SDMI Technologist Talal Shamoon Interview

A reader writes "Salon has an interesting interview with one of the brains behind SDMI. Watermarks in music? Talal Shamoon, a key technologist for the SDMI, says that he's found the key to protecting copyrighted tunes."

Comments

The *Correct* Use for Watermarks

[ewhac]

It's disappointing to see such an otherwise brilliant man so completely taken in by the media companies' need to protect their works -- a need which has never been convincingly demonstrated; to protect works which, strictly speaking, aren't theirs to begin with, but the originating artist's.

However, digital watermarking does have an important use in the infinite abundance of the digital universe, and it's not what Mr. Shamoon has been led to believe. Watermarks have a compelling use not as a basis for copy protection/management (erroneously referred to as "rights management"), but rather for reputation management.

Think forward to an age where everything -- including physical objects -- can be copied infinitely and perfectly at zero cost. Attempting to control copying in such a world becomes utterly pointless, not to mention childishly foolish. However, being able to track down the original artist(s) behind a given work will become extremely important. One way to do this is with difficult-to-remove watermarks. By scanning the work and recovering the watermark, you are able to identify the original artist, possibly to negotiate with them to do additional, similar work, and you're able to make this identification no matter how many hands the work has passed through. Thus, the artist is assured that their reputation will be preserved, and the recipient of the work knows they can track back directly to the originator rather than a faceless publishing house.

If Mr. Shamoon were to re-think his strategy from identifying and protecting copies (again, a pointless exercise in the digital universe) to identifying and protecting artists, I think he would find a good deal more support from artists, technologists, and consumers.

As for this new SDMI stuff, be very alert for it, as the media corporations are arm-twisting high-tech companies to cram it into everything. For example, Intel is working very hard to incorporate SDMI-like "features" into IEEE-1394 (FireWire). Also, the new Digital Flat Panel signalling standards from the Digital Display Working Group have space in the specs reserved for similar copy protection measures.

Personally, I can't understand why the high-tech companies are giving these guys the time of day. They won't be buying these devices; the consumer will, and the consumer has already made it clear they don't want this stuff.

Schwab

How do you pronounce SDMI?

[FattMattP]

A lot of these abbreviations seem to have simple pronounciations that come about. SCSI being pronounced as "scuzzy" being one. I've heard a lot of people pronounce SDMI as "sodomy" and others pronouncing it as "sid my." Is there a correct pronounciation?

Cluestick!

[MostlyHarmless]

Do I think that Gnutella will move in where Napster stopped? I personally don't, the reason being that Gnutella requires you to set up a direct connection with an individual you've never met. So where the dangers surrounding Napster, regarding viruses and child molesters, were moderately nebulous, they're going to be very severe with Gnutella.

OK, the author here needs a HUGE whack on the head with a cluestick. With napster, you ask a central server for a song, and then you set up a direct connection. With gnutella, the only difference is that you have to do so before you log on. He's right so far. But then he goes on to say that this increases the risk of virii. Grade A prime bull. You can't possibly get a virus unless you actually transfer a song. No client is brain-damaged enough that it will accept code (vbs or otherwise) from its nearest node without asking for it. And the stuff about child molesters is pure garbage. Chat is chat, whether or not you're using a decentralized server. Knowing someone's ip address doesn't help you hunt down their house.

--

SDMI can't work

[chazR]

1. Fact #1: To hear it, you have to stream it.
2. Fact #2: If you can stream it, you can copy it.
3. Fact #3: If you leave unnecesary data (a watermark) in the stream, it is possible to identify the unnecessary data
4. Fact #4: If you can identify unneccesary data, you can remove it.

The only hard bit is identifying the unnecessary data. But, it's only a form of steganography. If you know the message is there, then all you have to do is find it. It may be hard, but given the past history of the companies involved with SDMI, it won't be *very* hard.

This is another example of the 'Trusted Client' problem There ain't no such puppy as a trusted client. There can't be.

The millions being invested in SDMI is a waste. I hope the people involved have a *very* good set of excuses ready for when the shareholders start asking where the money went.

In the meantime, I will pay for the music I listen to. I'll pay for the DVDs I want to watch. But I'll play them on the platform *I* choose.

Share and Enjoy.