Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Do it by inserting non-printable characters and you could "tag" each copy of the book in a non-invasive way. All popular book formats are based on HTML, and HTML ignores surplus carriage returns between paragraphs, to give a simple example.
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Sure but as pointed out already, publishers struggle to put out editions with not errors for the know text. How are they ever going to win in court if the accused points to that fact to suggest if they can't keep errors out of the the original text how can they claim their "special" hidden content is error free? They likely cannot, at least not without revealing the who algorithm for embedding and decoding these character strings.
It also seems no different from when one of the ebook publishers used to link the licensing code to the CC used to buy the book online. Was that Fictionwise or ?????
I actually do not see this as any different than watermarking. If the extra characters are there, even if encrypted, they can be extracted and altered or replaced with some other set that doesn't trip the alarm.
To me it all goes back to the premise locking your front door does not stop anyone who wants to steal your goodies. All it does is piss off the amateurs who then make a bigger mess of things. Better to just get a moat and a few dozen hungry bandersnatch to guard the place.