a vacuum on the project. It requires
broad industry support to ensure secure channels across the computer.

The technology, formerly code-named Palladium, will create what amounts to a
secure computer within a computer. Certain areas of memory, the processor
and even the channels to the display, keyboard and networks are locked down
and accessible only by trusted software.

Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and others are working on the
hardware aspects, which are required before Microsoft can implement it into
its operating systems.

³This won't happen without Intel and AMD deciding both on the processor chip
and the system design they'll build these things in,² Gates said. ³And
there's even some work that needs to go in the video display and keyboard.²

Users can opt to ³turn off² the system when it becomes available, most
likely in the next generation of Windows expected in 2004 or 2005. But doing
so might well severely hamper consumers' access to digital information
that's important to them ‹ and which may indeed be necessary in their work
environment. 

Though no one doubts the need for better security, some have questioned
whether Microsoft is best suited to be leading the charge, given its
software monopoly and its history of skirting antitrust laws.

³They just don't understand,² Gates said. ³That's like saying because we
make a word processor, that reporters write what we want them to write or
something. I can give you examples to prove that's not the case.²

Some critics and competitors have raised concerns that the technology could
be used to reinforce Microsoft's dominance.

Secure documents created in Microsoft Office, for instance, could be
unusable on other operating systems or with other office productivity
suites. 

In the interview, Gates said it's up to other companies to ensure
interoperability. 

³I don't know what's going to be capable there. I don't do the software on
those systems,² he said. ³I don't hold the keys. If they do the
implementation, then it's like saying they have the same features as every
other thing we do in Windows. It's up to them.²


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