Windows 8 to feature remote software "kill switch"

[JontheEchidna]

http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnew...a-kill-switch/

The very anticipated operating system Windows 8 will have a feature that was never found on PC’s before: A kill switch that can remotely delete software and edit code without the user’s permission. Although Microsoft claims the switch would only be used for software that is downloaded from its app store, no official policies clearly define the actual purpose of the kill switch. In other words, nothing is truly considered “illegal” and that includes issues regarding spying, censorship and free speech. Although the kill switch is promoted as a “tool against malware” it can potentially accomplish much, much more. In fact, it would not be impossible to have all smart-phones and Windows PC’s simultaneously shut down at any given time. The following article from Business Week also mentions the infamous case of Amazon that remotely deleted from user’s Kindle e-readers illegal copies of two books. Which ones? Prepare for intense irony…George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm.

Hmm....

[Teunis]

Scary stuff indeed.

[blobfish]

Orwell was not an author. He was a prophet.

[abear]

I hear that MS will no longer stand for MicroSoft, in the not to distant future it will be known as MegaSnoop.

[MoonRise]

Very scary indeed.

[GreyGeek]

A STRONG case for FOSS!

A software "kill switch" is also possible with FOSS, if one installs the binary and doesn't compile from the vetted source. But, not very many people can examine source to determine if it contains potential malware. Keep your friends close, but keep your FOSS coders closer!

[ScottyK]

It's only to get rid of malware, nothing more! I'm sure it's perfectly safe, and they have NO plans to work with the DOJ to shut down computers of citizens of whom they disagree with.

</sarcasm>

[SteveRiley]

Something similar has been occurring since 2005. You guys know about the Malicious Software Removal Tool, right? Comes with each month's batch of patches. Runs very early at next boot. Here's what it cleans up (the list is continually updated). Take a look at the results of 2nd quarter 2011:



(Source)

Sometimes good can come from these kinds of tools, and I remain a huge fan of the MSRT. But, as the author from Business Week wrote, kill switches are ripe for misuse. I was working at Amazon during the infamous Orwellian deletion of Orwell. Unfun for everyone.

[woodsmoke]

I was working at Amazon during the infamous Orwellian deletion of Orwell. Unfun for everyone.

Hi SR.

You, as with GG, and several others with whom I have exchanged phosphors over the last few years are a very......interesting....person.

I, for one, would be grateful if you would expand on "the repercussions" to the employees at Amazon, or the "feelings" of those involved, or whatever there is that might be of interest to ussins...given that you don't betray anything that could be used against you.

And, if you don't want to....then you somehow missed this post and no fault, no foul.

woodwonderingsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Public messaging is tightly controlled by Amazon's PR department. We were specifically instructed not to say anything during the situation, so I didn't. I won't speak for other Amazonians, as it was something we generally didn't talk amongst ourselves about. Privately, I felt embarrassed, especially since part of my job there was to provide evidence that the AWS cloud is a safe place from which to conduct business.

BTW, I still hold AWS in very high regard. Were I the CIO someplace, I'd run as much of my IT on AWS as possible. There's no way a business can duplicate the resiliency and durability that they offer, for the prices they charge. But I'd also encrypt everything, and not store the keys within the service.

---------

On a somewhat related topic, the movement from analog to digital distribution of content leaves me with only one lingering concern: revocation rights. Books, CDs, DVDs, and tapes enjoy the feature of irrevocability. Once you buy a book, it's yours forever. Digital content that's wrapped with DRM can no longer benefit from irrevocability (*). This has long-term societal implications.

(*) Various measures exist for individuals to reassert irrevocability. The legality of the use of these tools is under debate all across the world. I wish people would pay more attention to this.

[HalationEffect]

With DRM'ed content you don't own any of it*, you merely rent it... or 'have a license to consume' it, if you want to get technical. The part that sticks in my craw is where you're still paying the same (or a very similar) price. You pay basically the same, but for your money you're getting less of what you want (flexibility & freedom of use) and more of what you don't want (DRM that's sometimes tantamount to malware).

When we buy dead-tree books, music on vinyl / tape / CD, video on VHS / DVD / Blu-Ray, we can do pretty much what we want with them, within reason. We can 'consume' (gawd I *hate* that term) the content under whatever circumstances we please. We can loan them to our friends. We can borrow them from our friends. We can sell them on. With DRM'ed digital distribution, we can expect all of that to go away. What we can't expect is for the price to go down to compensate us for what we'll have lost.

Take books for an example. I still have books that I've owned for 25 years or more; I've taken pretty good care of them, and they may well still be in my collection 25 years from now. If I were to buy an e-book reader tomorrow and load it up with books, what are the chances that I'll still be able to read them 25 years from now without having to pay extra somewhere along the way? At the very least, the e-reader device itself probably won't last even nearly that long. Then there's always the point that if I take a dead-tree book on the bus / train / plane and lose it, I've lost only one book. If I replace all my dead-tree books with e-books, then lose or damage my e-reader, I lose my entire library. Even if all my e-books are in 'the cloud', I've lost access to my library until I replace the e-reader.

(* yes, I get that I don't own the words in a book that I bought, but I own that physical copy and may do with it as I see fit)