vigilant TV

The Globe and Mail has an article on anti-counterfeiting software included in some image editing software, intended to stop the duplication of banknotes. Adobe recently made headlines when users discovered (and promptly defeated) the mechanism in new versions of Photoshop; but according to this article, some software developers have included such a measure in their products for as long as 4 years. Ulead Systems says it did so to make it easier to sell their software in the US – but there’s no explanation as to why a software vendor should have problems selling imaging software, particularly when unrestricted applications are widely available.

Officials with the RCMP and the Bank of Canada refuse to identify or discuss the technology because they don’t want to tip off would-be counterfeiters about ways of thwarting the system. The system, which has been installed in many recent models of photo-imaging software and copying equipment, blocks computer users from downloading or printing digital images of many nations’ currency—including several Canadian denominations.

While the software use is now voluntary, there is a move in the European Union to draft legislation forcing the manufacturers of computer equipment to include anti-counterfeiting controls on any systems, scanners or printers sold in Europe.

[...]

But Ulead Systems Inc., the Taiwan-based maker of the PhotoImpact imaging system, has put the device in with its software for the past four years, Sharna Brockett, spokeswoman for the company, said in an interview.

She said Ulead put the counterfeit deterrence device on its photo-imaging software to ensure that it would not have any problems selling the system in the United States.

– Globe & Mail, Central banks hope free software will put a dent in counterfeiting: Effort to thwart crime shrouded in secrecy.