14 DAY TRIAL // Your next software application could be watermarked courtesy of Microsoft. The Redmond Company has introduced at the beginning of the past week a patent filing describing a method to ad a digital watermark to computer programs. The move is obviously aimed at reducing software piracy. Essentially, Microsoft is getting ready for a time when software distribution will move exclusively online. Such scenarios will imply that every download will be individually watermarked and therefore not only identifiable, but also connected to a single user.
"What is needed is an easy and efficient technique for encoding information, termed a "digital watermark" or more simply a "watermark", into a computer program or application that is being downloaded over a computer network so that any pirating of the downloaded software can be traced to the original purchaser. Moreover, what is needed is a way to encode a digital watermark into a computer program in such a way that the information is not easily detected and forged," the patent filed by Microsoft reveals.
At the current moment, Microsoft itself is selling Windows Vista online, making upgrade editions of its latest operating system available for download. As the Internet will become the main commercial infrastructure for software products, Microsoft's watermarking technology would serve to make every instance of a downloaded application unique by embedding the encrypted buyer's digital information into the fabric of the program.
"When the application is distributed or sold over the Internet, personal identification information, such as a purchaser's name, address, telephone number, credit card number, etc., is collected and encoded into a binary sequence. To make the watermark information more difficult to detect and forge, the encoded binary sequence can also be encrypted using various techniques, such as a public-key encryption technique, before pairs of non-interfering instructions are swapped. To detect the origin of a pirated application, the watermark information is extracted from the pirated application by comparison to the original code of the application," Microsoft added.