Comments for Can I mark my files so that they can be read, but not copied?

Comment from Roberta Gallant on 2008-07-21

2008-07-21T19:38:12Z

Hello, Leo,

This is Roberta Gallant in Concord, New Hampshire, again. I have a problem in
the Add Or Remove Programs windows. Almost all the software programs I installed into my computer are missing from the Add Or Remove Programs list window? What should I do about this issue now?

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Comment from h on 2007-04-25

2007-04-25T17:53:25Z

Google's book search has a very nice feature which prevents copying.

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Comment from Simon on 2007-02-17

2007-02-17T14:27:10Z

Roberta:

see http://ask-leo.com/not_responding_what_does_it_mean_and_what_do_i_do_about_it.html

For future reference, this is the box to comment on this article, e.g. my comment above. The 'ask your question' searchbox is at the top right of the page.

Just so this post won't be *completely* off-topic, one the basis that everyone likes a wikipedia link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_hole

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Comment from Roberta Gallant on 2007-02-17

2007-02-17T14:11:13Z

Hello, Leo,

What causes windows applications not to respond?
Microsoft should now hurry up and create much more solutions for windows applications when they do not respond sometimes. Do you agree with me?

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Comment from Greg on 2007-02-16

2007-02-17T00:32:47Z

ANYTHING that can be recorded visually or audibly can be copied.

A book can be photo copied or scanned and OCR'ed. A movie on a film reel can be camcordered in the theater. And if something's been encrypted, once it's been decrypted by the receiving party, you have to trust them not to misuse it or leave the decrypted copy laying around in a manner than can be duplicated.

There is only one way to ensure your greatest ideas are never copied... keep them to yourself (and make sure you don't talk in your sleep). :-)

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2007-02-16

2007-02-16T21:15:48Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I'm almost certain I can screen capture and forward anything. And even
if technically disabled (which I believe I have a technique to work
around) -- a digital camera can still work wonders these days.

The fact remains: if the recipient can see it, it can be copied.

Somehow.

Leo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFF1h7wCMEe9B/8oqERAvmeAJ4oiiO1h31oZG3qmawDDfIMkDvp6gCfWBfa
1jIbuIRxYesKpqPBiCQff4Y=
=kxPh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comment from vmunster on 2007-02-16

2007-02-16T20:33:45Z

I just wanted to first say that I am not trying to shill or spam but my company actually has an email security software program that does exactly that. But our software doesn't require a server which means the only two people involved in the email thread quite literally is the author and the recipient. Our software also prevents, editing, printing, screencapturing, and forwarding of emails. And we have an authentication feature where only the email addresses you specifiy as the recipient can decrypt the message.

Leo, I know you said that DRM is quite impossible and I can agree to a certain extent. If someone tries hard enough, I'm sure most encryption algorithms can be cracked but try out product and let us know what weaknesses you see. We would really appreciate the feedback and what we can do to improve it.

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Comment from Ken on 2007-02-15

2007-02-15T16:14:25Z

My most recent encounter with broken copy protection was on a game I purchased for my son. I installed it on my system, and it immediately crashed upon startup. I uninstalled/reinstalled it -- same thing. I installed it on my son's system -- same thing.

I went to the manufacturer's website to see if there was a patch available, only to find the user forum full of hundreds of complaints about the exact same thing -- the game simply wouldn't run, and crashed up startup.

The cause? The copy protection would crash on many systems. With no word of a solution/workaround/patch from the manufacturer, people started posting URLs of cracked versions of the game, just so that people who legitimately owned the game could play it with the illegal copy.

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Comment from Simon on 2007-02-14

2007-02-15T03:57:07Z

I can't find it now, but this reminded of me of an emailed joke I saw a while back. It was something like, the text:

"At last! I have developed the perfect copy protection: this Word document can be read only by the intended recipient, and neither copied or distributed!"

...clearly displayed in MS Word in a *digital photo* of the screen, in jpg format.

In other words, you can never plug the 'analogue hole'; and the RIAA's attempt to do so through HDCP is, thankfully, doomed to complete and inevitable failure.

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A comment on: Can I mark my files so that they can be read, but not copied?

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