[Info-vax] OT: Arun Kishan

[George Cornelius]

In article <52ad4f92-3143-44a2-a864-12998ae7c970 at p24g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>, John Wallace <johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk> writes:
> On Jan 29, 8:19=A0pm, cornel... at eisner.decus.org (George Cornelius)
> wrote:
>> run the code within an emulator for that architecture, and insert
>> your hooks into the emulator itself.
> 
> Kernel mode, or even the emulator, on its own doesn't buy you much if
> the high value content is encrypted till it reaches not just the
> graphics card but the (in theory) HDMI-connected HDCP-protected
> display, which is supposed to do a key exchange thing at connect time
> before it will work in proper HD mode... it's not about making it
> impossible, it's just about making it look too tedious (or, from a
> DMCA point of view, too dangerous) to be worth doing in general.

I agree 100%.  That's where the lawyers come in.

If they make it convoluted enough, you don't know which pieces of
the kernel are there to collect the forensic evidence to be used
against you in court.

My personal feeling about the DMCA's provisions are that they have
forced you to accept trojan horses.

Microsoft and the content providers can run whatever code they want
on your system, and as long as it is there to protect their content,
it is sacrosanct: tamper with it at your peril.  At least until
some court rules otherwise.

But remember that the 'long arm of the law' is not so long by
today's standards.  Nothing keeps a hacker in a country that
has not accepted the DMCA's provisions from doing what he wants.
He is only likely to run into trouble based on what he does
with the protected content once he has unlocked it.

George Cornelius