Stardate 20011019.0625 (On Screen): It seems axiomatic to me that any digitally-secured file which can be read and processed by an authorized program can also be cracked and read by an unauthorized program. Since the authorized program has only the file to work with, then whatever is necessary to remove the encryption from it will be embodied in the code for the program and the contents of the file. Both of those are available to someone who is willing to do the work to reverse engineer the process, and once that's done it would be possible to create another program to do the same thing in a manner more benign to the user (i.e. more hostile to the copyright owner).
Case in point: it is claimed that someone has cracked and anonymously posted a program which will remove the encryption from Microsoft's .WMA file format, a mechanism that Microsoft had been pushing for controlled distribution of copyrighted music (i.e. as an alternative to MP3 which would be acceptable to RIAA). No software-only approach is capable of reliably locking up digital rights; it's hardly any wonder that the RIAA is trying to push for mandated hardware protection in all devices capable of processing such things. Buy your new computers now, folks; you may not like the ones they're selling in two years. (Maybe the RIAA proposal is actually a secret plot by Dell and Compaq to try to revive PC sales.) (discuss)
