Challenges
A key part of the strategy included demonstrating that the watermarking could not be detected by third parties and as a result be removed from the music. As part of the process of ratifying the technology the SDMI announced a challenge with their Open Letter to the Digital Community on September 6, 2000. The letter invited hackers, cryptologists and others to detect and remove the watermark from some example pieces of music. Several groups became involved, including a group led by Ed Felten. Felten's group claimed to have cracked the scheme and successfully removed the watermark according to the automated judging software supplied by the SDMI. The SDMI disagreed, noting that there was a requirement that the files lose no sound quality and the automated system did not take this into account.
When Felten attempted to publish an academic paper describing the analysis of the SDMI scheme (having opted out of the confidentiality requirement that would have allowed him to claim the prize money) the SDMI, RIAA and Verance Corporation threatened legal action under the auspices of the DMCA. The controversy about stifling of academic research resonated through scientific and cryptography circles until his paper was eventually published in 2001 after assurances from the United States Department of Justice that the DMCA would not be used to stifle legitimate research.
Read more about this topic: Secure Digital Music Initiative
Famous quotes containing the word challenges:
“A powerful idea communicates some of its strength to him who challenges it.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
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—André Breton (1896–1966)