2 more on RIAA wants your fingerprints

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Henry J. Boitel" <boitel () MINDSPRING COM>
Date: August 8, 2004 10:23:36 AM EDT
To: BIOMETRICS () PEACH EASE LSOFT COM
Subject: Re: RIAA wants your fingerprints
Reply-To: The Biometric Consortium's Discussion List              
<BIOMETRICS () PEACH EASE LSOFT COM>

Gary,

There is not a great deal of detail that has been provided concerning
this product.  I think we would better understand it if we had the
following information:

1. One possibility  is that if a piece of music is downloaded to the
product it cannot digitally be copied from the product, i.e. that the
equipment does not have an out-bound digital feed.  Is that correct?

2. Alternatively, is the biometric so bound to the music that this
particular transcription of the music, even if digitally copied, will
not work anywhere unless it is activated by the required live
fingerprint  or unless the music is transferred to another machine to
which the required fingerprint (or template) is registered?

3. Once the music is captured into the equipment, is it necessary to use
a required fingerprint every time one wants to play a particular song,
or every time the machine is turned on?  If I lose my machine, with a
full load of registered music, will anyone who comes into possession of
the machine being able to play its contents or use it to download new
content?

4. If I lend the instrument to my wife or friend, will they be able to
play the music -- i.e., can more than one authorizing fingerprint be
registered to the instrument?  If so, can fingerprints be deregistered?

5. If my machine is stolen, lost  or broken beyond repair, am I out of
luck or is there some kind of archive (held by me or the music
distributor) that lets me get a new machine into which I can download my
previously purchased music?

6. I understand there are a variety of ways in which music can be
prevented from being played in the absence of an authorized biometric.
I also understand that there are ways in which the digital copy can be
prevented or can carry with it the requirement of a particular biometric
key.  However, I am not aware that there is any way of preventing some
one from recording the emitted sound in the time-honored pre-digitial
fashion. Once that is done, the sound can be redigitalized free of any
copy-prevention software or device. There will be a bit of degradation -
but many people will not notice it.  Does the proposed product claim to
also prevent such a re-recording?

7.  Here is a thought about a capability of the future highly networked
world - people will not have copies of any music.  They will be able to
be anywhere at any time, display their biometric to a sound capable,
networked device (radio, tv, computer, and many etceteras), request that
it display the virtual library registered to that person, and then
select the songs that are wished to be heard now.


Best wishes,
Henry
Henry J. Boitel
New York

Gary E. Brant wrote:

> Dear Bill,
>
> As the inventor of the iVue Personal Media Player, and the developer
> of its larger encrypted
> media delivery network, I think it is important to advise you and
> other members of the BC that
> The Register's article was inaccurate in its reporting and a classic
> case of "tabloid journalism".
>
> To begin with, the RIAA doesn't want your fingerprints!
>
> This organization's charter, in part, is to halt piracy of music
> recordings.
>
> VeriTouch's iVue encrypted media player is the first HW device in the
> world to offer a solution to this world-wide problem.
>
> By comparison, Apple Computer's well-known IPOD and every other
> portable music and video player
> on the market do precious little to prevent extraction of content from
> these devices, and posting
> of these files on P2P networks like KaZaA.
>
> Without going into specific details, the iVue ensures that downloaded
> media content, including
> video games, plain text, images, application SW, electronic books,
> video and audio files may only be decrypted by the authorized customer
> via a localized fingerprint scan.
>
> The procedure involved is no different than "pushing a button", which
> every consumer has done countless
> times with a variety of audio/video equipment.
>
> The fingerprint data of the customer is NOT given to the RIAA or to
> any other party, it remains encased
> securely inside the player!
>
> VeriTouch has spent almost three years to perfect a secure media
> content delivery system, of which the iVue player is a module.  The
> system has been designed to protect the identity and privacy of 
> customers
> from every aspect.
>
> That is why we take issue strongly with The Register in publishing a
> story about our solution that is so very far from the facts.
>
> A more recent report which is more accurate was just published in PC
> Magazine, August 17th, 2004 edition now on the newstands.
>
> Interested members may read it online at:
>
> http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1624914,00.asp
>
> I'll be glad to answer any questions from members as they wish about
> the iVue and related matters.
>
> Kindest regards,
>
> Gary E. Brant, CEO
> VeriTouch Ltd. - New York
> Mobile: 917-378-2525


