Local Microsoft executive Terry Allen, on official advice from Microsoft US, declined for the moment to discuss the Next Generation Secure Computing Base for Windows. NGSCB, formerly known as Palladium, includes a combination of hardware and software features evolved by Microsoft, Intel and a number of other industry leaders to digitally sign programs and hardware. Users have expressed considerable concern that NGSCB will give Microsoft more control over their computer systems than they are comfortable with, especially when combined with “rights management” features serving the security concerns of content providers.
Recent rights management sceptics include the New Zealand's State Services Commission's e-government unit, which says it's not the only government to be worried about losing control of its own documents.