Steganography - A way to prevent art theft?
polycounter lvl 14
I remember a while back, on one of the numerous "art stolen" threads here on PC, I mentioned an idea I had about water marking images in a non-visible way. No one really knew what I was talking about, and I've since then forgotten the thread I was in, but nevertheless I actually found someone who figured it out and wanted to provide some food for thought: http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/march12012/index.html
If you have time, the rest of the articles in his blog are absolutely brilliant. I can't seem to read enough of this studies. The battleship algorithm he comes up with is pretty damn interesting too.
If you have time, the rest of the articles in his blog are absolutely brilliant. I can't seem to read enough of this studies. The battleship algorithm he comes up with is pretty damn interesting too.
Replies
but i can't see how this kind of thing could -prevent- an art theft.
it's more like an additional way of proving that art was stolen, but if a theft is visible enough for author to be able to notice it, then i think it shouldn't be hard to prove it?
You're right, prevent was a poor word. I think this would just add another layer of proof as a tool the real artist can use to point out authenticity.
Anyone catch that huge writeup recently on that forged mega millions ticket. They used some serious photo forensics on that...
EDIT: Slightly off topic, but I found that link: http://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/478-Fool-Me-Once.html
What's stopping me from taking an image, using this technique, then claiming it's mine? It's the same as stamping your watermark on someone elses work - except that at least you can't stamp a watermark over a watermark.
More coffee is required to figure this out.
If the DaVinici Code attracted millions of smucks to watch the movie, surely a few smart artist will realize hiding the detail is the way to go.
That said it's a really interesting subject and if it puts your mind at east then by all means, might as well look into it
YEP THIS !!!!
Proving someone stole something gets you nothing unless you can build up a threat scenario (have a lawyer ready) and are prepared to go through with any consequences. Otherwise don't bother. Many people who are aware they stole stuff budge on a lawyer's letter already, you don't even have to prove anything. The proving part is reserved for later anyway.
In the the end you really want to PREVENT theft rather than reacting to the consequences and this method seems as good/bad as most other un-obstrusive methods to me. If you're really that worried, just do not post your stuff online or slap a big watermark on it or show it to recruiters and clients only.
If someone steals something you did for a client or your employer, let them deal with it. They usually have deeper pockets and more time than you have.