HAVE HACKERS COUGHED
UP SDMI HAIRBALL?

The Secure Digital Music Initiative's watermarks are reported to have been hacked. According to Salon, none of the SDMI's watermarks stood up to hackers, who were offered a $10k bounty to crack the digital watermarks—seen as paramount in the industry's desire to jump headlong into the digital age only after a copy-proof protection scheme can be crafted. Or the Easter Bunny is located—whichever comes first.

The Hack SDMI contest started Sept. 15 with an open letter to the digital community, asking hackers to test the watermarks. It ended Sun. (10/8) with hackers apparently figuring out a way to defeat the proposed copyright protection system. The contest generated skepticism and protest from the hacking community, despite the prize. Of course, hackers may have been distracted by the premiere of Dark Angel.

SDMI members are meeting in Los Angeles this week. Perhaps they can take solace in the Recording Industry Association of America's announcement that it has launched an initiative to develop an embedded identification system for digital sound files. The RIAA has hired British consultancy firm Rightscom Ltd. to manage the project, which will include input from the IFPI and the Recording Industry of Japan.

The goal of the project is to design a marking system that could ID and track songs online for things such as royalty distribution, though it won't prevent unauthorized duplication of songs. After all, that's what SDMI is supposed to do.