Geeks on Coffee

The Free Software Foundation recently released a list of five reasons to avoid the iPhone 3G. The thing that gets me is point two: “iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.” This seemed perfectly in line with the normal FSF line until I got to thinking about crypto, which is endorsed and supported by the FSF.

DRM is primarily concerned with two things: 1) keeping ‘unauthorized’ people from obtaining a usable copy of *whatever*, and 2) determining if a copy of *whatever* has been tinkered with some by someone without the correct tinker privileges. Obviously, this is Evil, and needs to be stopped.

Let us now consider crypto, especially the public-key crypto used in secure email systems. When I encrypt a message to someone, I effectively guarantee that only that person can read the message. Anyone not on my recipient list might get a copy of the encrypted message, but it’s gonna be completely unusable gibberish. Further, I can ’sign’ a message, which allows all recipients of the message to match the clear text they are seeing with my original message, thereby keeping tinkerers from changing my words. Huh, that sounds like exactly what DRM is doing, but DRM is Evil, and crypto is Good. Weird.

So, here’s my thought on the matter. If DRM is unquestionably and always bad, then let’s get rid of it, and take our crypto with it. If, however, some forms of encryption are good, let’s stop blasting everything carrying even the faintest whiff of DRM just because of that whiff.

Personally, I see a place for DRM in the world of Free/Open software. Consider a signed distribution of, say, the Linux kernel or the Apache web server. The sig provides a means for users to verify the authenticity of their software, ensuring that a nefarious third party hasn’t inserted code which could unduly affect the user’s security. In the hardware interface arena, I can also see a use for basic usage limiting, preventing novice users from installing drivers not intended for their devices. Of course, these methods should be easily overcome, so as not to stifle experimentation and innovation, but as signposts on the way to new tech, they could be incredibly useful.

One final thought for the FSF: Check your facts before you go to print. It’s entirely possible to install free software on an iPhone without going through the App Store and Apple’s vetting process. Just use the Ad-hoc distribution feature Apple’s been talking about since third-party apps were developed. No oversight by Apple, and anyone with the right resources can be up and running quickly and easily.

Oh, and before you start complaining about the $99 you have to pay Apple to push apps to a device, consider this: Most open source projects that provide compilation instructions for Windows rely not on open source tools like Code::Blocks and the GNU compilers, but on Microsoft’s Visual C environment. A onetime fee of $99 is a pittance compared to the hundreds of dollars a ‘real’ (non-Express-Edition) copy of Visual Studio will cost you, not to mention that Microsoft cares not one whit for upholding the ISO C standards if it doesn’t suit their own ends to do so.

Trackback URL

Crypto, DRM, FSF, iPhone