HIDE: embedded msgs in grphics & snd

[Jim McCoy]

The Phantom <phantom at u.washington.edu> writes:
>  
> Lastly and perhaps most interesting: I suggested that by using one of
> these garage bands, we might be able to distribute our own messages
> on CD. By getting ahold of a local bands' master before they take it
> to get a record pressed, we could digitize it ourselves, encode our
> messages (the kama sutra, a message of goodwill, the songs' lyrics,
> whatever the band wants, too!) into the LSBs and then give it back to
> the band to press CDs (put the key on the front cover if you like).
[...]
> I would be willing to shell over
> $15 for a (basically) small-capacity encrypted CD ROM disk, even
> though I personally don't have a player.

A nice idea, but functionally impossible with today's technology.  The
firmware of CD-Rom players does not allow them to read the digital data of
an audio CD and output it in digital, the output must be analog.  The only
exception to this that I know of is the SGI CD-rom.  This restriction
against digital output from audio CDs was put in after the music publishing
industry made a big issue over pirating music, etc...

I am not sure what mods have been done to the firmware of the SGI CD rom
players, but the people on alt.cd-rom say it can read the digital data from
audio-cds.  Without this capacity you are not going to be able to stick the
message in the CD as easily as you would be able to with a cd-rom player
that could read digital...

jim