Dice Co of Palo Alto, California, and Digimarc Corp of Portland, Oregon, have patents pending on digital watermarking systems, reports the New York Times. The two start-up software firms’ patents involve processes for inserting and locking the electronic watermarks in a file. Each approach uses a variation of data security technology that scatters identifying information in such a way that it cannot be reassembled without an electronic key to the code. Digimarc’s founder, Geoffrey Rhoads, is looking for partners to build a variety of products around its many electronic watermarking patents. Dice is about to release an early version of its watermarking system, Argent, for use in the music industry. Cane Records, an independent music label run by students at the University of Miami, is using the Argent technology to embed electronic watermarks in the master recordings of its latest compact disk, a compilation of South Florida bands came out at the end of last month. The idea is to show that the technology is compatible with existing audio equipment and that a digital watermark can be embedded without affecting sound quality. This particular watermark, scattered as data in a random pattern invisible to the CD playback unit, included the date the disk was manufactured, its universal product code, the artist, title, producer and engineer for each music track, the copyright year and copyright authority and how many of the CDs were pressed. Only the publisher or owner of the copyright material holds the electronic key that makes the watermark readable. However, this does not help the person who wants to know if it is permissible to copy a particular work, or where to get that permission. This is seen as the next stage for Digimarc’s technology and, to this end, the company is working on a method that will enable the watermark that can’t be seen to coexist with a public watermark that can.
