Watermarking to replace DRM?:
Watermarking has been in the news twice in the past week. First, Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk revealed that Universal will insert watermarks in the DRM-free files it's distributing through Rhapsody, Amazon.com and other online stores.
Then, Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it's licensing audio watermarking technology developed by its research division to a company called Activated Content. (Microsoft Research used to be devoted entirely to building technology that would later be incorporated into Microsoft products, but a couple of years ago it began to license technology through its IP Ventures program.) read more... »
www.kansascity.com | 04/15/2007 | Firms developing protection for high-def digital signals: "Two companies are introducing technology to thwart people who make illegal copies of video-on-demand and cable television pay-per-view content.
Both systems, one from Philips Electronics and the other from Cinea Inc., a unit of Dolby Laboratories Inc., insert an invisible digital watermark into the content before it is viewed.
The digital fingerprint contains information that would allow a cable TV company to identify the specific cable subscriber. read more... »
TimesDispatch.com | Copyright-protection battle moves to digital TV: "LOS ANGELES Two companies are introducing technology to thwart people who make illegal copies of video-on-demand and cable television pay-per-view content.
The systems, one from Philips Electronics and one from Cinea Inc., a unit of Dolby Laboratories Inc., insert an invisible digital watermark into the content before it is viewed.
The digital fingerprint contains information that would allow a cable TV company to identify a specific cable subscriber. read more... »