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Comment by pstop | Hacker News Reader

> It's not more nonsense than DRM treating all its users as potential criminals by default. It is nonsense, treating a user as a criminal is not a security threat. DRM is just encryption, and although I'll agree that some containers (flash primarily) have been vectors, so has every other piece of software that has any filesystem access. The DRM itself is NOT a security threat.

I dislike DRM, and clearly envision a day where it's no longer used. But your argument doesn't address the article, nor does it add any value to the DRM conversation as a whole. Again, cheerleading.

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It addresses the criticism of the article which (criticism) misses the forest behind the trees. I.e. Netflix deserves to be viewed as a threat indeed. Just for different reasons.

> It is nonsense, treating a user as a criminal is not a security threat. DRM is just encryption

Tell it to these folks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit

Or to security experts: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_window...

DRM is obviously a security threat because of its very nature.

Nope. Still not understanding.

It's really simple. Trust is a mutual relation. I.e. since DRM always views users as potential criminals, it's natural always to view DRM as potential malware (and thus a security threat).

Here it's put in easy to understand terms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgFbqSYdNK4

Practice proves that point spectacularly, because DRM always has an overreaching unethical nature (since it's an overreaching preemptive policing which uses the logic of presumption of guilt). As the Sony exec voiced the core idea behind DRM:

> We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source - we will block it at your cable company. We will block it at your phone company. We will block it at your ISP. We will firewall it at your PC... These strategies are being aggressively pursued because there is simply too much at stake.

(See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit#Background ).

I.e. overreaching nature of DRM straight from the DRM proponents mouth. And it applies to all DRM by its very definition.

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