Adobe Photoshop CS don't open banknote images.

In the Adobe Photoshop CS, who is the successor of Photoshop 7 got a new security about the way it handle banknote images. When you try to open a banknote image, you get this error message.

"[!] This application does not support the unauthorized processing of banknote images. For more information, select the button below for Internet-based information on restrictions for copying and distributing banknote images or go to www.rulesforuse.org."

This feature was ask by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group who is a group that represent bank of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.

Link : http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/30610

Link : http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5138816.html

Edit : Add another Link

For the obvious reason that they don't want to be used to counterfeit money. I suspect that the "bad guys" have figured a way to by-pass this (a crack or something to that effect) since counterfeiting bills seems to be at an all-time high.

Hmmm... that's a rather interesting feature... kudos for trying to be clever.

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How long will it be before Photoshop refuses to open copyrighted images? Will you need to pay a license fee to Disney before you open a photo you took of Mickey Mouse?

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I happen to agree with this little excerpt. Good idea though it is, where does it stop?

Buliding on what MsMittens said, I would have to assume that there is some little built in database where photoshop compares the images... so if there is nothing in the database for comparison, then it should pass no problem.

Alternatively, any one intent on copying money would just use a different application.

Also, if there is a database for comparisons, I wonder if the image in the database is "complete", or if it just compares keypoints like bill changing machines do?

Hopefully RFID will be able to fix this kind of issue, and likely help governments in tracking money. It would have to be done secretively of course, so nobody knew... :)

Well Photoshop 7 allows money to come in.

And as for that, does the program compare the samples to an online database or something on the hard drive? Either way, it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to go around.

Another interesting point, my friends father (who is a system admin for some company) said that many printerse actually have something in the firmware that blocks its ability to produce certain greens (a.k.a Money Green). I haven't actually found any info on this, but this man isn't known to be wrong that often.

Over here in the UK copying or defacing a bank note or image of a bank note is technically a criminal offence. In fact, you're not even allowed to own an image of a bank note or make something slightly similar (e.g. for films) without the express permission of the Bank of England. If you imported an image of a £20 note into Photoshop and drew a moustache on the Queen's face - even if you didn't print it (which really would get you in a legal pickle) - you'd be breaking the law. Okay, so no-one is likely to catch you, but if they did you could be thrown in prison for it.

I do agree with groovicus however in that this could get out of control. I don't see how Adobe could stop you loading any images though if you didn't have an internet connection to check whether they matched the blocked list - you'd have to have a huge array of configuration files on your hard disk instead which you could just delete. I honestly can't see how (other than using watermarking of some kind) they could stop you from loading images.

It's the narrow end of the wedge for the larger issue of
Digital Rights Management. It seems only reasonable
to fight counterfeiting, but what happens when they
reverse the default behavior so that it will only load
images that expressly grant you permission?

Software companies should not be deputized to do
law enforcement. It leads to vigilantism.
:cool:

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Software companies should not be deputized to do law enforcement. It leads to vigilantism.

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As far as it relates to criminal activities. What about the possibility of Adobe being sued because they allowed someone to alter copyrighted material? (I'm playing devil's advocate). In the US, there are lawsuits over the stupidest things (case in point: Man sues Cable TV for "fat wife and lazy kids"). Only in the US.

So what stops an artist from suing Adobe (or any other image altering software that is as good as Adobe's Photoshop -- and it is GOOD!) for allowing people to alter their copyrighted images?

Actually MsM Adobe provides you with software to be able to create and alter images. But it is up to you as an individual to use that software responsibly.

If someone were to sue them just because there image was altered by one of Adobe's products. Well that would be kinda stupid. Since in reality it is the individual who decided to use the tools available to him to change the image. I am pretty sure that Adobe would not condone that type of activity.

You cant sue them just because some people decide to use the product for illegal purposes. Every product one way or another has been used for illegal purposes.

As for RFID chsh one phrase comes to my mind :
"The government will end up abusing it, just like they do with everything else."

In the end, it is impossible to curve this menace.
Somebody or other will get around Adobe.
I've seen they have not been able to protect their software all over the world, do you think the counterfeiting can be stopped from willed fools ?

