>>> DIGITAL -- An editorial in the Boston Sunday Globe (Sept. 3) begs
the question:  Does information want to be free?  Heating up the issue
of copy protection, the writer ponders whether information should be
naturally attributable and focuses on sophisticated anticopying schemes.
     The article cites examples of copy detection, including one for
electronic documents developed at Bell Labs.  The system makes tiny
adjustments to the spacing between words so that each copy of a document
is unique.  The alterations are too small for human eyes to notice, but
they can be detected by a computer.  The result is a "digital watermark"
that's unique to each copy and allows you to analyze and trace an
unauthorized copy back to its source.  While digital watermarking
schemes have many potential uses, the article points out that they serve
primarily as a copying deterrent with the threat of getting caught
rather than with detection.
     To explain why copy-detection schemes needn't be perfect, Bell Labs
scientist John Brassil compares them to padlocks.  Everyone knows that
padlocks can be easily clipped, yet we rely on them as deterrents.  But
why would the average person want to use digital watermarks?  Geoffrey
Rhodes of Digimarc, a start-up company in Portland, Ore., replied, "Why
do artists sign their paintings?"
     The editorial concludes that information wants to be free:  Those
who create the information want credit, and those who consume
information want to know where it comes from.  Copy-detection schemes
answer both needs.