The Software Surveillance Decade - Whose Computer is it Anyway?
As owners of general purpose personal computers we have always done what we liked with them and made them bend to our will for all sorts of reasons. Whether someone is a computer hobbyist who likes exploring out of intellectual curiosity or is a computing professional making a living through the application of their skills and knowledge, we have always had the freedom to customise and use computers in any way we can imagine
We all use the internet for news and research and we take for granted it's entertainment value and could never imagine not having access to the Beatles and the Stones on YouTube. We have been conditioned to expect unfettered access to our computers and the internet but if we are not careful these digital freedoms could be seriously curtailed in the years ahead. If this sounds far fetched and you have not heard of national surveillance and control efforts such as the Great Firewall of China then please keep reading and check the links at the end of the article is you are still not convinced
Not being able to customise a computer would be unthinkable to most people, because we are used to having the freedom to do so, but the writing is on the wall and the message coming through loud and clear is that quite literally there is a fight going on between forces of light and dark and that the ultimate prize will be our democratic freedoms. Or lack of them
Some of the most secretive software, media and technology companies in the world (Big Media) would prefer us not to have these freedoms. They think it is acceptable that our our basic human rights and digital freedoms be confiscated and that it be made illegal for us to study, modify and redistribute software applications and media files among friends, family and colleagues for educational or recreational purposes. The game plan of Big Media is to control the internet and our computers because their profits are more important than our freedom of speech, human rights and democracy. Apple and Microsoft's profits are also more important than freedom and the grip they already have on their customers would be enough to choke a horse but still they want more control. Will they ever stop?
Big Media intends to use our court systems, politicians, academics and media against us to achieve a level of control which any sane person would agree is more akin to what you would expect to find in Stalinist Russia. All photocopying machines in the old USSR were guarded by armed soldiers lest someone whose mind was not quite right decided to run off copies of a pamphlet containing information that the state deemed to be subversive. What Big Media is doing now is just as morally bankrupt and that is why it is so hard for them to convince anyone that what they are doing is for our own good
Currently there is an attempted coup being undertaken by Big Media against western governments and the sad thing is that the politicians can't see what is happening right under their noses. Most politicians do not understand the true nature of Big Media far less recognize them as an enemy within who are against the very freedoms which politicians proclaim to defend. Politicians can't even cop on to the fact that they are being sold a pup by fake lobbying groups but then again some politicians are not the sharpest knives in the drawer
The hoodwinking and the smoke and mirrors tricks have already begun and carefully selected online scandals are waved in front of the public on the evening news channels as an example of how lawless and out of control online society has become. Like the 'reefer madness' propaganda in the 1950s the idea is to stir the population up into a state of hysteria in the knowledge that the public will respond, mainly through fear, by demanding that 'something should be done about it'. No need to even break sweat if you know how to push all the right buttons. It is the old problem - reaction - solution mind trick at work. If most people are stupid as H.L. Mencken once claimed then I guess it should not come as much of a surprise that Big Media can bullshit most of the people of the time. Even clever people like judges have been easily fooled by them
Banning of copying machines. That's right, Big Media would, if they could, ban the manufacture of any piece of computer hardware that could be used to make duplicates of copyrighted materials. They don't care about how much this single draconian measure alone would reduce our digital freedom. Screw us seems to be their attitude because their shareholders have to eat you know
By letting you have total freedom over the hardware and software used on your personal computer, Big Media argues that you are capable of committing heinous crimes such as copying and giving away copyrighted materials and therefore depriving them, artists and programmers of potential income but those old arguments have been shot to pieces because their logic does not stack up. It makes about as much sense as me seeking a court injunction to prevent you from walking within a hundred yards of my house lest you decide to smash my windows. I got it! Let's ban stones!
