Skip to Content

Music lovers have reveled in-and devoured-free digital music.The catch is that artists’property rights got lost in the shuffle as online consumers ignored copyright laws that are meant to prevent the unauthorized copying and distribution of recorded music.Without a secure way to track music files online, artists find themselves losing control over their own creations as well as the ability to profit from them.

Enter Digital Media on Demand (DMOD), a Boston-based startup that has made secure distribution of online music its mission.DMOD’s four cofounders recognized before most others that digital distribution necessitated technologies to protect and manage artists’ rights; they have spent the past several years developing an encryption protocol that will allow artists to encode and track online files. Whereas most encryption systems use one key to provide secure, limited access to a file, DMOD’s uses many. In fact, according to Sam Headrick, director of development, a different encryption key could be applied to each second of audio, or for each line of text. “This increases the complexity of cracking the file by many degrees,” Headrick says.

DMOD’s protocol provides additional security through “watermarks.” Each watermark stamps content with new data-inaudible to the human ear in audio files-that traces the file back to the artist who uploaded it and to the consumer who downloaded it. The protocol encrypts files “on the fly,”as they’re delivered.”At the moment you decide to acquire a piece of content, the keys are generated and the file is encrypted based on those dynamic keys,” Headrick explains.”Every transaction is a separate and autonomously secure data transmission.”

Security precautions like these could put copyright control back in the hands of artists. “Even if content owners want to give files away for free, they should still be able to track their files,”says DMOD chief operating officer Brett Fasullo.”Secure distribution means a lot more than being able to sell media files online.”

Keep Reading

Most Popular

DeepMind’s cofounder: Generative AI is just a phase. What’s next is interactive AI.

“This is a profound moment in the history of technology,” says Mustafa Suleyman.

What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines

New variants will pose a challenge, but early signs suggest the shots will still boost antibody responses.

Human-plus-AI solutions mitigate security threats

With the right human oversight, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can help keep business and customer data secure

Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation

From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.