While the RIAA rages against America's students, and we see their onslaught as the most horrific event of this new century, two others loom darkly. And they're far worse than Hilary Rosen's DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

One is Palladium, and the other, the TCPA (Trusted Computing Platform Alliance). And behind them are not the record labels, nor even Hollywood, although there are undoubtedly links back to the entertainment industry via some of the member companies.

Rather, they're quietly moving forward with most, if not all, of the most powerful IT companies in the world backing them to the hilt.

Microsoft publicly announced Palladium last year and claims it's the beginning of a new age in computing. That may well be. But whether or not you'll want to be there is another question.

Because, cut to the bone, PPC (Palladium Personal Computer) police technologies won't allow PPCs to run unauthorised applications or perform unauthorised tasks. And these same 'trusted' PPCs could, of course, easily be configured to allow public and private agencies and vendors to access private and personal data on your computer, and/or to report back to them every time you do something that's not on the 'officially approved' list.

The TCPA, in the meanwhile, was formed by Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft in 1999 and its mission statement says, "Through the collaboration of HW [hardware], SW [software], communications, and technology vendors, drive and implement TCPA specifications for an enhanced HW and OS based trusted computing platform that implements trust into client, server, networking, and communication platforms."

The infamous Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina has been going blue trying to get the US Congress to make TCPA mandatory in all consumer electronics. That should be enough to give you a clue on just how trusted it is.

And when p2pnet.net published the TCPA list of members last year, it was classified. The fact the participants now have enough confidence to go public should also tell you something.

But if you think Palladium and/or the TCPA are nothing to worry about, just plug either one into your favourite search engine and go from there.

TCPA Members: 123ID, Inc; 360 Degree Web; 3Com Corp; Access360; Acer, Inc; ACEtek Research; ActivCard Inc; Adhaero Technologies; Adobe Systems, Inc; dvanced Micro Devices, Inc; Aesec Corporation; Aladdin Knowledge Systems; Algorithmic Research Ltd; ALi Corporation; American Express Company; American Megatrends Inc; Argus Security Corporation; Atmel Corporation; ATMEL Rousset; AuthenTec, Inc; Authentium, Inc; Autotrol Uruguaya S.A.; Baltimore Technologies Ltd; BERGDATA AG
BindView Development; Blueice Research; Broadcom Corporation; BURNEY Carraig Ltd; Caveo Technology LLC; Cavium Networks; CE-Infosys Pte Ltd; Cerberus Information Security Limited; Certicom Corp; Check Point Software Technologies Ltd; CHECKFLOW Chrysalis-ITS; Cimarron Systems Incorporated; CipherKey Exchange Corporation; Cloakware Corporation; Communication Intelligence Corporation; Comodo Research Lab LTD; Compagnie Européenne de Développement SA; Compal Electronics, Inc; Compaq Computer Corporation; Computer Associates International, Inc; Computer Elektronik Infosys GmbH; Crypto AG; Cygate ESM Oy; CYLINK Corporation; Dell Computer Corporation; DICA Technologies Inc; DigiGAN, Inc; Digital Innotech Co; Digital Persona Inc; Discretix Technologies Ltd; e-PCguard.com, Inc; eCryp, IncEltan Comm B.V.; Enova Technology Corporation; Ensure Technologies; Entrust Technologies Ltd; ERACOM Pty Ltd; Ethentica; Excalibur Solutions, Inc; FARGOS Development, LLC
FINGLOQ AB; First Access, Inc; Fortress Technologies Inc; Founder Technology Computer System CO.,LTD; Fujitsu Limited; Fujitsu-Siemens-Computers; Gateway, Inc; Gemplus Corporation; GLOBEtrotter Software; Hewlett-Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd PC Div; Humans and Machines; HyperSecur Corporation; I/O Software, Inc; ICSA.net; ID Tech; IdentAlink Limited; Infineon Technologies Corporation; Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd; InfoCore, Inc; Insyde Software Corp; Integrity Sciences, Inc; Intel Corporation; Interlok Technologies L.L.C.; International Business Machines Corporation; International Service Consultants Ltd; Internet Dynamics, Inc; Internet Security Systems; InterTrust Technologies; Iomega Corporation IPTV Ltd; Kasten Chase Applied Research; Keycorp Ltd; Keyware Technologies, Inc; Lanworks Technologies Co; Legend SHENZHEN) R&D Center, Legend Group Ltd; Lexign; Liquid Audio, Inc; Litronic Inc; LOGISIL Consulting; M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers; M3S Enterprises; Macrovision Corporation; Massive Media Group; Media DNA Incorporated; Medialogic Co, Ltd; Miaxis Biometrics Co; Micron Electronics, Inc; Microsoft Corporation; Mitac International Corporation; Mobile-Mind, Inc; Motorola; National Semiconductor; nCipher Inc; NDS Limited; NEC Corporation; Net Nanny Software International; NetActive Inc; NetAtmosphere Inc; NetOctave, Inc; NetSecure Software Canada; Network Associates, Inc; New Trend Technology Inc; Novell, Inc; nVidia; O2Micro; OSA Technologies; PC Guardian; Philips Semiconductors; Phoenix Technologies, Ltd; Pijnenburg Custom Chips B.V.; Precision Digital Hardware; Pricewaterhouse Coopers; Prism Resources, Inc; Pro-Team Computer Corp; Protect Data Security Inc; Rainbow Technologies, Inc; Raytheon Company; Raz-Net Inc; Redstrike B.V.; RSA Security, Inc; SafeNet, Incorporated; SAFLINK Corporation; SAGEM MORPHO, Inc; SAGRELTO Enterprises, Inc; SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD; Schlumberger, Smart Cards; Science Applications International Co; Scienton Technologies Inc; SCM Microsystems; Sectra Communications AB; Securant Technologies; Secure Computing Corporation; Secure Systems Solutions; Siemens AG; Silicon Integrated Systems Corp; Softex, Inc; Sony Electronics, Inc; Sospita ASA; SPYRUS, Inc; SSH Communications Security, Inc; Standard Microsystems Corporation; STMicroelectronics; Symantec Corporation; Symbol Technologies, Inc; TCL Computer Technology Co, Ltd; Texar Software Corp; Thales e-Security, Inc; TimeCertain, LLC; Titan Systems Corporation; Toshiba Corporation; Trend Micro, Inc; Tripwire, Inc; Trispen Technologies; TruSec Solutions; Trustpoint Corporation; Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd; TVN Entertainment Corporation; Ubizen; Utimaco Safeware AG; ValiCert Inc; VeraSafe, Inc; Verasity Technologies; Veridicom, Inc; Verisign, Inc; VIA Technologies, Inc; Vibren Technologies, An NEC Company; Viewpoint Engineering; Village Inc; Voltaire Advanced Data Security Ltd; Wave Systems Corp; Wincor Nixdorf; WinMagic, Inc; and, WinVista Corporation.

