<< None of this is a cinch. One hurdle is getting people to trust Microsoft . To diffuse the inevitable skepticism, the Redmondites have begun educational briefings of industry groups, security experts, government agencies and civil-liberties watchdogs. Early opinion makers are giving them the benefit of the doubt. “I’m willing to take a chance that the benefits are more than the potential downside,” says Dave Farber, a renowned Internet guru. “But if they screw up, I’ll squeal like a bloody pig.” Microsoft is also publishing the system’s source code. “We are trying to be transparent in all this,” says Allchin. >>
Bill Gates will never consider doing this, but what Microsoft ought to do is spin Palladium off into a separate, not-for-profit corporation totally independent from Microsoft itself (except for exchanging standards information) and make the technology, etc., completely free and even open-source to the rest of humanity. Microsoft obviously doesn't need any more money, and this would be a good way for them to defuse suspicions that anything and everything they do is intended to further their monopoly. But they'll never do it. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
