Eurocrats order software to include do-not-copy-currency feature [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[It seems to me that the Eurocratic impulse, while understandable, 
relies on two important assumptions: end users cannot modify their own 
software, and the software vendor (or an affiliate) is subject to 
European law. Neither of these assumptions tends to be true when we're 
talking about free or open source software. First, I'd imagine this 
currency-detection feature in GIMP (a Photoshop-esque GNU program) being 
implemented in an #ifdef that can easily be turned off at comple time. 
Second, GIMP development seems to be coordinated by some Berkeley 
students, who may or may not care what some random government is 
demanding. --Declan]



http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1232480,00.html

Security clampdown on the home PC banknote forgers

Banks win EU support for software blocks to tackle the cottage 
counterfeiters

Tony Thompson, crime correspondent
Sunday June 6, 2004
The Observer

Computer and software manufacturers are to be forced to introduce new 
security measures to make it impossible for their products to be used to 
copy banknotes.

The move, to be drafted into European Union legislation by the year end, 
follows a surge in counterfeit currency produced using laser printers, 
home scanners and graphics software. Imaging software and printers have 
become so powerful and affordable that production of fake banknotes has 
become a booming cottage industry.

Though counterfeiters are usually unable to source the specialist paper 
on which genuine banknotes are printed, many are being mixed in with 
genuine notes in high volume batches. The copies are often good enough 
to fool vending machines. By using a fake £20 note to purchase a £2 rail 
fare, the criminal can take away £18 in genuine change.

Although the Bank of England refuses to issue figures for the number of 
counterfeit notes in circulation and insists they represent a negligible 
fraction of notes issued, it also admits fakes are on the increase.

Anti-counterfeiting software developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit 
Deterrence Group, an organisation of 27 leading world banks including 
the Bank of England, has been distributed free of charge to computer and 
software manufacturers since the beginning of the year. At present use 
of the software is voluntary though several companies have incorporated 
it into their products.

The latest version of Adobe Photoshop, a popular graphics package, 
generates an error message if the user attempts to scan banknotes of 
main currencies. A number of printer manufactures have also incorporated 
the software so that only an inch or so of a banknote will reproduce, to 
be followed by the web address of a site displaying regulations 
governing the reproduction of money.

The software relies on features built into leading currencies. Latest 
banknotes contain a pattern of five tiny circles. On the £20 note, 
they're disguised as a musical notation, on the euro they appear in a 
constellation of stars; on the new $20 note, the pattern is hidden in 
the zeros of a background pattern. Imaging software or devices detect 
the pattern and refuse to deal with the image.

...
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