By clinging to it's outdated business models Big Media is determined to continue this tug of war between progress and innovation (freedom and open source software) and centralised control (proprietary software, crippled hardware and draconian restrictive business practices). Just like the bankers they believe that the public is a cash cow to be milked dry at every opportunity
They will use the power of the courts to enforce their will upon society and the courts will often be happy to oblige. This means that the state is effectively being used as an instrument for corporations to shackle the people while the state, rather than acting in the interests of the majority, is protecting the interests of an uber wealthy few who intend to divide, rule and milk us dry using fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) in a deliberately concocted atmosphere of paranoia. Their naked greed is so transparent that even a fool could spot it and it proves once aqain just how at odds corporate greed is with concepts such as freedom and democracy
Like the reign of terror imposed on the people by the East German secret police, the Stasi, these software and media corporations prefer shop your neighbour schemes which offer cash rewards for snitches who are willing to shop their boss or neighbour for using proprietary software without a license. They are against the very spirit of the internet and it's culture of sharing which has up until now acted as a last reminder that we are living in a free and civilised society. The only alternative to their nightmare world view is to fight it and in the meantime insist on using free software and computer hardware that is built to open standards and free from spy chips and other hidden nasties. If everything is open then everyone has access to a level playing field and there is nothing to fear
Big Media is already leaning on manufacturers of standard computer hardware and they are making sure that these manufacturers can face prosecution for selling hardware products which can copy digital content from media such as DVDs and CDs. Programmers and Academics who openly publish theories on how to break anti-copying mechanisms and DRM restrictions have been served with legal writs ordering them to cease and desist or face prosecution. If Big Media does not like what you write on your website then they can apply to the courts to have the said material removed and hidden away from public view for ever. If you have not noticed an increase in those supposed 'network errors' while surfing the net then you are sleeping. It's happening already. This is what they mean by freedom and security. When freedom becomes non-freedom and security means being constantly paranoid then you are living in an Orwellian state. The only thing George Orwell got wrong was the year
People share information in many ways and there are other ways to share stuff online but in the near future I expect that this will become the next target of Big Media and before you know it they will be coercing internet service providers into blocking certain types of web traffic and even certain types of media files from being downloaded and saved. They would do it if they could get away with it but thankfully such draconian powers would be rejected on impulse by any one who believes in the concept of democracy and the basic human rights we have enjoyed for 150 years pertaining to what is regarded as fair use of copyrighted materials
Research tells us that people buy music CDs even though there are places online where you can download copyrighted music for free. What Big Media fails to realise is that people like to purchase tangible products like CDs, DVDs and Books. Music and book lovers don't mind paying a few euros for a physical product and most people I know would rather do that than go online with the intent to steal them even though doing so is as easy as taking candy from a baby. In fact you don't even need to go that far
For example, YouTube videos are currently automatically downloaded and stored in your temp folder until you either select and play another video or leave the YouTube website. The downloaded file can simply cut and copied onto your desktop folder and there it will remain forever. You could do what you like with this file: share it, rip the sound and save it as an mp3 file and so on. Legally you are committing a heinous crime by doing this of course and your conscience or lack of it will determine if you are happy to do so :-)
Of course most people never go to these lengths to steal media but Big Media would like to ensure that it becomes impossible just in case yer man Christy Ball across the field one day decides to get ripping and flogs the Beatles greatest hits to all and sundry around the village for 2 euros a pop. They will never reach that Nirvana in million years but their intentions are clear. The only way for them to even moderately succeed at that game would be to make sure that all computers are locked down and instructed not to run software that is capable of ripping and copying. Who do they think they are?
Your download details are already reported to Big Brother Central and this is why you should be careful about what you are downloading from the net. You can easily be caught and if you are downloading tons of music and videos you will draw attention to yourself. It is much less trouble to go to Easons or a car boot sale and just buy that CD, DVD or book which you will then legally own and this way you have nowt to worry about
We are increasingly being viewed as drone like consumers who can be locked into channels which they intend to use to market products we neither need nor want. This is what Apple's product line really amounts to at the end of the day - a centrally controlled television set with thousands of junk channels and advertising that no one wants. Not to mention that if you hold your iPhone 4 the wrong way it refuses to function properly :-)
You are not free to change these products and make them less defective than they already are because the only choice is Apple's choice and you will take what Apple gives you. If you let them, they will have you believe that this a real computing experience but it anything but. It is centralised command and control of the people who buy Apple products. Most of these people don't know or care what they are buying into because looks and personal vanity always win over substance. That is what Apple products are all about yet there are far better and more functional Linux bases smart-phones on the market that make the iPhone look like a toy. Things are changing slowly and pretty soon the world will tire of the likes of Apple and Microsoft and their hype because let's face it their products are not very good and the free alternatives will eventually win the day simply because they are better, cheaper and don't lock you in or spy on you. The are clean. Uninfected
