Washington - A consortium of digital watermarking technology developers announced on Thursday that they have endorsed a set of privacy principles issued by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).

Digital watermarks are embedded within media files and communicate copyright information, monitor broadcasts and Internet traffic, enhance security of documents, protect brands, and identify specific copies of media.

"People are bound to wonder what it means if their media files contain embedded information that can be used to identify them," said CDP senior policy counsel David Sohn.

The CDT proposals call for watermarks to provide adequate notice of themselves to consumers; avoid embedding independently useful information about consumers; limit uses for secondary purposes; control access to reading capability; and provide adequate security and respond appropriately when systems are compromised.

"The combination of digitally watermarked content and respect for consumer privacy will further broaden adoption and unleash new distribution models," said Reed Stager, chairman of the Digital Watermarking Alliance.

"We applaud the Center for Democracy & Technology's focus on digital watermarking and its efforts to gather input from a broad array of stakeholders in developing its recommended best practices."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/2bfvy

http://cdt.org/press/20080529press.php

http://www.cdt.org/copyright/20080529watermarking.pdf

http://www.digitalwatermarkingalliance.org