The Null Device

DRM, SSSCA and beyond: a piece on the content industry's war on general-purpose computers.
Perhaps the most likely scenario is this: at some near-future date -- perhaps as early as 2010 -- individuals may no longer be able to do the kinds of things they routinely do with their digital tools in 2001. They may no longer be able, for example, to move music or video files around easily from one of their computers to another (even if the other is just a few feet away in the same house), or to personal digital assistants. Their music collections, reduced to MP3s, may be moveable to a limited extent unless their digital hardware doesn't allow it. The digital videos they shot in 1999 may be unplayable on their desktop and laptop computers -- or even on other devices -- in 2009.

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