Can Watermarking Help Find GPL Violations?

Posted by timothy on Sunday October 26, 2003 @08:30AM from the why-couldn't-it dept.

bitkid writes "I recently run across techniques that can be used to watermark program code. While I yet have to see some source code for this to play with, the authors claim that the watermarks can be introduced into the source code and can be found in the compiled executable. My question for the slashdot-crowd is: Do you think free software (GPL or other viral licenses) should be watermarked? This could help to find GPL violations (think Everybuddy or Linksys) or can be used in court someday against the next SCO to prove authorship. What might be the ramifications of this?"

2 of 265 comments (clear)

Re:Beware the flipside by dotgain · 2003-10-26 08:54 · Score: 0, Troll

Umm, call me crazy, but are you new here?
Re:Europeans, mod this up right now!! by merdark · 2003-10-26 16:05 · Score: 0, Troll

Wow, the amount of snotty ego in your post just *screams* "I AM AMERICAN". Do you ever wonder why the rest of the world hates Americans?

Here, educate yourself. And don't worry, it's your own academics presenting this material so it's cosher.

http://www.projectcensored.org/

Yes, this is Univeristy sponsored, and accurate.