Sniffers aren't much effort, and if I sniff your tagged purchases and put them out over the net anonymously, they are traced to you.
Actually I was thinking more along the lines of physically stealing, but if someone sniffed an electronic transfer of a record then the laws would become even more useless as far as enforcement goes.
Probably, but the Billboard article discussed using CC numbers as an ID in the online watermarked transactions. Doesn't mean they were correct, of course.
Considering that their sources are probably more reliable (even though less knowledgable), and considering the idiocy of such an idea, I would risk saying that they are right :)
AFAIK, most "bootlegging" is of unreleased concerts or out-takes. Digital watermarks would be of little use.
There are solutions to this that work. 1) The Greatful Dead approach - let everyone bootleg live shows. Who cares? 2) The Frank Zappa Approach - take the bootlegged copies, use better equipment, and possibly your own soundboard recordings of the same show, and put them out yourself. Since you are capable of putting out a better product sonically, then beat them at their own game ("Beat the Boots") Alex F =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Alex F alexf@iss.net Marketing Specialist Internet Security Systems =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-