p2pnet - rss feed: NZ government DRM fears
p2pnet.net News:- New Zealand government circles are concerned over long-term access to data which may have been created using DRM-based software.
Its State Services Commission (SCC) is forming a steering group to oversee the response of government agencies to issues surrounding DRM and which will in turn create a working group to act on its decisions, says Computerworld, going on, “In November 2003, the e-government unit advised agencies not to enable DRM features in Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 because of privacy and security concerns”.
That advice stands today, says Laurence Millar, the director of the SCC’s e-government unit.
The Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, or TCPA, was formed by Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft in April of 2003 to try to protect intellectual property rights, the story states.
“However, concern has been raised that it gives the IT vendors access to and, in some cases, control over data created by end users. In 2003 the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CCIP), part of the New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), released a discussion document about the platform, warning that Microsoft was moving away from non-proprietary rights management software and that could lead to problems in the future.”
But, "This isn’t a problem we can address only in New Zealand,” Miller is quoted as saying. “It’s an international issue that’s going to take international cooperation.”
Millar’s unit is working on a set of principles to guide government departments and agencies in handling DRM issues and will be issuing advice on how to set firewalls to reject DRM files and expects those principles to be ready by early 2006, adds Computerworld.
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Also see:-
Computerworld, State Services leads international charge against DRM, June 1o, 2005
June 15th, 2005 at 9:03 am
Go NZ Go!!!
I sure hope some smart people from EU will follow…
June 15th, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Always been tempted to emigrate to NZ from the UK - this might just tip the balance!
June 15th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
“Trusted” computing locks up your stuff with a key you’re not allowed to know and, under the DMCA/EUCD, not even allowed to look for.
So you’ve got your new (Intel 945?) computer with its motherboard mounted TPM chip, created a few home videos, letters etc. and encrypted them to keep them safe from terrorists, paedophiles and the like (well thats what the TPM is for, isn’t it?) … then your motherboard dies … or gets stolen … or you buy a new one. Can’t get your files now can you, even from backups, as the only place the key existed was in the now-gone TPM.
The NZ government recognise this. Good for them, its about time someone in power did and rejected Big Media’s attempt to take control of our /personal/ computers.
This is not the only problem I have with “Trusted” Computing, but its a biggie. Tell me I’m wrong, someone.
June 16th, 2005 at 11:19 am
I would seriously doubt that the DRM vendor won’t have a separate key that is also used in any encryption. Key escrow was something that the US government has been demanding for a long time, so that the self-called “good guys” can always gain access to the data for criminal investigations.
While you won’t have access to YOUR data, the future winner of the DRM wars and the effective owner of your computer and data certainly will.
This system will also be a great back-door for those engaged in illegal activities as, if the vendor can access the data, so will someone who has cracked the “security” used by the vendor. It needs to be remembered that security systems like “trusted computing” and laws like the DMCA only protect against the activities of generally law abiding people, and doesn’t in any way protect anyone against illegal activities.