Market dominance and control for maximum profits is a mindset at work every day in the IT industry and a good example is the London Times website which became a non free news source when it began charging for content. The newspaper's owner Rupert Murdoch wants to assume 100 percent control of BSkyB Broadcasting and Murdoch knows fine well that the majority of people are unprincipled and that he will find plenty of takers for his media services - there are currently about 3 million people who buy the Sun every day and many more who pay the monthly tax just to watch junk television. The media industry has always been run by moguls but the software industry has it own share of big shots who crave the sort of power that Murdoch wields but these guys are far more dangerous than Murdoch and god help us all if the courts are stupid enough to give them the power they so desperately crave
With news at least you have a choice but when it comes to computer software and in particular Apple and Microsoft software you are a prisoner. It will get worse I am sure but the free software movement is making such progress that at the end of the day these guys will need to follow the alternative model which is far superior and offers people a real choice and not just an imaginary one. One day Microsoft will be forced to drop the price of Windows to almost nothing but they would be happy to do so if it meant that they retained the level control which they presently enjoy
Free software helps to improve society through a spirit of sharing and co-operation as opposed to the mean spirited and anti-social dogma of those who use proprietary software to control governments, individuals and society to lock them into a culture riddled with fear and annoyance with inferior, second rate and expensive products
There is an assault taking place on our culture and education all done in the name of 'improved user experience and increased security' but instead what we are actually witnessing is an attack on user experience and a lack of security. It spreads fear and paranoia and is designed to split society into anti-social and selfish individuals who would gladly shop their neighbour to the licensing police for using unregistered proprietary software. Corporations lobby governments to make laws which requires tax payers money to be spent on extra law enforcement staff who will police us and jail us if we cross the line. As well as having our freedoms taken away we are also expected to pay for the privilege. It is all very warped indeed
Big Media has nightmares that someone, somewhere, might be getting something for free and they are determined to use their political and economic muscle to make sure that they can control your computer by stealth and screw you up at their discretion. One day that eBook you got from a friend might stop opening or it might just disappear into the ether. Gone like the wind. If you think this all this sounds like a fantasy then you would be naive to think so
Treacherous Computing
"Trusted Computing" or Treacherous Computing is all about who controls your computer and it is designed to control you and what programs you are allowed to run on your computer. The plan is to store an encryption mechanism on all computer motherboards and the only person who will not have the keys to this secret device will be you, the computer owner. What this means it that your computer may stop you from running software applications you legally own if the users of this encryption mechanism (proprietary software applications) decide that your intended actions are a threat to them. Not only that but the system will frequently prompt you to download updates which will cripple you even further and if you refuse the updates your computer could give you the middle finger and stop obeying you
There is small chip now being fitted to computer motherboards and this chip is called a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) which is a little nasty with Intel, AMD and Microsoft behind it. It is like an intellectual property chip which can turn an ordinary general purpose computer into a treacherous computer. Many people have a TPM module in their computer and are not even aware of it. That they even dreamed up this idea gives testament to the assumption that they don't trust you with your computer and that every computer user is a potential criminal. The result of my reading up on Treacherous Computing is that I trust Microsoft even less now than I did before and that it something I didn't think was possible
As the operating system is regarded as the owner of the TPM module it is not outlandish to suggest that future versions of Microsoft Windows will become even more defective by design and make your life very uncomfortable. Linux will not be a problem because there is no way a TPM module can stop Linux and free software from working. Screw you Microsoft
Storing files on a "Trusted Computer" does not mean you can do what you want with those files and you could be thwarted from doing things like printing a document, editing it, emailing it etc even though you can read the document on the screen. You could also be prevented from opening files with certain applications which you legally own. In the business world documents can be encrypted so that they can only be opened on the computers at a certain company and here we have the perfect recipe for corruption and the covering up of potentially explosive cases of white collar crime
Media Files
If you are playing media files like music or video on your computer and they suddenly stop playing then you could be a victim of proprietary Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) software which runs continuously in the background under the malicious assumption that you are a criminal who is intent on stealing from the media companies. If you are using a Windows Vista, Windows 7 or, god forbid, an Apple computer then you have been conned, big time, and you will know all about it sooner or later when you lose certain freedoms that until now you have been taking for granted. If you have spent years building up a library of music or educational materials which you still want to be using in 5 years time then think very carefully about the technology you use for storage and playback. You want your library to be stored in a format that is readable on standard computer hardware and for that reason you should always use general purpose computers which are uninfected with DRM and spy chips. You buy a new cellphone and all those mp3 files you previously paid for and downloaded from Apple and Microsoft will not work on your new phone. This what they mean when they pimp us the line about improved user experience and increased security. Increased security for who exactly?
