The system enable files to be tracked through peer-to-peer file-sharing networks and help enforcers locate the pirates, The Fraunhofer approach is being touted an alternative to DRM (digital rights management) systems, which have had a bit of a bad press lately because they have been known to break computers.

The downside of the watermark technology is that it makes slight changes to data in both sound and image files. The institute claims that even the best trained human eyes and ears can't detect the change, however they have obviously not had a lot to do with Audiophiles.

The digital media watermark used in the Fraunhofer system also contains a "hash value," which is a fingerprint; that contains unique information about the person who paid for the content.

So if you sell the content to a friend who sticks it on a P2P network the RIAA will come looking for you.

More at PC World, here. µ