ad info

 
CNN.com  technology > computing
    Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 
TECHNOLOGY
TOP STORIES

Consumer group: Online privacy protections fall short

Guide to a wired Super Bowl

Debate opens on making e-commerce law consistent

(MORE)

TOP STORIES

More than 11,000 killed in India quake

Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

ENTERTAINMENT

HEALTH

TRAVEL

FOOD

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
*
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Hackers reject $10,000 offer to break code

Industry Standard

(IDG) -- Surely, you've heard the one about the fox guarding the hen house? Well, what if the hens asked the fox to break into their house so they could learn how to better protect themselves? Strange as it may sound, that's exactly what the creators of SDMI, the Secure Digital Music Initiative, are doing starting last Friday.

SDMI, based in San Diego, Calif., is offering $10,000 to hackers who can break its encryption code. SDMI will then patch the holes poked by the hackers, thus, presumably, making better technology.

The Secure Digital Music Initiative is one of the recording industry's responses to the copyright and payment challenges posed by digital music. Created in early 1999, SDMI embeds a "watermark" in every digital music file that manages the copying of those files. Watermarked music will play only on SDMI-compliant devices. The SDMI standard has so far failed to garner acceptance.

Hackers will have the chance to break the security systems of six different SDMI technologies, said Matt Oppenheim, an SDMI member. There will be a total of $60,000 available, with $10,000 allocated for each technology. If one person breaks a technology, he or she will receive the $10,000, Oppenheim said. However, if a team cracks the code, the prize money will be split between all the team's members.

But the challenge has not been received favorably in the hacker community. In fact, hackers have called for a boycott.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
IDG.net   IDG.net home page
  The Standard.com
  TechInformer: The Thinking Internaut's Guide to the Tech Industry
  Would you hire a hacker?
  So-called Napster fans crack Web sites
  Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
  E-BusinessWorld
  Industry Standard email newsletters
  Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
  Industry Standard daily Media Grok
  Search IDG.net in 12 languages
  News Radio
  * Fusion audio primers
  * Computerworld Minute

"Thanks, SDMI, but no thanks. I won't do your dirty work for you," wrote Don Marti, the technical editor of Linux Journal, a magazine devoted to the development of the open-source operating system Linux, in an open letter posted on the magazine's Web site.

"I will never make or distribute a bootleg copy of a recording," he wrote. "I insist on my right to use copyrighted material I buy in accordance with ... [fair use] rights," including playing music obtained that way and, perhaps, making a copy for personal use.

"I will not participate in your organization's plan to seize total control over recorded music," Marti wrote. He added, "I will not help test programs or devices that ... interfere with the right of fair use."

Many who post messages on the open-source news Web site Slashdot.org agree with Marti.

"Dido" wrote, "Well, ever since the fiasco with DeCSS, will us hackers listen to the SDMI? Of course, not. There was no need to call for such a boycott. I don't think even the hungriest hacker ... would even think of touching that offer with a 10-meter cattle prod. We've all seen what happened with DeCSS. Now these corporate SOBs have got the gall to ask us for our help? I say screw 'em."

The challenge also has raised concerns that information gained by SDMI and the record industry will later be used to prosecute hackers.

Oppenheim said that is not true. Rather, he said, the only personal information that will be required is the basic biographical information legally required by states in any contest: name, address, date of birth and, in this case, e-mail address. Files can be downloaded from the site without offering any personal information, he said.

As of Friday afternoon, the Hack SDMI Web site had not been updated to allow interested users to download materials. The page should be updated and the materials made available by late Friday, according to Oppenheim.

Only after the site has been updated will it become clear if the hacker boycott has held and if SDMI will have $60,000 extra to prosecute piracy in the future.




RELATED STORIES:
Has the DVD-hacking case made a t-shirt illegal?
September 8, 2000
MPAA pursues people who post link to DeCSS code
September 8, 2000
Hackers are naughty and nice at Def Con
August 3, 2000
For hire: Hackers to help Pentagon prevent attacks
August 1, 2000
Paranoia runs deep at hacker convention
July 24, 2000

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
Would you hire a hacker?
(CIO)
So-called Napster fans crack Web sites
(Computerworld)
Study: Music-swappers are takers not givers
(IDG.net)
Site unveils Hindi music downloads
(IDG.net)
Mood music for the cyber set
(The Industry Standard)
TOKYO EDGE: Sony takes digital music to the beach
(IDG.net)
My.MP3.com resumes service
(IDG.net)

RELATED SITES:
SDMI - Home

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 Search   

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.