OK, maybe this sounds a little more exciting:
We all know that the world is moving to optical media for everything - software, movies, music, data, video games, etc, even keys! A major problem has been piracy in all these areas. There is casual piracy - lending a copy to a friend - but there is also professional piracy where the discs are used as masters for volume duplication. Current copy protection can be circumvented - software can be hacked by software; the key to decryption can be solved and replicated.
There is an interesting private company that has developed a polymer to be applied to discs. The polymer can darken in places after the laser hits it. This technology can be used for -
Copy protection - load it, darkens, can't load it anywhere else
Disposable movies - play it, darkens, throw it away (don't have to return it)
Video games - play them a few times, darkens, throw away
Trial software - load demo version, try it, if you like it you then load full version, if you don't like it you then return it (sales person can see if an area has darkened whether full version has been loaded or not)
Internet transactions - disc with unique darkened areas becomes your "credit card" that has to be in machine (like a smart card)
Can you imagine the possibilities for the future?
Even though it's currently a private company, there is discussion at -
Subject 19938 |