If TCPA hardware and Palladium are implemented it looks like a market opportunity will open up for non-TCPA'ed motherboards and alternate software. Where do I invest?

That's right. Over-priced, over-controlled, inferior quality 'product' will kick-start cottage computing whereby people will build their own boxes and systems, write their own software, and so on. This will have the effect of decentralizing what's now a totally centralized industry.

Does that look familiar? heh

Part of the DRM (digital rights management) aspect of Micro$oft's Longhorn and Palladium, is already here for those infected with Media Player 9, and also, do you KNOW what data is being uploaded at before you get those nice little "automatic updates" of XP? Beware for geeks carrying gifts!

Big Brother is here. You won't even be able to use your own computer as you see fit. You will be monitored 24/7. Suddenly, my old Pentium II looks better and better. Now where was that address for the nearest Apple Mac dealer?

Digitalwarrior: Anywhere with a technology industry capable of mass produceing motherboards thats a long way from the US or europe. Dont forget to stock up on processors, intel plans to put the TCPA chip on that chip to reduce costs and make it harder to tamper with.

Newjon: The objective of TCPA/NGSBC is to centralise things further by driveing small companies off the market. The big ones will get bigger, the small ones smaller. Intel could gain a complete monopoly on processors, because only they will have the secret keys and patents needed to make the TCPA system. They will license them to some other manufacturers of course - for a very high price. Microsoft says that the completed NGSCB (formerly palladium) system will not trust any software thats not been signed by Microsoft. It will run, but will not be permitted to access certian functions, such as protected storage, the hardware crypto module and a few others. This effectively stops anyone writeing open source palladium-based applications, because if someone wants to modify the code they wont be able to run it unless MS signs it for them. This service may be free, or it msy not. MS hasn't yet disclosed the licenseing terms for it, but it is likely it will include some rediculous clause preventing people releaseing source, stoping them competing with microsoft or demanding their program is incapable of converting any palladium file to an open format, even if it created the file. It is likely the complexity will make it difficult for home programers to write palladium based software. In time, over years, it is likely MS will slowly put greater restrictions on what unsigned code can do. It could slowly be locked out of email ('to stop viruses', microsoft will claim) or multimedia ('Its a hole in our DRM framework' microsoft claims this time).

