PhotoSpin have just e-mailed me this Extract from PC Graphics Report, February 2004 Issue No. 21:

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COUNTERFEIT DETECTION
Try scanning a $20 bill with Photoshop CS, and you will get a message saying, "This application does not support the unauthorized processing of banknote images." The latest version of Photoshop has a built-in Counterfeit Detection System (CDS) that will detect when an image of money is being opened and will stop the application from doing so.

This software was written for a group of international banks in an attempt to stop counterfeiting of money from many countries. It seems that there are certain lines, shapes, and tones in recently designed money that will trigger this software. There has been a storm of controversy on Adobe's message boards concerning this issue. People who use images of money in their work have to use earlier versions. Even pictures of people holding money have triggered the software, as have images of dollars waving like a flag.

The controversy seems to be based on several different perspectives - freedom of expression, the ability to do one's work, and the fact that Adobe did not announce that they had implemented CDS until a user complained.

Many users are very angry about Adobe's silence on the matter. A couple of days after the controversy started, Kevin Conner, senior product manager for Photoshop, posted a lengthy explanation about the motivation to include the software.

"The average consumer is never going to encounter this in their daily use," Connor said. "It just didn't seem like something meaningful to communicate." He further stated that the detection slows down the application by a fraction of a second when opening each file, that there are legal and workable ways to get money into Photoshop (buying doctored images from authorized companies), and that Adobe had no intention of becoming "big brother" and controlling what we can and cannot do with software. Finally, he said, Adobe hopes "that it's not a huge inconvenience for that small group of customers who do need to reproduce these images in their graphic design work."

The discussion continues at the Photoshop Lounge on the Adobe Forums (www.adobe.com/support/forums/main.html). In the meantime, someone has already written a patch that, when installed in the Photoshop folder, will disable the Counterfeit Detection System. Reports are that Jasc has placed the same detection software in Paint Shop Pro. The new version of Corel Graphics Suite, to be released this month, will not include CDS.

PC Graphics Report
February 2004
Issue No. 21
www.pcgraphicsreport.com/Sample.html

Corel are obviously sensing an opportunity here but, meanwhile, does anyone know where this Patch can be found -- and what it is called?

Ole_Sorensen

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