KenFisher
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Questioning the security of a closed FairPlay
Ken Fisher at Ars Technica thinks something smells fishy about Steve Jobs's claims that licensing a DRM system will lead to its defeat. By comparing the security track records of iTunes's FairPlay and Microsoft's rival and heavily-licensed PlaysForSure, Ken might also have a good point. As history goes, FairPlay has been cracked four times (including Real's own hack for their store), while PlaysForSure has suffered only one true crack in its time. Perhaps more significant than either of these numbers, however, is that none of these DRM breaches were the result of secrets being shared from the inside; they apparently were all spearheaded by creatives from the community who might not hold digital rights management in the highest of regards. Of course, the issue isn't nearly this cut and dry. The iTunes Store's 800-pound gorilla-like popularity can help explain its greater number of breaches (however: wouldn't one be more interested in cracking the store that offers unlimited music via subscription?). In the end, Ken settles on revisiting the possibility of licensing DRM. Since Jobs already let the 'get rid of DRM' cat out of the bag, however, I'm thinking the public isn't going to put the idea to rest anytime soon.
Vista Premium logo requirements: no hybrid HDDs after all?
Ken Fisher over at Ars Technica has done us all a good turn and pored over the latest version of the mind-numbingly boring Windows Vista Logo Program Device Requirements documentation, summing up the key features that consumers can expect to see from machines sporting the Vista Premium logo. Effective immediately, PCs wishing to display the coveted sticker must rock only USB 2.0 ports, at least one digital output for all add-in video adapters, 100Mb Ethernet and/or WiFi (which must be of the 802.11g flavor), and HD audio quality that passes some kind of "high-fidelity audio experience test," with other requirements concerning Serial ATA drives, HDCP compliance, HD playback, and support for bootable USB drives going into effect on June 1, 2007. Also noteworthy in Fisher's analysis is his claim that hybrid hard drives will not in fact be necessary for laptops to flash the Premium logo, as previously reported by TG Daily based on a conversation with Microsoft at TechEd. Instead, Fisher argues that the so-called "Storage Requirement 0005" in question is only a list of technical standards that need to be met by hybrid HDDs should manufacturers choose to include them in their devices, which makes sense after considering how unlikely it is that Redmond would force such a new and unproven technology down people's throats.Read- Vista Premium logo requirements [Via Slashdot]Read- Hybrid HDDs not required after all
