[Infowarrior] - A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

[Richard Forno]

A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection
===================================================

Peter Gutmann, pgut001 at cs.auckland.ac.nz
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt Last updated 22
December 2006

Executive Summary -----------------

Windows Vista includes an extensive reworking of core OS elements in order
to provide content protection for so-called "premium content", typically HD
data from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources.  Providing this protection incurs
considerable costs in terms of system performance, system stability,
technical support overhead, and hardware and software cost.  These issues
affect not only users of Vista but the entire PC industry, since the effects
of the protection measures extend to cover all hardware and software that
will ever come into contact with Vista, even if it's not used directly with
Vista (for example hardware in a Macintosh computer or on a Linux server).
This document analyses the cost involved in Vista's content protection, and
the collateral damage that this incurs throughout the computer industry.

Executive Executive Summary ---------------------------

The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the
longest suicide note in history.

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http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt