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The Secure digital Music Initiative, a
scheme developed by a consortium of music industry heavyweight and
technology companies to prevent the piracy of music on the internet. Sdmi aims
to counter the threat posed by mp3, a way of recording music from
cds that makes it easy to distribute electronically. It uses
encryption and watermarking techniques to discourage unauthorised
copying and distribution. Many companies initially expressed support for
sdmi's proposals, including manufactures of portable music players that
can store music in memory rather than on moving disks.
Believers in
sdmi originally claimed that the technological advances in its core
components, including new encoding techniques that deliver better sound
quality than mp3, would gradually move people away from a format that
is now well over ten years old. But sdmi suffered a blow in 2000 when
its watermarking technology was cracked after it issued a challenge to
hackers to try to break it. A group of academic researchers from the
Department of Computer Science at Princeton University successfully met
sdmi's challenge and broke its code, but was subsequently prevented from
publishing the details of its technique following a threat of prosecution
under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The ensuing lack of consensus
within the music industry on the best way to protect its copyrighted content
forced sdmi into retreat in 2001, and music companies continue to
look for a batter way to prevent piracy. |
