Recording industry launches project to develop sound ID
Music & MP3
10/18/2000; 9:09:44 AM

'The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Thursday announced a project to develop a worldwide, standardized system for identifying digital music files so that the owner of a recording's copyright can easily track its use and collect royalties....

'Sherman likened the system to the bar codes on merchandise bought in stores, but instead of appearing in print on the package, the code would be embedded in the digital content. It would include any limitations on the use of the music, such as an expiration in a set number of days. The code would present a range of opportunities for offering music over the Internet in different ways, Sherman said. For instance, a user might want to buy one-time access to a database of 100 songs that can be played during a party.'

Sound familiar? That's SDMI, except it's from RIAA, not SDMI (the group). Somebody else believes SDMI was hacked too. I wonder why they think they can do better?

There's reason to believe a song can be uniquely identified, but encoding extra information directly into a song in a way that it can't be removed has proved impossibly difficult to do in the real world.