Sorry Ttops, but ET still phones home.

Gog CA1 - That was a very interesting link. Thanks! It was interesting to read the actual patents which are very broad and cover new technologies for a long time to come. Network person computers sounded quite intriguing, and the parts covering my appliances was rich! Billy G wants to make sure that my freezer checks to see if I have paid the grocer or I can't have any pudding! What is his cut in all of this. Yes, that was a spoof but if you read closely it is not that far out.
My concerns about these patents are not about piracy. I, as an artist feel strongly that not paying for intellectual property is theft. A crime, pure and simple. But, MS has a very poor record of securing access to its OSs and third party access to these routines is not a risk I want to take.
http://cryptome.org/ms-drm-os2.htm for quick reference of several patents.

Controlling access to data is an issue that goes beyond platform. Currently the Fritz Chip is the Flavor of the day, but it is just another incarnation of the Clipper Chip from the 90's. The names may have changed but the issues remain the same.

Those who seek to control your information have Tyranny in their hearts.

Computer Lore - Bill Gates was one of the very first victims of software piracy. He wrote one of the first OS's for the Altair called Tiny Basic. Tiny Basic was a gem that only occupied 2k of the 4k of Ram that the Altair had. It came out at the same time as a device to record software on ticker tape (8 possible hole across for each Byte). Well, people had no concept of paying for software at that time and this was one of the first ones for sale. Bill wrote a very interesting letter in one of the early Dr. Dobb's Journals about this. He has good reasons to dislike pirates from way back.