Trusted Computing Platform: Here it is folks

while researching what hardware to get for my HTPC
I stumbled onto this

http://www.nvidia.com//page/gpu_mobo...es.html#quadro

Trusted Platform Module 1.2 Security Chip Enables next generation Microsoft Vista security features.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module

Its three most controversial features are remote attestation, binding, and sealing. Remote attestation creates an unforgeable summary of the software on a computer, allowing a third party (such as a digital music store) to verify that the software has not been compromised. Sealing encrypts data in such a way that it may be decrypted only in the exact same state (that is, it may be decrypted only on the computer it was encrypted running the same software). Binding encrypts data using the TPM Endorsement Key (a unique RSA key put in the chip during its production) or another 'trusted' key . The first feature is seen as a potential threat to privacy by many, while the second and the third are often seen as a herald to Digital Rights Management systems of unprecedented restrictiveness. Direct anonymous attestation improves privacy, but is still considered insufficient by some.

was looking at nvidia based motherboard

wouldnt be suprised if other motherboards and chipsets crop up soon with it.

I have moved this to General as it's not strictly Linux news.

we got to boycott these products.

From the wiki:

Trusted Platform Module is a hardware chip embedded on the motherboard that can be used to authenticate a hardware device.

Does anyone know if the chip can be removed, or whether there is any method of circumventing it?

Don't worry, if TC is adopted in a wide way, we'll have a whole new cottage industry which thrives on hardware modding to circumvent it.

I'll try to avoid buying such devices, definitely... but I'll definitely mod my hardware if I'm absolutely forced to buy any TC device.

was looking at AM2 socket motherboard with Quadro built in video and north bridge. not sure if the security chip is seperate chip that can be toyed with. MSI K9NBPM2-FID and Asus M2NBP-VM

information is on the net. hardware is coming out I would hazard to guess 2007 tech is going to be loaded with DRM and security features that are not kind to linux as if linux had it easy to begin with.

its already adopted by many companies/corporations otherwise it wouldnt be coming out now. big names Intel,AMD,IBM,Microsoft,RedHat,Novell etc.
lots and lots of companies.

When you discover which is the latest-greatest motherboard without that chip, please post. I'll be interested in a board built to accommodate more than 1 processor. Hopefully by the time that board is obsolete, there will be methods or hardware in place to allow a choice of whether or not hardware DRM should be used.

This is bad news for some vista users, I guess, but since many of us will likely never use vista (myself included), I don't see the point in being alarmed. Does anyone see the possibility that the open source world will adopt these weird, greedy, draconian schemes? The linux-oriented companies will almost certainly use it for legitimate security in an enterprise mileu, and it will be an option you can turn off if you don't want it, just as just about everything is now. If the chip is not enabled and utilized restrictively, it will just be there in an easily-forgettable way.

If anything, this technology will drive more people toward linux.

probably its a good thing ...

i mean you cant run linux if there is windows somewhere on your disks ...


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pretty soon we might not even be able to use linux anymore. emails and documents we make won't "work" on other computers, our ISPs might not allow linux computers onto the internet, and it might even be illegal to run an open source OS or application. all the TC/DRM crap is definitely very, very bad news.

http://www.lobby4linux.com/
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html

probably only a linux only computer can communicate to another linux(or linux friendly) only computer ...


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I don't see the point in being alarmed.

Good for you. Keep your blinders on and forge ahead. Don't worry, be happy.

I want a state of the art motherboard pre- Trusted Platform Module Security Chip. There is no way to know exactly what that chip is capable of doing

I've read most of the debates concerning DCMA and Trusted Computing but far from clarifying the situation it's only confused it more than ever in my mind.

It's bizarre in a sense that one doesn't get a full idea or implications of it... it's like a fog of war situation right now for the majority of us as to how badly it will affect the end user.

This all reminds me of the whole Pentium III ID chip saga, where some unique ID was assigned to each processor, allowing you to be uniquely identified. It seems that it fell by the wayside; hopefully this will too.

>> "Quote:I don't see the point in being alarmed.

Good for you. Keep your blinders on and forge ahead. Don't worry, be happy.

I want a state of the art motherboard pre- Trusted Platform Module Security Chip. There is no way to know exactly what that chip is capable of doing"


i think eerok has a point ...

as long as we remain using only plain text in everything and its open for all on earth to peek at , i see no great problems with that as long as we dont waste our time on silly pc things ...

anyway , it wont be a threat , i mean at least it wont be a "warring" threat , this sort of threat are for other more important worldly issues if we choose to worry about this and that minutely i guess ...

actually i dont understand this one ... for the internet connectivity problem , isnt it sound too far fetched ??


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