Peter’s Soapbox

DRM Protection and Netflix Instant Downloads

While taking breaks from World of Warcraft this weekend, I decided to try out Netflix’s new “instant” download service to watch a movie or TV show. Not surprisingly, it requires Internet Explorer to function. Since I happened to be on a Windows machine at that moment, I switched over to  IE to try it. Also not surprisingly, I needed to install the proprietary Netflix Movie Viewer software to play it. While I was reading through the terms of service and license I was agreeing to, I came across this gem:

Security Upgrade
Owners of secure content may also require you to upgrade some of the DRM components on your computer before accessing their content. When you attempt to play such content, Windows Media Player will notify you that a DRM Upgrade is required and then ask for your consent before the DRM Upgrade is downloaded (third party playback software may do the same). If you decline the upgrade, you will not be able to access content that requires the DRM Upgrade; however, you will still be able to access unprotected content and secure content that does not require the upgrade. If you accept the upgrade, Windows Media Player will connect to an Internet site operated by Microsoft and will send a unique identifier along with a Windows Media Player security file. This unique identifier does not contain any personal identifiable information. Microsoft will then replace the security file with a customized version of the file that contains your unique identifier. This increases the level of protection provided by DRM.

Blah, blah blah blah blah, blah blah increases the level of protection provided by DRM.
That’s the part I like. Is it just me, or does this statement sound like DRM is some kind of benefit to me, you know, “for your protection?” Maybe it’s just me, but this kind of protection is right up there with the “advantage” that I get by running Windows Genuine Advantage.

Unix Time Hits 1200000000 Today! Watch it happen!

Today, Unix and derivative operating systems all over the world will have their clocks reach 1200000000. This is the number of seconds which have elapsed since the “dawn of time” (in Unix terms, anyway), or 1970.

If you want to watch your clock flip, just issue this command

watch -n1 date +”%s”

Basic World of Warcraft (and PC) Security Tips

One of my guild’s members’ accounts was hacked this week. This led to a lot of buzz in guild chat, and I figured it would be a good idea to briefly write about some of the myths and misconceptions that came up. Continue reading Basic World of Warcraft (and PC) Security Tips…