Of course, all this assumes TCPA/NGSCB is effective. Ive seen the specs for TCPA, it looks tough. But with so many implimentations on different chips in different chipsets and different bioses sooner or later a hole will appear. NGSCB of course is entirely Microsofts work, and is a project of such complexity it is likely a hole will appear here too. Also, there is te possibility of a signed program haveing a vulnerability in a data file which could be used to run unsigned code, much as is currently done with the hacked savegame for 007 to run unsigned code on the xbox without a modchip.

THANK YOU!!! Thanks for posting something about this terrible infringement on our freedom. This hardware chip/policeware crap is going to make the RIAA look like a walk in the park we need to get 3 steps ahead of this before it gets way out of hand!!

Lets all join hands and kill corperate america!!

Great assessment Goldenpi. I stinks of monopoly by M$ again. It certainly would be a boon to AMD if it gets out that the Intel processors are the tool of Big Brother. And, good luck to the goons that have to support M$ software when it gets so picky about which apps it will run. Just look at the recent fiasco one of M$s patches were. Now you are seeing M$ have to release fixes for the damages that the last patch caused. Their OS is becoming so bloated with code now that it takes a big chunk of any hard drive. Moore's Law (regarding the rate at which processing power increases over time) does not predict processor speed that is going to be suffiecient for running all this add on crap and the code is going to be too boggy to be run on all but the fastest boxes..hmmm...it smacks of the all in one solution...
M$ OS run on M$ branded computers, sealed from the factory with a little tag on the back advising you not to break the seal and go inside for anything, because, if you do, it will void the warranty, and violate federal anti-tampering with hardware statutes.

I think AMD is on the TCPA list too.

Guess, I'll support Sun Microsystems from now on.
At least they hate MS.

Some time ago I read an article that reminded me the real implications of the internet: Any human, anywhere, at any time, could have access to any and all knowledge ever recorded if we could but summon the willpower to make it happen. Recall the first Matrix? "Tank, I need a pilot program for a military M-109 helicopter." Reality could be almost that gould for any person capable of learning, and it could just as easily be about glazing pottery or doing CPR.

The implications of what these people are doing are equally powerful, but not in an exciting or good way. They are building artificial restrictions on future human capacity. It will not be a fundamental reality of the universe or even our flawed economic system that says "no" when a person says they want to know what Hitler and Ghandi actually said, how to build a sailboat, perform advanced calculus, or what their government is up to these days. It will be the technologies created by these people through their corporations. If the human race ever decides to reach for our real potential, the first thing we'll realize is that people doing these types of things must be treated as enemies of Humanity. We'll know we've lost when discussions like this are no longer possible, because the powers that be are right now creating the tools to prevent them.

Yup, you're right motorpsycho. Geez...now where did I put that dan Amgia, or my abacus?

Good thing I have a pile of old slide-rules; they seem to be the only machines I can now trust.

Forgot to add to my last post:

Well said, viscix; these coporations are cornucopiae of distrust and malevolence. "Enemies of humanity" describes them exactly.

This is news? Palladium was being talked up around here a good year ago. Hell, goldenpi has had primers up on his site about this and more (and kick ass primers at that).

Well, it's news, but not what I would call timely.

I've seen some discussions about Palladium/NGSCB/TCPA on a Norwegian hardware forum. There were some comments that said something like "Since both Intel and AMD are TCPA members, we should all stick to VIA C3 processors." But no. VIA Technologies has also become a TCPA member. Which means: Mac is probably the only TCPA-free solution in the future.

beware of geeks bearing gifts....i like that....dont like all this behind the scenes tampering,the riaa is bad enough
without people like gates running ripshod over everyone

I don't mean to get off topic, but it seems like it's pretty easy to when considering Big Brother may be watching.

