PezHead and Alien_X used our newssubmit to tell us about a new technology developed by the Israelian company Doc-Witness.
Their product OpSecure CD uses a smartcard to prevent unauthorized copying and turns your CD-RW drive in a smart card reader:
 The OpSecure CD was developed by Rosh-Ha-ayin, Israel-based Doc-Witness. A 'smart card" embedded in the CD unlocks the disc's encrypted content. You can copy the CD, but without the card the software won't run. Try to install the software on more computers than the publisher allows and the smart card will shut you down. The technology works by turning an ordinary CD drive into a smart-card reader. A photodetector at the edge of the CD turns the drive's laser light into electrical pulses, which travel to the embedded smart card and request the key. If the card deems the request legitimate, it returns the key as an electronic signal that an onboard light-emitting diode converts into light and beams back to the drive |
Altough this seems a good protection, the manufacturing will probably be too expensive to be widely used. Read the entire story here.
Source: Technologyreviews.com