Edit : You can sue, but Adobe will win. First, because they've applied security from their end. Second, because they got money.

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Originally posted here by Agent_Steal
You you cant sue them just because some people decide to use the product for illegal purposes.

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You can in America. ;)

I think MsMittens has got a very good point, although i dont agree with the fact that Adobe are choosing what you can and cant open with their software i can understand them wanting to cover their backs. Anyone with any common sense would think it was rediclous for anyone to sue Adobe just because thier software was used, but i`m sure everyones been seeing the recent rediclous courtcases recently, eg. someone sueing McDonalds for making them fat!! Its just a sad state of affairs that these people are allowed any where near court let alone win!

Paper money is old technology.

Get with the times..... :D

Australia has used plastic notes for many many years now.If my memory is correct we are producing 15 countries currency for them.

Well Adobe would not be held Liable for the use of their product. Knife manufacturers arn't sued for people killing other people with them. And if someone did sue Adobe for it, it would get laughed out of court.

Cases:

in point Fat people sue Mcdonalds for making them Fat: http://www.japantoday.com/gidx/shukan137.html

Gunmakers/sellers sued for Pizza Hut Killings
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/azstarne...a+Hut+killings

In both cases, they lost. The company isn't held responsible for what is done with their software unless their software was made for the explicit purpose of performing illegal activity. And sometimes, even then not much can be done.

I understand what they are doing as well, but I oppose most forms of censorship pretty heavily. And honestly, which one of you has never drawn some cool shades on Mr. Washington?

wonder why adobe chose to garner unnecessary bad publicity for itself by
refusing to inform its users in advance of this counterfeiting
technology.

suddenly everyone will be going overboard on useless conspiracy theories
on other adobe software as well. it may well snowball into an issue of
opening the source code for independent auditing.

it is rather interesting to note how powerful software companies these
days are forced into choosing moral, ethical, stands on issues they
don't wanna be involved with in the first place. a few weeks ago
microsoft was forced to remove the swastika glyph from its font.

i can already imagine a world where adobe software may well be asked to
watch for key flags: would indesign issue a warning if a body text or
headline takes an anti-abortion stance; if a newspaper-headline in a
non-US-friendly country is critical; if photoshop senses an erotic image
or a passport scan; if premiere edits a politically or religiously
sensitive footage . . . sigh!

what happens if other countries enforce a ban or twist the arm of
software developers to add digital sniffers for their own objectives?
especially without informing or without the consent of end users?

quite a can of worms here.

will eventually boil down to one thing: transparancy of the non-alpha
kind :-)

and software transparancy in turn boils down to . . . .
[hint: opensource.org, gnu.org, eff.org . . .]

thank god for cinepaint, gimp, gimp-print, imagemagick, and more

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Originally posted here by pwaring
Over here in the UK copying or defacing a bank note or image of a bank note is technically a criminal offence. In fact, you're not even allowed to own an image of a bank note or make something slightly similar (e.g. for films) without the express permission of the Bank of England. If you imported an image of a £20 note into Photoshop and drew a moustache on the Queen's face - even if you didn't print it (which really would get you in a legal pickle) - you'd be breaking the law. Okay, so no-one is likely to catch you, but if they did you could be thrown in prison for it.

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Similar here... just depends on the size and colors...

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Reproduction of US currency in color or black and white is permitted as long as the reproductions are less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half the size of the original and one-sided. Size restrictions apply whether using the whole or a portion of any bill. Additionally, care must be taken to dispose of negatives, scans, or other materials used in creating the reproductions.

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Source

I can understand why though... in the US, we just got a new $20 bill in Oct 03.
http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/

I work in a bank, and I have already seen quite a few counterfeit bills. You can tell they are fakes... but look damn close. To the "untrained eye" you wouldn't know the difference. We don't see many customers bringing them in, but the businesses. Businesses are not marking the bills with the detector pens to make sure it is real before accepting them.

If you don't like adobe... you have alternatives... use the gimp! IMO, it does everything for me that photoshop does, and I don't pay for it...

Hmm, the US is still a bit easier on making reproductions for genuine uses than the UK is (you have to have written permission over here), although the Bank of England own the copyright on all notes produced over here so I suppose they have more power to enforce their rules (IIRC, US government agencies can't hold copyrights as such, or is that just for NASA?).