Anyway, my friend brought up this topic and he said that Pioneer owns the patent for the CD. I look on the list and, to my suprise, I don't see Pioneer. What would happen if Pioneer suddenly said "Hey, you can block whatever you want, make as much new hardware as you want, but if you want to put it on a CD, no"? Wouldn't that just screw every music company and software company.
I don't have too many connections, I'm just a student, but could someone please tell Pioneer that they could put a stop to all of this BS.

There's an article on NewScientist.com that mentions the possibility that these "trustworthy computing" measures could actually be used to create more robust peer-to-peer applications.
"Plans to build security features into personal computers to make unauthorised digital copying more difficult could backfire by strengthening controversial peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, say US researchers."
"...Michael Smith and colleagues from Harvard University in the US say the same TCPA technology could, ironically, be used to make file sharing networks more robust."
"...using open TCPA standards, software engineers could write peer-to-peer software that verifies that everyone on a network is trustworthy".
So, maybe Palladium is not the ultimate solution the RIAA is hoping for. We could turn the technology against them!

I meant to add this but I got lost in my thoughts: I don't see LINUX on the great list pricks. Maybe I'll switch to Linux when Longhorn comes out. This is going to be the last straw for many users. Micro$oft has taken a risk that could usher in then next big computer company.

P.S. I always liked Penguins...

Sure, if Pioneer refused to let them put stuff on CDs it'd screw over the music & gaming industries, but couldn't they just as easily use Mini-Disks for music?

This is bad!!
Sure we could use our current computers for quite a while but sooner or later it will be like using a 386 and whats the point of that? It will probably get to the point to where you cant connect to the internet unless you are on a "Trusted" computer. I think the Justice Department needs to go after M$ on this as an anti trust violation.

Some of us saw this comin and have stockpiled plenty of nice (tho mildly outta date) hardware that isn't 'rigged'.

Windows itself is rigged, always has been (GUID anyone?) not to mention certain of the Pentium chips were set up at one time to broadcast a specific ID number.

As with all technology based law-enforcement backdoors, that would be an instant disaster as hackers seized and used it to their advantage, as I recall, a test-run of such a backdoor setup by a cellphone company drove it out of biz when hackers exploited it to the max.

Sorry, I don't trust our monolithic dinosaurs in 'law enforcement' to use a hand calculator, much less a computer - and a damned good thing too, since ONLY here do 'we the people' out-gun the gov't, therefore ONLY here is still free.

One *hopes* that DRM and it's cousins wind up where the 'brilliant' idea of MCA architechure did - on the scrap heap.

The problem is ignorance, apathy, and a society taught from birth to obey instead of questioning - unless it impacts them in an immediate, unignorable, personal way, they do not care as long as the TV stays on to feed more mindless drivel into their empty skulls.

The RIAA make the all-time critical mistake of annoying those folks with threats they could no longer ignore, and in the gestalt of self-defense, gee-golly, they learned that maybe thinking WASN'T bad....

Same principle with DRM, it has to hit your average herd-animal american below the belt before they'll care one way or the other - otherwise they just 'obey' and vote for who spends the most money.

The RIAA shot themselves in the foot, bigtime, and they're GONNA lose, since they have overcome the massive ignorance-apathy-interia of the average american... one hopes DRM will stupidly follow suit.

Ivory tower execs don't live in our reality, so never expect them to comprehend it, ok ?

-user

One Achille's heel to these lawsuits may be WiFi wireless. Anyone who's got a wireless router (they cost under $100) is off the hook. You can just claim that someone else was tapping into your signal and using your IP address to share music files. The RIAA can't prove otherwise.

So let the those who 'own' the computer industry die out too. Nobody *has* to buy anything, ever. It's impossible to run around screaming boycott everytime you don't like something. But more than a boycott.. I just wouldn't want the shit regardless of anything. So I won't buy it. Microsoft? what's that? I've heard of Redhat. Bill who? yeah whatever.

On a related note: Who the hell does bill think he is? A portion of us (probably a fairly large portion) *want* music from the RIAA. Some of us more than others, of course. Who the hell *wants* Microsoft? If the whole industry made software for unix platforms, who would cry about it? Computer illiterate people and bill.

If music disappeared, there'd be a lot of crying people. The "big boys" need to be careful. Or else the general public will find out they're facist as well as morons, and they will be replaced.

