Linux Magazine: Microsoft’s Power Play

“Although the scope of the initial project was limited, as
research progressed Microsoft began to realize that its work could
address a lot more than just DVD copying. Within a few years, the
relatively minor effort grew to the point where its designs sought
to fundamentally change the way PCs are built. Biddle’s virtual
vaults would now store digital certificates that could control
everything–operating systems, applications, media, and even
documents–on Microsoft computers. Hollywood’s fears would be
allayed because the system would prevent unauthorized duplication
of music and DVDs. But more than that, Microsoft would now have a
mechanism for better controlling what software would be trusted to
run on personal computers.

“In 1999, Microsoft, Intel, and three computer vendors signed up
for what would become known as the Trusted Computing Platform
Alliance–a multi-vendor effort to define a hardware profile for
secure systems. Within a couple of years, the TCPA had released its
first hardware specification–a design just now appearing in PC
systems as part of Intel’s LeGrande processor architecture.

“But Microsoft has started to diverge from the TCPA effort. In a
story leaked to Newsweek this spring, Microsoft revealed plans to
develop its own hardware and software specifications called
Palladium. Though no code or detailed hardware specifications are
expected before 2004, Microsoft says that Palladium and TCPA should
be considered entirely separate. ‘If nothing in TCPA changes,’ says
Microsoft Product Unit Manager for Palladium Peter Biddle, ‘then
nothing in TCPA and Palladium would be shared…'”

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