Microsoft Applies To Patent DRM'ed OS Modules

wellingj writes "Microsoft has applied for a patent that sounds on the face of it like it ought to improve OS stability and reliability: the patent proposes to modularize device drivers much like Linux does. But, going further, Microsoft would apply DRM to these modules — as Groklaw puts it, 'using modularity plus DRM to restrict and contain and enforce.' The net result is that you might have to pay extra for OS hardware support. Things like USB keys, DVD-ROMS, Raid drives, and video cards might not be supported out of the box. LXer indulges in some dystopian speculation."

DRM leads to DMCA

[Anonymous Coward]

DMCA makes it illegal to 'bypass' the access controls required to add functionality. So Microsoft can charge a fee for every piece of hardware that needs to be supported. Okay, maybe nobody could be that greedy and unscrupulous. Then again...

Re:Go go Microsoft

[jimstapleton]

While I agree with you on the effects on the Microsoft side of the house, I don't agree with the Hardware Manufacturer side of the house. Simply put: Microsoft making DRMed driver modules does not affect an hardware manufacturers at all in regards to wanting to open-source their drivers.

Ex: ATi and nVidia cannot open source their drivers because of legal issues with patents and trademarks held by [if I remember correctly] SGI and possibly several others, whose technologies allow the drivers to work.

What this will do is increase the cost of driver development in the Windows side, a market the manufacturers can neither drop nor ignore. Likewise, this could also decrease the extra cash flow into the company, and potentially diminish the resources available for the in-house drivers designed for Linux/BSD. So this could potentially hurt Linux/BSD in many ways as well. It just depends on how profitable making those drivers available is.

Re:As I've said before...

[level_headed_midwest]

Suppose, for example, that you want to use the latest and greatest video card. You already pay for the drivers - there's a reason why cheap video cards crash the system more often than expensive ones

Maybe that used to be true, but today the trend is towards unified drivers that are the same on every GPU that is supported. So that 3-year-old card that cost you $30 new uses the same drivers as the $700 brand-new, top-of-the-line card for that manufacturer. Why people buy a better graphics card is mostly just to get better performance, but sometimes the better cards have extra features such as dual DVI monitor support, video-in capability, or HDMI support- things that low-end cards usually lack.