Uni scientists' software could fend off pirates

By ADAM GIFFORD

Auckland University scientists have won a Government grant to continue research into software watermarking, which could lead to new ways to counter piracy.

Professor Clark Thomborson, from the university's computer sciences department, said the money from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology's New Economy Research Fund, $185,000 over 18 months, would allow him to bring the SandMark system to the next stage.

"It means we can continue the development path, extend the ideas and map the strategy we need to get it to the stage where we can identify an industry partner to help commercialise the technology," said Professor Thomborson.

SandMark embeds code in Java applications, building a recognisable watermark when executed.

It cannot be taken out by automated removal methods.

SandMark is also designed to survive the automated obfuscation processes that developers use to prevent reverse-engineering of their software.

Having to remove SandMark manually would be more expensive than completely redeveloping the product.

Professor Thomborson and co-author Professor Christian Collberg announced the technology in January last year but were unable to find a commercial backer.

Professor Collberg has since taken a job at the University of Arizona, where he secured a National Science Foundation grant to continue the work.

With student Gregg Townsend, Professor Collberg developed a working version of the software.

That version is available at www.cs.arizona.edu/sandmark/

"New Zealand still holds the intellectual property," said Professor Thomborson.

"We're seeking a patent here, and the development work is being done both here and in Arizona."

He said SandMark was ahead of what the industry needed now, but the growth of object-oriented computing meant its time would come.

"We have a working prototype but to have a product you need an idea of who will buy it.

"We're still missing that commercial spark."

One use could be in protecting the interests of developers who put together applications from libraries of software objects.