As Expected, Labels Now Want To Use Privacy-Reducing Watermarks As 'Cloud DRM'
from the good-luck-with-that dept
For quite some time now, the record labels have believed that if they couldn't put old school copy protection on music files, the "next best thing" would be watermarks. This idea started showing up more than five years ago and when iTunes finally went DRM free, we were among those who pointed out that the files still contained identifying watermarks, in that the files themselves included info on who purchased the files. Two years ago we pointed out how these were a serious problem from a privacy perspective and it was best not to go down that road.Surprise, surprise. The industry didn't listen.
As a bunch of you are submitting, with streaming/cloud music suddenly becoming popular, apparently the record labels are demanding that companies use such watermarks as a new type of privacy-invading DRM:
The labels, say our source, are demanding that a user can only stream music that is watermarked to their username. Change the username, or try to stream music that you've ripped from a CD, and those songs won't play.While a bunch of people submitting this seem to think the watermarking is new, it's not. That part of the story has been known for years. But what is new (if not surprising) is that the labels are trying to lock up streaming services by using the watermarks as a weak form of DRM. Of course, like any form of DRM it won't work. Instead, it will annoy legitimate users who are stopped from listening to music they legally obtained the rights to. And, on top of that, it will put their privacy at risk. And for what purpose?
New decade. Same story.
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Filed Under: cloud, drm, privacy, watermarks
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Not Actually Watermarking
The upside to all this is, changing the metadata - either by removing your own details for privacy reasons, or adding details to make a track compatible with a cloud-based DRM scheme - doesn't seem to be a violation of the DMCA, at least not on the surface.
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Re: Not Actually Watermarking
Umm, that's what watermarks *are*.
I don't know if it's similar to the ID3 metadata scheme or not, but it should be rather easy to alter.
"Easy" is relative, and doesn't make it legal.
The upside to all this is, changing the metadata - either by removing your own details for privacy reasons, or adding details to make a track compatible with a cloud-based DRM scheme - doesn't seem to be a violation of the DMCA, at least not on the surface.
I disagree. It would clearly be an illegal DMCA violation.
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Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
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Re: Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
You've got it backwards: watermarking is a way to attach metadata, not the other way around.
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Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
This consumer-based information actually appears in the file's header, and can be accessed through any number of editing tools (including the default media players bundled into most OSes) as plain text.
With regards to how this would be a clear DMCA violation, I'd like to see your logic on that. As stated in the DMCA Section 1201(a)(3):
(A) to circumvent a technological measure means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner;
Now, this data is maintained in plaintext, so there is no descrambling nor decrypting. The question then seems to fall to the issue of whether that metadata is protected under copyright - and that answer seems to be no, as the metadata itself is examples of facts.
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Re: Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
None of which means that they are not metadata. You seem to be using a logical fallacy. While watermarks are a form of metadata, the converse is not necessarily true. Just as because chihuahuas are dogs does not mean that dogs are necessarily chihuahuas.
Now, this data is maintained in plaintext, so there is no descrambling nor decrypting.
The DMCA says "...or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner;". Notice the word "or" there. "Or" does not mean the same thing as "and" (look it up if you don't believe me). Again, another logical fault on your part.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
None of which means that they are not metadata.
Yeah, it actually does. Metadata is data about the data. Watermarks are contained within the data. Therefore they are separate things. Consider the orginal use of the term - it was a mark on a physical piece of paper so you could see where it came from. It was not a note attached to the page, it was embedded in the paper. The same is true of digital watermarking.
As wikipedia puts it, "While some file formats for digital media can contain additional information called metadata, digital watermarking is distinct in that the data is carried in the signal itself."
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Not Actually Watermarking
False conclusion. Being contained within the data does not mean watermarks are not metadata. Indeed, they are a form of embedded metadata. Since you cited Wikipedia, perhaps you should have read the article on metadata over there too to save yourself the embarrassment of looking ignorant. From Wikipedia: "Metadata can be stored either internally, in the same file as the data, or externally, in a separate file. Metadata that is embedded with content is called embedded metadata."
As wikipedia puts it, "While some file formats for digital media can contain additional information called metadata, digital watermarking is distinct in that the data is carried in the signal itself."
Yes, it is a distinct type of embedded metadata. And because a Chihuahua is a distinct type of dog does not mean that it is not also a dog. Logic isn't your strong suit, is it?
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Confused for a sec...
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Re: Confused for a sec...
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Re: Re: Confused for a sec...
Why would anyone want to purchase something which is of less quality than was available yesterday?
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Re:
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Re: You move house but you don't move your computer...
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Re: Re: You move house but you don't move your computer...
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Re: Re: Re: You move house but you don't move your computer...
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Re: Re: You move house but you don't move your computer...
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Although I admit I don't know how well that'd transfer over during compression to MP3 or AAC or some other format.
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Re: MP3 Compression
This is how I understand it--though I may be wrong.
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i have a dewatermarker for ebooks WORKS great
stop now and quit wasting money and maybe instead offer it cheaper so that people can afford it.
ALSO drop terms on copyrights to 14 years and quit whining you lazy whiners.
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New Decade?
Mathematically speaking; the next decade doesn't start until January 1st, 2011.
the Gregorian Calendar started counting at year 1; so 1-10 is a decade; and the next decade starts in year 11. 11-20 is another decade and the next decade starts in year 21. And so on..
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Next year.
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AC@2:40PM
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Re: AC@2:40PM
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In general, I don't really buy the privacy arguments: there is far more personal data about me in other parts of my ipod touch than there is in the music files. Non-DRM watermarking seems like a good compromise between the content industries' interests in catching original uploaders of infringing content (or at least the not-so-smart among them) and the public's interests in being able to make lawful use of content.
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Oh Dear
Basically watermarking can work in two modes.
In the first mode the "protected" material has a watermark added that simply identifies it as "protected". All copies have exactly the same watermark. Using various cryptographic methods they attempt to make the watermark impossible to remove without distorting the material unacceptably. Some progress has been made here - although it is not entirely convincing. Of course for this to work the technology has to be crippled in some way to make it block watermarked content without some kind of "unlocking code" being present. Although the industry tried to impose this a few years back (As a means of plugging the analogue hole - remember "Fritz's Hit list" on Freedom to tinker) I think they have now given up on it.
The second mode - which seems to be being proposed here - is where every file has a different watermark - and hence it becomes traceable back to the original purchaser.
This is probably rather harder to do securely - since in addition to all the usual attacks you also have the possibility of comparing files with different watermarks - which makes it much easier to find the watermarks and remove them.
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Cloud services
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Take stream A, modulate by instance variant pattern.
Result: unique A'.
Inverse Watermarking process:
Obtain multiple copies of A'.
Any common data is by definition non-identifying; copy as is.
Any data locations for which there is not a perceptibly common point take the average of and then add a random but imperceptibly different value to.
The resulting stream should still be within perceptible tolerance and lack the watermarks.
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Since When...
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Re:
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Re:
Because illegal sharing is not the only way the data can be exposed. There are many others and having personal information embedded in your music files makes you much more vulnerable to them.
help.
If you weren't trolling, then consider yourself "helped". :)
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