[IETF-IDRM] Fwd: [IDRM] NAPSTER LEAVES AN IMPRINT ON MP3 FILES

[Thomas Hardjono]

>Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 10:22:49 -0400
>From: Thomas Hardjono <thardjono@mediaone.net>
>Subject: [IDRM] NAPSTER LEAVES AN IMPRINT ON MP3 FILES
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>*NAPSTER LEAVES AN IMPRINT ON MP3 FILES
>Napster plans to acoustically fingerprint music files in its system to
>prevent copyrighted material from being downloaded for free--and to show a
>federal court it is making an earnest effort to block copyrighted
>material.
>
>The TRM technology, licensed from Virginia-based Relatable, identifies a
>small amount of data representing a file's unique sound recording,
>regardless of the audio format, bit rate or signal distortion. The audio
>"fingerprints" are then stored in a database and used to monitor MP3 files
>being swapped among Napster subscribers.
>
>This differs from Napster's initial digital fingerprinting, which blocked
>copyrighted files based on their names or song titles. Napster users had
>circumvented those content filters by intentionally misspelling file
>names.
>
>The announcement came weeks after Napster officials told an U.S. District
>Court that audio fingerprinting to block copyrighted recordings doesn't
>work well. The technology has improved rapidly in a short amount of time,
>the company now says. Napster was successfully sued for copyright
>infringement last year by the recording industry.
>
>Some industry insiders have questioned the robustness of Relatable's TRM,
>but company CEO Pat Breslin says his product can handle the volume. "TRM
>will help ensure that the millions of music files transferred through the
>new Napster system will be accurately monitored, and it will enable the
>appropriate allocation of royalties to artists, music publishers and
>record companies," he said in a statement.