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary E. Brant" <gb () VERITOUCH COM>
Date: August 8, 2004 12:27:58 PM EDT
To: BIOMETRICS () PEACH EASE LSOFT COM
Subject: Re: RIAA wants your fingerprints
Reply-To: The Biometric Consortium's Discussion List              
<BIOMETRICS () PEACH EASE LSOFT COM>



 --On Sunday, August 08, 2004 10:57 AM -0400 "Gary E. Brant" 
<gb () veritouch com> wrote:

 Dear Henry,
 I will answer what I am able to, understanding that VeriTouch has made 
an
 enormous capital investment in this project and we have to protect our 
IP.  Please
 kindly see my comments below:


 1. GB> Partially correct.  The device is actually a biometrically 
secured digital wireless PVR (Personal Video Recorder).  It can output, 
through a proprietary wireless technology we have developed, so that 
external devices like plasma TVs and other A/V equipment can receive 
broadcasts from the iVue, but in an encrypted fashion so that the files 
cannot be copied or otherwise hacked.  There are no ports of any
 kind on the device, and the receiving peripheral device requires our 
specialized receiver to accept the wireless output.

 2. GB> Exactly right, and is not limited to music!  Every single file 
is uniquely encrypted
 to the individual user, which is one of the claims of our patent.

 3. GB> The decryption process takes place one time, at which point the 
decrypted
 file(s) remain "open" on the player.  However, you are correct, each 
time the device
 is booted it requires the owner or owners' live fingerprint scan.  In 
the case of a device
 being used within a family or company, for instance, multiple users 
may be registered to
 the same device.  Using secure desktop architecture then, each user 
has their own permissions
 and rights to view whatever content they have individually downloaded.

 If you lose your machine, no one else in the world may gain access to 
the device.  It is locked
 at the boot-time operations.

 4. GB> As above, there may be multiple authorized users of one 
device.  There will be one "super-user",
 using the nomenclature of Linux operating systems (which the iVue 
incorporates), who acts as an administrator and can therefore delete a 
user from the system at will.

 5. GB> Again, you are right on target.  An archive list is generated 
and maintained by multiple service providers.  As VeriTouch is building 
out a very large distribution network of content, we want to ensure
 for our customers that they are not "locked" into a service delivery 
such as the scheme used by Apple
 Computer with its iTunes store.  You'll be seeing news about the 
entertainment network and infrastructure
 in Fall, 2004.

 6. GB> There is no security solution in the world that can prevent 
analog recording
 off of speakers as you describe.  Cinea and others have even tried to 
develop a
 projection system for theatres that prevent the widely-used videocam 
recording
 of movies, which is one of several sources of piracy in the 
industry.  What the iVue
 can do is prevent digital-quality recordings from being copied, which 
has and will
 be our continued focus in the project.

 7. GB> I disagree.  It has always been, and we believe will remain, a 
strong human
 trait to want to collect.  People love having record and movie 
collections.  The X-Gens
 love video games and their appetite to collect them has spawned a 
multi-$billion industry,
 which is now even invading Hollywood with full-length feature films 
based upon the games!

 The iVue is a secure digital diary, but also a broadcasting system so 
that one can interact with
 other peripheral devices to provide wide-area entertainment and 
networking of these devices.

 The "virtual library" can exist and perform well on such a networkable 
device.  Perhaps that library
 can be part of a larger system with other devices, but we believe 
having your "diary" will remain
 a strong attraction for the consumer in this delivery.

 Gary E. Brant, CEO
 VeriTouch Ltd. - New York
 Mobile: 917-378-2525


 Gary E. Brant, CEO
 VeriTouch Ltd. - New York
 Mobile: 917-378-2525

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/