February 9th, 2006
Digital Watermarking for MP3 Files to Eliminate DRM?
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
We can hope can’t we? The Fraunhofer Institute, who developed MP3 audio compression, has developed prototype technology to help curb the sharp rise in online music piracy. It’s a software system, based on their digital watermarking technology, for tracking pirated audio files in P2P networks.
(Michael) Kip (spokesperson for the institute) referred to the Fraunhofer approach as an alternative to DRM (digital rights management) systems, which he says require special players and are prone to hacking.
The Fraunhofer approach differs from others in that it doesn’t monitor the individuals who illegally download music but rather scans for content that has been illegally uploaded.
“If, for instance, you purchase and download a CD, burn a copy and give it to a friend and that person puts it on a file sharing network, our system will trace that music back to you and, depending on the legal system of the country you’re in, you could be [hit] with an expensive fine,” Kip says. Fraunhofer envisions the prototype software as an application that content providers can install on their own servers for automatically monitoring P-to-P networks around the clock. Source: PC World
We Say: If you’ve been reading our articles about Sony’s DRM, you will recall what a pain it was. It would be nice if this could eliminate the need for DRM, but honestly, as this does nothing to prevent someone from trading CDs, I don’t see that happening. It would definitely affect P2P, though.
zack says:
I fail to see how this would even put a dent in online music piracy. The vast majority of MP3s that get spread around the net are ripped from their original CDs into wav files by pirate groups, then encoded as MP3s, a process which will not be affected by this.
Perhaps this is slated as a forward-looking technology which will become more applicable as music moves primarily to the net. The watermarking is based on hiding miniscule changes to portions of the media, but this could be thwarted by re-encoding using software designed to make miniscule changes intended to destroy this watermark data. Naturally, if they employed more sophisticated algorithms that could work around this, it would just be a back-and-forth game that is already being played and won between DRM and expert hackers such as the well-known Jon “DVD Jon” Johansen.
The iTunes Music Store is very successful, coming up on their billionth-downloaded song, because it is fast, easy, and reasonably priced. It amazes me that it has taken this many years for something like ITMS to arrive. The RIAA believes that piracy is an enormous threat to their business, but common sense and the success of the ITMS tell me that most people think copyright of some fashion is a good thing, and most people are inclined to do the legal thing in this case, even if it is easy not to. Since the days of Napster, it has been easier to steal music than buy music. If the industry focused on delivering a better distribution medium than P2P in its current state, they would not have to worry as much about piracy.
Certainly piracy is a problem, but when I read articles such as this I have difficulty supporting their tactics in fighting it.
February 9th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Stephen says:
I don’t have a problem with this. However, I don’t think fining the owner of a CD for what a friend does with it will stand up in any court. What if I download a CD, burn it, but then decided I didn’t really want it and just gave my friend the copy and deleted any copies on my PC? Am I responsible for what he does with the file?
I wouldn’t even mind seeing a really locked down DRM that kept you from doing anything with the file but transferring it to a portable player or play over your local network. No burning (who needs that if we can put it on a portable player for use in the car?). However, the price on these files would need to come way down to make this work…say about a a nickel or a dime. The reasoning behind the low price is you’ve made the file almost disposable. Why bother to pirate if the cost is so low. Sure there will be some that will still do it, but it would be a lot of hassle to the far majority of downloaders, especially when combined with watermarking.
I think the real cost for an MP3 file should be between a penny and a nickel.
February 10th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Michael Santo says:
That’s a very good point, Stephen. I can see this will still have to be refined.
February 10th, 2006 at 7:52 am
Eric says:
I don’t understand how they plan to force consumers to watermark their files. What would prevent them from using a compression format that doesn’t identify them, such as .ogg, for instance?
Water marking is cool for the owner of the material. You could use it to embed an official URL into files, for instance, where listeners could check to verify the rights you’ve granted for the material. The advantage this has over tags is that properly created watermarks are much more difficult to change. And, FYI, audio watermarking has been around for years. I wonder why it hasn’t seen heavy use…
February 10th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Microsoft patenta watermark libre de DRM para música pero « PaQueSepas says:
[…] PERO hay un detalle. Esta tecnología no es nueva. Ni siquiera sé por qué Microsoft la está patentando. El Fraunhofer Institute, que son los creadores del MP3, disenio esta tecnología en el anio 2000. No sé si hace exactamente lo mismo, pero por lo poco que he leído parece ser que sí. Aquí y aquí un par de artículos en inglés sobre el watermark del Fraunhofer Institute. […]
September 13th, 2007 at 4:19 am
Truth says:
ITS GOING TO BE AN EPIC FAILURE!
September 9th, 2008 at 1:56 pm