Security quotes of the week

By making these and many related choices, I have made parts of my life slightly less easy, or at least less convenient. But I have gained something more important: liberty. I use the devices I purchase as I choose; I decline to live in the increasingly restricted environments that so many technology and communications companies have imposed on their customers. And to the extent that I am able, I’m preventing snoops, corporate and governmental, from watching my every move without my consent. On balance, I believe, I’ve made my life better.

Buying DRMed books is voting with your wallet for a system that criminalizes those that insist on living in freedom and will screw us all in the long run when DRM is the only choice we are offered and removing the DRM is difficult, unsafe, and illegal.

Both Apple and Nintendo argue that their curatorial process also intercepts low-quality and malicious software, preventing it from entering the platform. I don’t doubt their sincerity. But their curatorial model treats owners as adversaries and executes countermeasures to prevent people from knowing what the programs on their devices are doing. It has to, because a user who can fully inspect the operating system and its processes, and terminate or modify processes at will, can subvert the curation and undermine the manufacturer’s profits by choosing to buy software elsewhere.