I will not give out information. I simply and absolutely refuse to. I went to Toys R Us and bought something for someone, and they asked for my phone number. No, go to hell. What's yours? None of this "Actually...I'd prefer not to give out my phone number" crap anymore. Just don't fucking ask me, ever, ever, again. I'm losing it on these invasive fucks. Just like I block every email not on my allowed list, I'll do the same with IP's. I'm not going to block every one individually. I'll just block them all and allow a few. I do not own a credit card, and I use checks rarely, for tuition.

My friends say I'm paranoid. They can shove it. If I'm paranoid I wouldn't say this on here. I'm fucking smart.

Microsoft can eat my ass. So can every last "inc." in the United States.

My mother told me: They only use your phone number to send you catalogs, they aren't going to call you or anything.

That's my point. Shit, I wish people would get with it.



The day a woman was arrested for screaming "You Suck" at Bill Clinton's White House, the world as we know it ended. He did suck. So does Bush.

We all should know by now that the internet is our freedom. It's everyone's. Even if it was government regulated, it wouldn't be as bad. Except the government is no longer to be trusted on the issue of [insert any issue]. We're smarter. We all know technology. They're just spoiled rotten baby boomers and hippies. Little brats and self-righteous morons who do what they want and refuse to take no for an answer.

The RIAA can do what they want. Technology has been developed quicker than they can supoena their victims. And it's only the very first editions, if you will, of the technology that will aid in blocking identification. You all saw it. They said "we'll sue" and within one month people were downloading new technology off the interweb for their computer machines. You all saw what happened when napster was shut down. It's the end! No, it's the beginning. The problem was a central company, so out came new technology without it. Now the problem is identification. So out is coming new technology without it.

They'll lose their breath chasing us. They're too old and stupid. They can't get what they want when they have to rely on themselves. Fuck the two generations above me. If you want to control a country, go to fucking iraq assholes.. oh wait.

this country is gonna turn into a literal wasteland once this legislation has been fully enacted. we'll live like they do in the matrix: to serve the matrix only. everything we do will have a 'positive' effect on the 'matrix' (government/corporate controllers), from sleeping to being fully-alert and active. we're doing so well at showing the world what true freedom is, aren't we? why again did we 'liberate' iraq?

Now now boys and girls. There's more than enough x86 (Non-Palladium/TCPA) equipment to go around. Also, calling Palladium architecture "PPC" is infringing upon the PowerPC group's trademark (PowerPC chips are used in almost every proprietary system I've ever taken apart, and in every mac marked "PowerPC" or in a non-beige case. The PowerPC group primarily consists of IBM, Motorola and Apple.)

In the event that x86 is outlawed in favor of Palladium, I'll be loading up a few rental vans with every piece of x86 hardware I can find, and making trips to Canada to shuttle free hardware to a free country.

Also, regarding Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)'s involvement in the Palladium group, they've released statements to the effect that they're only there so as not to be forced out of the market place "just in case" and that they will not build CPUs with a full implementation of Palladium under any circumstances. So we'll still have a fresh supply of CPUs in Canada, and there are many Taiwanese companies that aren't in the least bit interested, ranging from the elite motherboard manufacturer (Tyan) to tiny mom and pop RAM factories. Also, ATI has shown no interest in Palladium. This leaves me with what I have long believed to be the "Ultimate" combination of computer parts manufacturers - AMD, Tyan, ATI. Not just for performance factor, but for honesty and user support (Although AMD and ATI have both had minor run-ins with honesty lately, AMD's marketting scheme of PR ratings is "inaccurate" and ATI has "driver problems" - both are temporary issues)

AMD chipsets and CPUs running on Tyan motherboards with ATI graphics sitting on top. Granted, you're not likely to find many open market retailers carrying this combination, but talk to any hardware enthusiast who's serious about their toys, and they'll know who they are.

i have my 486 laptop and my two 1st gen Pentiums right here, all hooked up to KVM and all ready to go. Those fucks just need to say the word.

Thankyou EyeMWing for providing us with a list, even if it is small, of companies that it will still be safe to buy from. Don't get me wrong I'm still going to take out a loan, buy about $10k worth of up to date, clean parts, and build a super secret underground chamber with climate control to store the stuff in. When it becomes out of date though I won't have to completely give up computers.