We've just got new £5/£10/£20 notes over here to help combat fraud. The really easy ones to copy are probably the £50 notes because not many people have ever seen one (I haven't for one) so how do you know if they're counterfeits or not?

First Adobe doesnt let you 'deface or alter' currency, next BIC pens will come with copyrights and EULAs saying not to write on currency with them, oh joy.

i just been reading wired and it looks like it was a waste of time anyway. Theirs plenty of ways round it without een having to use a crack on the program.

http://www.wired.com/news/infostruct...w=wn_tophead_2

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I work in a bank, and I have already seen quite a few counterfeit bills. You can tell they are fakes... but look damn close. To the "untrained eye" you wouldn't know the difference. We don't see many customers bringing them in, but the businesses. Businesses are not marking the bills with the detector pens to make sure it is real before accepting them.

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While this is true phish. Your better counterfiets are actually made from the same paper. It involves a process of reprinting on bleached one dollar bills, or if the watermakr is desired bleached five dollar bills. This easily defeats the pen method. Plus depending on the ink used in the reprinting process, you can fool the detection machines. This is a pitfall in the US paper money. In lots of other countries each donimination is a different size. For two reasons. So you can't bleach and reprint, two so the blind know what they have. Same reason coins are different sizes.

The US despite new attempts, remains the easiest paper to counrfeit in the world. More so because of it's value it is widely counterfeited. While not the most valuable, it holds enough value to make it worth while in the eyes of a criminal. Espically considering you can turn one dollars bills into hundred dollar bills for the matter of a few dollars.


Back to the Photoshop 7. I took a fifty dollar bill and used my copier and copied it. I then placed it with the original and scanned it. I then exported it saved it and opened it in photoshop with ease. With photoshop I can even isolate colors. Extracting the green and or black in the print. Not sure where the error you received is coming from, but it is in fact an interesting one.

I attached the scan of the two notes. I clipped the left side of the notes for obvious reasons.
Can you tell which on is the real note?

dopeydadwarf, the protection against forged notes has only been built in with Adobe Photoshop CS. All the versions before it are un affected.

They didn't do a very good job....You can still scan a bill from another app and import it into Photoshop 8 with no problem or even scan one half of a bill at a time in Photoshop 8 and join them after. Wonder why they even bothered?

An interesting comment appeared on Full Disclosure this aft from a person subscribed:

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Hi,

Last week, the Associated Press reported that Adobe has incorporated anti-copying technology in their Photoshop CS software which prevents users from opening image files of U.S. and European currency. Here's the article:

Adobe admits to currency blocker
http://tinyurl.com/2xnno

(http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/S...882929,00.html)

I did some investigating on my own computer and discovered that HP has also been shipping currency anti-copying software in their printer drives since at least the summer of 2002. I have an HP 130 photo printer and found the string "http://www.rulesforuse.org" embedded in the driver.

According to a few newsgroup messages posted in 2002 and 2003, folks are seeing this URL printed out when they attempt to print images of certain types of bills. An HP printer with this anti-copying technology only prints out an inch of a currency image before aborting the print job.

Here is a list of HP printers which appear to have this anti-copy technology embedded in their Windows printer drivers:

HP 130
HP 230
HP 7150
HP 7345
HP 7350
HP 7550

I suspect the list of affected HP printers is much longer.

I located these printer drivers simply by searching all files in my Windows and Program Files directories for the string "rulesforuse". If other folks run this same experiment, please let me know of other programs which appear to contain currency anti-copy technology.

There are some unanswered questions raised by this quiet effort by U.S. and European governments to turn home computers into anti-counterfeiting "cops":

1. Besides graphic programs and printer drivers, what other kinds of software is this currency anti-copy technology being embedded in?

2. Are companies being required to include currency anti-copying technology in their products? If not, what incentives are being offered to companies to include the technology on a voluntary basis?

3. Will future versions of this technology, "phone home" to the rulesforuse.org Web site with details about a violation of the currency copying rules? It would be very easy to include an email address, name of the image file, software version number, etc. embedded in a URL to the rulesforuse.org when a violation has been detected.

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Seems Adobe may not be the only one....