From: Alan Olsen <alano@teleport.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 95 23:57:36 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Digital Fingerprinting
Message-ID: <199509160657.XAA02345@desiree.teleport.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 12:28 PM 9/15/95 +5, you wrote:

>Another  way is to place the document in a PItA proprietary graphical
>format for transport and viewing only, stego identifier imbedded if
>you chose * , so that every portion of the document has some
>indentifier imbedded in it. Many obvious and many devious. Electronic
>drawings with a harmless and useless circuit(s) added on , software
>with do nothing code (by design!:) ).  Difficult and time consuming
>to do, but for megabuck items, no prob. Automated for an additional
>fee of course. Start a service industry for such, make money, pay me
>back by running a fast, reliable remailer.

I seem to remember a software piracy case from a number of years back.  The
case was settled by Apple showing that their code had been copied by the
copyright "easteregg" hidden in the roms.  Made for a quick and effective
demonstration in court.  (The story may be apocryphal, but it makes for an
example as to how such things do have a (supposed) valid use in protecting
code from being snagged by  other companies.)

|  Minister of Forced Caffinization in the DNRC   | alano@teleport.com   |
|"The moral PGP Diffie taught Zimmerman unites all| Disclaimer:          |
| mankind free in one-key-steganography-privacy!" | Ignore the man       |
|   -- PGP 2.6.2 key available on request --      |  behind the keyboard.|
|         http://www.teleport.com/~alano          |       <fnord>        |