A note on the list though. Some of them were a surprise like nVidia. Others like Compaq were expected. Compaq has wanted their customers out of the picture for years. Some of the older machines, as I'm sure many of you know, had special screws in the cases and to this day Compaq still hides all the bios start up info. If any of you are looking to get into the bios to make changes some of the machines have the command is Shift-10.

I already have a climate controled computer room in the loft. Ok, the climate control is made from tape, car parts and a piece of hoover. And the computers are falling apart.

Ive got an intresting compaq computer with a solonoid lock on the case. The case cannot be removed with the computer on because the solonoid locks it, and the computer cannot be turned on with the case off because of a microswitch. Its an office computer, I think the purpose of it is to stop employies messing with company property. I defeated the switch with a paperclip and the solonoid with a hammer.

looks like the Compaq Presario I've got will be the last computer I'll ever buy if this comes into being. Noone has the right to tell me what types of software or websites I"m "allowed" to visit or load onto my computer. Why doesn't the ACLU get involved in this, it sounds like something right up their alley!!!!!!

If that type of technology comes into being, I know enough people that can build computers to either fix the one I've got or make me another. I've got a feeling the RIAA is behind this somehow....

HEY RIAA, KISS MY LEFT BUTT CHEEK!!!!!!!

because those jerks have tried to intrude into my life WAY too much lately, I'm not buying any new music unless it's Duran Duran.... I"ll download it from my favorite file sharing site first, and there are a few more private file sharing sites I can use that the RIAA doesn't know about too... so KISS ON THAT RIAA!!!

(do I sound kinda flip today?)



Diana

Wow, is it just me,or is it getting very "Orwellian" here?
Between this palladium crap and ACCOPS I'm afraid we may end up like the A side to Rush's 2112 album.

Citizens of the US have been thrown out of these issues. Most politicians don't listen to their constituants anymore. They listen to those with the most power, influence and money and/or their own opinion. Senators and representatives are supposed to be the conduit between us and the government, not corporations and the government. Business and government are supposed to be seperate entities. "...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." One of the main reasons we rebeled against Great Britain and became independent was because of the lack of representation, as I stated at the begining of this reply.

continuation...
and once again, we are losing representation of ourselves.

If they try to actually implement this TCPA/Palladium crap, it'll be suicide. Consumers will stop buying their computers and software. There will always be hardware and software manufacturers who will give consumers an alternative. I just don't think this "trusted computing" stuff will get off the ground.

It's a damn nice break seeing these comments, countering the glazed idiot look when I suggest to anyone I've seen offline that maybe they should change their computing or music shopping habits. Forget Linux, just trying to get someone to use Mozilla over IE is pretty much impossible, and the argument is a lot easier before you start talking about music sources.

IFeelFree, I wish I could agree with you, but my experience suggests the vast majority wouldn't think about the switch for more than 10 seconds, and even if completely convinced of the moral/freedom problems would simply decide to ignore them unless all the work in escaping was done for them. To make any difference, we're going to have to somehow take these discussion forum talks into small community-scale pockets of resistance. I'm moving in with a crew of like-minded (anti-corporate because of the excessive consolodation of power) friends in about a month, and as resident tech-head I intend that the seven of us, at least, will be hard to convert. Wouldn't mind reaching others, if the possibility arises.

If anyone is interested in a boycott on these companies, and still wishes to build an up-to-date computer, here's a list of guidelines:

Please take notice that while Apple themselves are not a part of Palladium, their CPU suppliers are (IBM and Motorola).

AMD CPU's - AMD, despite being a member of the Palladium group, has expressed concern over the user's rights and has said that they will not fully implement Palladium. Intel is a member of Palladium, as is VIA, the owner of Cyrix.

AMD motherboard chipsets. See the above notes on AMD, VIA and Intel. ALi is also a member of Palladium (And they suck anyway), as is SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems). nVidia is also a member, ruling out their excellent nForce and nForce 2 chipsets.

Graphics boards based around ATI chipsets. Radeon and FireGL. ATI's primary competitor, nVidia, is a member of Palladium.

CD burners, DVD burners, DVD-ROM: Pioneer produces excellent, high-quality DVD burners, and Lite-On produces cheap, high-quality CD burners and DVD-ROM drives. Lite-On is also manufacturer of the greatest range of colored faceplates for their drives, ranging from white to red.

