Speaking of software piracy, Adobe admits it’s using ‘technology’ to defeat counterfeiting.

But it’s done so, "at the request of government regulators and international bankers to prevent consumers from making copies of the world’s major currencies".

The disclosure came in an Associated Press story here whch also says the "unusual concession" has angered scores of customers.

Actually, though, it seems an interesting idea.

"Adobe, the world’s leading vendor for graphics software, said the secretive technology ‘would have minimal impact on honest customers’," the report goes on. "It generates a warning message when someone tries to make digital copies of some currencies.

"The U.S. Federal Reserve and other organizations that worked on the technology said they could not disclose how it works and wouldn’t name which other software companies have it in their products. They cited concerns that counterfeiters would try to defeat it.

And, "We sort of knew this would come out eventually,” Adobe spokesman Russell Brady is quopted as sayhing. "We can’t really talk about the technology itself."

Adobe apparently added the technology after a customer complained in an online support forum about mysterious behavior by the new $649 Photoshop CS software when opening an image of a US $20 bill.

Kevin Connor, Adobe’s product management director, said the company did not disclose the technology in Photoshop’s instructions at the request of international bankers. He said Adobe is looking at adding the detection mechanism to its other products.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 10th, 2004 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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