Re: ArtistScope

[Ivan Krstic <krstic () fas harvard edu>]

Sajeeva S. Arangalla wrote:
> Anyone know how to decode images protected by ArtistScope Secure Image ?? Is
> this a good method to protect ur images online like they say on their web
> site ??

You don't have to decode them. Companies offering this type of image 
"protection" (Java-casing) have been around for a long time, and they 
collectively neglect to mention that they don't protect against a 
trivial screen capture.

To verify, navigate to 
http://www.artistscope.com/secure_image/demo0.htm, hit the "Print 
screen" button (assuming you're running Windows), then 
Start->Run->mspaint, hit Ctrl+V for paste. Voila. The image is there. 
Just to be sure, I checked - and no, it doesn't contain a DigiMarc 
watermark.

This type of technology is reasonably effective against people leeching 
thousands of images from your site with a bot, but that's all it'll 
protect against.

-IK