Hard disk: Either Maxtor or Western Digital, or if you've got that kind of money, Seagate. Interesting how none of the three decent drive manufacturers today are part of Palladium. Apparently they forgot that data has to be stored?

Sound board: m-Audio consumer or professional boards.

Memory: The only mainstream RAM manufacturer that I can see that isn't a member of Palladium is Corsair.

Networking equipment: Cisco, D-Link, Linksys.

OS: Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, or pirated Windows. Take your pick.

I can build a machine to these specs if anyone's interested, but not technically skilled enough to do it themselves.

ACLU?! Yeah right, the RIAA and ACLU are paternal twins.

A couple of heavy-handed oraganizations "helping" decide what's "right" for everyone. VERY few of whom are asking for that help.

I came across this site thru google. I am fascinated and encouraged. I am also equally annoyed.

Why?

Because tho' i think it's great to have a place for open discussion, ranting achieves nothing for anyone but a sense of relief for the rant-er. But, much like passing gas, this tends to have a negative effect on those nearby. In the same way, it's effect is short-lived.

I don't have the time (at work now) to conduct a comprehensive search of this site, so can anyone point me to info about any PRO-active steps I and others can take? I.E. A month of REAL boycotting by not purchasing OR downloading ANY ("commercial"?) music where the artist receives less than 100% of the gross proceeds?!

That was what I was thinking when I conducted the search. Thanks in advance!

PS I have a nomination for a "safe-list" of companies that are respectful of personal security and freedoms: MyWay.com - they do LINK to external sites in many cases, such as for news headlines and such, but their principles have me supporting them!

i gotta agree with you viscix...the majority of the population won't switch to different hardware because of this...most likely they won't even understand what this is all about...
i dont know about the rest of you, but i think its time for a revolution...there has to be enough smarts on "our" side to fuck with these companies...why arn't we? we have the numbers...its just that people have to cooperate and unite...
fuck these fucks...

I'm just glad Apple wasn't on the list.

NOW it's time for a revolution? What have we been saying here for months?

It's BEEN time.

here's an interesting note. while apple has been using nvidia vid cards more and more recently, apple and ati have forever collaborated. apple regularly uses maxtor hard drives in their computers. the main (and possibly only) company apple uses for their "superdrives" is pioneer. it's also been rumored for years that apple has considered porting os x over to intel/amd cpu's (they've already been able to port the core of os x). apple manufactures their own motherboards.

do ya think their lickin' their chops over this one? i think so.

America, the land of the free? Not anymore. D-Link and ATI, two Canadian companies are not involved in the TCPA. ASUS, a Tawianese manufacturer, although affiliated with nVidia, is not. When Palladium comes, fear not, shop internationally to buy your computer parts. Hell, the American dollar goes farther anyway. The DMCA is not in affect outside of America, nor is ACCOPS. The RIAA has also not sued any P2P users outside of America. Their power stops at the borders. So you want freedom from Corporate America's leash? Then buy internationally.

so...why arn't we collaborating with eachother...there has to be a way to fuck them over...where are all the fuckin hackers at yo? someone needs to hack the riaa site and send them a message...

I really do wish that all of you would stop with the whole "Big Brother" thing and see it for what it is, an extra layer of protection for the user in general. I just registered because I had to tell you "people" that what you are doing is wrong and that the list of RIAA members is so long that you won't even be able to go to the store and find something to buy. Look at it this way, if you want your "artists" to keep on making music, just buy the CD. Why dont you fight for the artist, instead of against them. I mean, come on, I know that the record labels screw them serveral times over. If you illegally download music, then all you are doing is hurting the artist. If you people are so concerned about money, them why do you support things like this and waiste your time stuffing money into a lost cause of a website, please answer me that. I am not here to criticize, but damn, just go out and buy the music, you'll feel better (if you have any sort of conscience). One of the main reasons that there is a need for something like Microsoft Windows Longhorn and Palladium, are you people that illegally download music. I buy my own music at the store, and sometimes I even buy used CDs because some artists that I like have albums from way back. Even though I hate Apple Computer, I think that they have a good deal with the $0.99USD per song offer. Please do the right thing.

An interesting thought has come across my black hole of a brain. Many people have spent their lives modding, or modifying, video game systems so they could play regular CD's & DVD's. If it's possible on a game system (M$'s XBox has been modded) then I think we could easily modify a new computer with this proprietary equipment so it would be like nothing ever happened.