Thankfully there are people out there who care and who take the time to sign the petitions which raise awareness to this despicable and Orwellian disease which has crept into our lives during the noughties. Up until now the big media companies and equipment manufacturers have only been testing the water but now that they have realised the level of ignorance and apathy among the masses they are getting ready for a full assault on our freedoms which could soon leave the majority of computer users in a straight jacket. Try to Imagine not being able to install a software application on your computer unless big bro says it is kosher. It is a nightmare and it is already happening but most people don't care
Microsoft = Crap = Landfill
Microsoft's Vista operating system was the biggest pile of junk ever released by a major software company. That is a fact and everyone knows it yet the people who bought it just seemed to shrug it off and utter something like "yeah it's crap but just wait till they release Windows 7". Incredible! The Vista operating system compelled anyone who was interested to upgrade almost all of their computer's hardware just to run an operating system. This is incredible and it highlights just how irresponsible a company Microsoft are owing to the sheer amount of perfectly good computer hardware that will be sent to the landfill. This is the very opposite of green computing, a bandwagon that a lot of vendors want to be seen jumping on to. Vista was heavily infected with Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) locks that were designed to cripple your pc and spy on you by informing Microsoft on exactly how you use your computer. It is none of your business guys and some of us have found a much better computing experience thanks to Linux and Free Software. The rise in awareness of Linux has been helped by people like Mark Shuttleworth who started the Ubuntu project and it has given people some awareness that there is a better way that is based on a completely different philosophy. Simply put Linux gives you freedom whereas proprietary software entraps you. The difference in using a Linux computer to using a Windows computer is staggering because it is based on the concept of freedom as opposed to entrapment
Microsoft is also anti-social because it often refuses to adopt open standards published by industry bodies. Initially they will 'embrace' any new standard but then extend it with proprietary extensions that will only work with Microsoft software. They simply can't be trusted and their record proves it
Standards ensure interoperability of computer hardware and data exchange between software applications but this is bad for profit. People who are free and not reliant on one manufacturer are a risk to these corporations and they would rather you didn't have the freedom to say: "screw you and your crap products pal, in future I will spend my dough elsewhere". Capitalism is meant to be about choice after all but what these guys want to impose on us is anti-capitalism and centralised control that one would expect to find in a tin pot dictatorship
With each new release of a Microsoft product you are required to upgrade your system and this also means big profits for Intel. These two have been running the same racket for years and they both contribute to pollution of the planet due to the amount of computer hardware that is landfilled each time they bring out the next great thing
Apple
Remote disabling of your computer via centralised surveillance and control
No free software - you can't install software that has not been pre-approved by the Apple police
Apple controls ALL the software and the mugs who develop the 'Apps'
Most of these apps are crap rip offs of popular websites and their innovation factor is zero
No Sharing - can delete ebooks, music and video files from your computer or iPhone
You have only one choice and that is Apple's choice. Just like in the old Soviet Union
Fighting big brother ...
Computers
Keep old computers and extend their life by running Linux. Less landfill
Less landfill means less profit for irresponsible corprorations
Buy a general purpose computer or better still build your own. It's easy
Keep Windows XP and avoid Vista and 7 because they are crippled, bloated and defective
Buy the simplest cell phone available and use it for calls and texting
Use an open handset with a free operating system
Netbooks will soon be history due to smartphones but desktops are here to stay. Use a Linux desktop
Music and Video
Buy CDs and add to them to your collection ... CDs picked up at car boot sales can easily be ripped onto a hard drive as .ogg files and listened to for years to come on most portable players. Pay once, listen forever. No problem
Avoid iTunes and instead use eMusic.com. eMusic is the second most popular music download site and their tracks are guaranteed to work on your music player. They have over 1 million songs which are free from the curse of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) proprietary lock in
Keep your old VCR. One day this might be the most useful tool for ripping video tapes onto a hard disk
Personal Information
Keep software applications and data in-house where where we can control them
Do you trust cloud computing? You never know who is digging through your private data
Do not become reliant on free online services as they may not be free tomorrow
Do not trust Google and places like facebook with too much personal information
Legally It is their information and not yours!
Your Freedom - Your Call
Sign up for the Free Software Foundation newsletter and become more aware of how racketeering, corruption and political manipulation of governments, local authorities and educational institutions is designed to restrict your freedoms and spread a culture of paranoia and selfishness. The more members the foundation has then more influence it carries. This is real people power and it has proven to be very effective
Put pressure on the boards of management of schools and colleges to ensure that children get a real computing education and that they don't become indoctrinated into the mono culture of over expensive and poor quality proprietary software. The license fees paid for this software could instead be better spent on useful things like education and healthcare instead of all giving it all away and propping up the share price of overseas corporations. This is your tax money we are talking about after all
Learn to value our freedom more. It is not the price of software that matters but the level of restrictions it imposes on us. When using genuine free software and not just 'open source software' we are guaranteed to be free of nasty habits such as spying, back doors, viruses, imposed upgrades etc. As a photographer and computing professional I value my freedom highly and intend to keep it. There is a better way and one which is of much more value to society as a whole. Freedom is what our fathers fought for and we should not just all sit back and watch like morons while that freedom is taken away under stealth by the dark forces of secretive media corporations
Links
OpenNet Initiative - All About Internet Blocking
Can You Trust Your Computer? - Richard Stallman
Does Copying = Stealing? - Linux Insider
Something Fishy is Going On - CNET Article with Comments
Trusted Computing - Wikipedia
