Linux can lead in reviving competition

Operating Systems can benefit from encryption even without encrypted computing.

Encrypted computing has been described. Hollywood is aware that bootlegging can be minimized by encrypting separately for every digital projector. 

This could work for MP3's as well. CD rippers would have to be modified to accept a user account encryption key with a distinct rip for every instance of an installed OS. Legacy CD's themselves would not be affected. Later, each CD might have it's own decryption key, but that leads to users needing extensive key-rings, with a unique key for any of 50 or more CD's. MP3's purchased online could be encrypted by the vendor.

We also theorize that computer OS's can be made harder to steal, if each copy of the OS has it's own unique key. Microsoft already has an authentication key, but it does not encrypt the distributed copy with it. 

Business solves a problem when it encrypts separately for every user, but the problem of bootlegging is only addressed with real force, if the key is necessary to use/run the application.

Theorize an OS with an encryption key, that encrypts even the applications with the user password. When you purchase it, you purchase it by providing the encryption key that you intend to use, and it comes encrypted. The OS is written so that the user password is employed every time an application is launched, to actually decrypt the object code. 

The applications themselves would run unencrypted in RAM.

The password need not be re-entered at every launch of a program, but rather the user account could accept the password at login, and the login password could be the same as the user account. 

Under this model, an unencrypted copy would be hard to use or distribute bootleg. The bootlegger would be tasked, first with decrypting, then with re-encrypting each bootleg copy with the key of the user that he was stealing it for. 

It would have the side effect of making two users on the same PC require a separate instance of the program object code, to run on the same machine, because they each have a unique user password. This could be accomplished with the purchase of two licenses, or compiling some source code twice, once for each user account.

This works for commercial applications - how does it affect a student or an amateur programmer? 

His compiler would be responsible for encrypting the app in such a way that it required the user account password to run. Then, if he chose to distribute it, he would be responsible for encrypting it separately for each user he favored with a copy.

Compiling is different than executing, so this might be a doable solution, that would be worth researching the details.
 

It would be to the advantage of the programmer, not to save ANY unencrypted copies. Source files would be encrypted as text, and the compiler would encrypt for the user account, when compiling. Text files would be unencrypted in RAM, and transferred over email, just as we currently do.

Compiled instances then would be saved by the compiler ready to use the account password to run. To compile for a different user, the compiler would have to ask for the password of the third party. Would it be secure, to share this information?


Since decryption is required to launch, an unencrypted copy would be distributable, but only to individuals who invested in compilers of their own. This does not affect the distribution of compilers themselves. If they come as part of the OS, they match the user account, and if you download/purchase them online, you provide your key as a credential.

To spy on a computer, could you boot an OS instance with a stolen credential, and come in over Internet Protocol, stealing data as if it was the same machine? It certainly would make mass surveillance inconvenient.


When I encrypt my Linux partition, the files are stored encrypted. When I mount the partition, I expect that a third party coming in over Internet Protocol can download the file unencrypted. Currently, a mounted encrypted container is similar to an unencrypted container. I believe that there is block encryption that can accommodate random access. I have seen it on Trucrypt. 

Finally, this would leave an inevitable weak link: An unencrypted copy of the OS would be valuable to steal. The thief could then encrypt it for as many friends as he liked. However, this would be mitigated by current authentication protocols.

If the Linux community solved this problem before Microsoft (or Apple, or Google Android,) they could monetize distribution, and solve a major problem for American capitalism. It's a lot to ask, but it might be commercially worth it!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Question About Erasthmus' Sieve

Students of Mathematics are familiar with Erasthmus' Sieve. 2     x 3          x                4       x 5               x 6     x     x 7 8     x 9          x 10       x          x 11 12     x     x 13 14     x 15          x     x 16     x 17 18     x     x 19 20     x          x 21          x 22     x 23 First, we strike all multiples of 2 up to the square root (5.) Then all multiples of 3, then all multiples of 5, etc. I wrote a digital implementation of the Sieve, and used the index cr...
Read more

Notice of corrupted results: Vigenere may yet be found to be a "group."

Retraction: It is with regret that I do not delete the previous post. I am an individual, not an organization, and I failed to adequately double-check my results, but I am leaving the post to maintain some accountability. I am able to definitively say that the script for 2chars_from_file.py DOES NOT yield an exhaustive list. It develops the ciphertext for all 2 Char combinations of the FIRST 10, three character ciphertexts. This is not due to a logic error, but rather there is a virus that corrupts the indentation of the two write statements.  This may be verified by downloading the relevant code, and examining it, and running it if needed, against the relevant datafile. It is difficult to be exhaustively correct about ALL of the scripts. This calls ALL of my results in question, with regard to the qualification of a mathematical group. If Vigenere IS a group, the resulting substitution is still valid, but there exist 6 Char passwords that will accomplish the same encryption in ONE...
Read more

A Simple Rule for the Stock Market

The Stock Market is where the wealth of America is stored. As such, it is best when the stock market faithfully reflects the ups and downs of the economy. Stock market corrections are how the stock market reflects setbacks to the economy. This is good, as far as it goes, but in fact, when a stock market correction occurs, it is not well understood where the value of labor, goods and services stored in the stock market goes.  The whole idea that rising stock prices reflect improvements in the economy, is that this is the result of good investments. Investing is an act of devoting time, effort, or energy to a particular undertaking with the expectation of a worthwhile result. An investment is proven to be a good one, when it pays off after a duration of time. If you buy a stock, you wait for it to rise in price, and sell it at the appropriate time. "Buy low, Sell high," is how stock brokers explain their craft. How long should you hold a stock? This has always been up to the ow...
Read more