[FYI] MS May Have File-Trading Answer

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,43389,00.html

-------------------------------- CUT --------------------------------

MS May Have File-Trading Answer 

By Declan McCullagh  

2:00 a.m. May. 1, 2001 PDT  

PITTSBURGH -- Microsoft has developed a prototype system that limits 
unauthorized playback of music by embedding a watermark that remains 
permanently attached to audio files.  

During a security workshop on Friday, a Microsoft Research scientist 
demonstrated how the hidden copyright fingerprint is so securely 
affixed to the audio that it remains intact even if a jazz song is 
played aloud on speakers in a noisy room and then re-recorded.  

[...]  

Such technology could be included as a default playback mechanism in 
future versions of the Windows operating system. If the music 
industry begins to include watermarks in its song files, Windows 
would refuse to play copyrighted music released after a certain date 
that was obtained illegally.  

Microsoft Research has also invented a separate watermarking system 
that relies on graph theory -- a concept borrowed from computer 
science -- to hide watermarks in software.  

[...]

-------------------------------- CUT --------------------------------