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Er din computer virkelig din - og hvor længe?
Det er ikke blot virus og spyware, der forsøger at inficere din computer - det er også diverse former for kopibeskyttelse og statistikfunktioner i Windows og andre kommercielle programmer, som "lige" er nødt til at ringe hjem og fortælle, hvad du gør ved dem lige nu.
Fremragende artikel på Wired.com af sikkerhedseksperten Bruce Schneier:
When technology serves its owners, it is liberating. When it is designed to serve others, over the owner's objection, it is oppressive. There's a battle raging on your computer right now -- one that pits you against worms and viruses, Trojans, spyware, automatic update features and digital rights management technologies. It's the battle to determine who owns your computer.Løsninger? "Brug Linux eller Mac" er et standardråd, der skærer meget (men ikke alt) af. Boykot al kopibeskyttelse så godt du kan, og lad følgelig være med at købe musik hos iTunes eller andre steder, der kun sælger musik med kopibeskyttelse.
You own your computer, of course. You bought it. You paid for it. But how much control do you really have over what happens on your machine? Technically you might have bought the hardware and software, but you have less control over what it's doing behind the scenes.
Using the hacker sense of the term, your computer is "owned" by other people. It used to be that only malicious hackers were trying to own your computers. Whether through worms, viruses, Trojans or other means, they would try to install some kind of remote-control program onto your system. Then they'd use your computers to sniff passwords, make fraudulent bank transactions, send spam, initiate phishing attacks and so on. Estimates are that somewhere between hundreds of thousands and millions of computers are members of remotely controlled "bot" networks. Owned.
Now, things are not so simple. There are all sorts of interests vying for control of your computer. There are media companies that want to control what you can do with the music and videos they sell you. There are companies that use software as a conduit to collect marketing information, deliver advertising or do whatever it is their real owners require. And there are software companies that are trying to make money by pleasing not only their customers, but other companies they ally themselves with. All these companies want to own your computer.
Hvis du er interesseret i, at teknologien skal blive ved med at bidrage til et åbent samfund, er der i hvert fald al mulig grund til at være opmærksom på, hvad der sker på dette område.
Schneier konkluderer således:
Just because computers were a liberating force in the past doesn't mean they will be in the future. There is enormous political and economic power behind the idea that you shouldn't truly own your computer or your software, despite having paid for it.Link (via).