aFreeGoNews March 3, 2003

New Software Licensing System Embeds Sensitive Data Inside Images

Vancouver, British Columbia. - February 14, 2003 - SoftwareShield Technologies announced today the release of The SoftwareShield System, a new software licensing and copy protection system for software developers. Setting it apart from competitors, the SoftwareShield System has the ability to hide encrypted license data inside images. Traditional licensing functionality in the SoftwareShield product is standard. However, the addition of image hiding technology gives Windows software developers a new method of license enforcement and another weapon in the fight against software piracy - steganography. "Steganographic licensing technology" is SoftwareShield's licensing and copy protection solution which gives developers the unique and interesting option of using encrypted data hidden in images to license and protect their applications.

Zack Wickes, president of SoftwareShield Technologies, who has a background in Applied Artificial Intelligence, has focused his research in the past few years on computer vision, visual perception and cryptography. This research has lead to the development of the SoftwareShield steganographic engine and ultimately - the SoftwareShield Licensing System.

The SoftwareShield steganographic engine performs the task of hiding license data inside images so effectively that thousands of bytes of data can be hidden in a small image without it appearing altered to the human eye. "We
know from our artificial intelligence research in perception that the human eye is least likely to see slight differences in color variation along the edges of physical objects. We have taken advantage of this trait of human vision in the SoftwareShield System to very effectively hide license in images. The data is right under the nose of the pirates and those who might try and defeat a vendor's license. Its really quite effective when you see an embedded image and the volume of data we can hide inside it." says Wickes.

SoftwareShield primarily helps software developers who choose to deliver or license their products in electronic format by the internet - for the obvious cost benefit. "Our clients are constantly looking to find new and secure ways to demonstrate and deliver their products electronically - but without being subjected to piracy." The SoftwareShield Licensing System meets those needs by enabling developers with the power to create demo, trial, copy-protected, leased, pay-per-use and many other editions of their software with a minimum of effort and a solid level of security. This security optionally includes the new weapon in the arsenal - steganographic licensing.

The SoftwareShield Licensing and Copy Protection System ships electronically in three editions. Every edition ships with: the "License Manager" application to create and manage licenses, the "Activation Code Generator"
to unlock, activate and remote-control customers software and the "Client-Protector" component for integrating into client applications. Additionally, the Internet edition ships with the "Web Deployed Activation Code Generator" which allows vendor's to integrate the SoftwareShield system with their e-commerce solution to automatically generate Activation Codes.

You can check out the SoftwareShield System and download a free demo version at http://www.softwareshield.com or contact the company directly at info@softwareshield.com. Prices for the system range from $289 US to $679 US, depending on the edition and number of installations.