Photoshop Creative Suite Analyzes Images for Illegal Content

Adobe User Forums ^ | 1/10/2004 | Web board comment

[Richard Kimball]

We received a TIFF image from a customer, of a $20 bill. The image does *not* violate any laws regarding reproduction of currency (it's not even close to actual-size, and it's not a "flat" portrayal - it's wavy, as if it's fluttering in the wind. Nor is it real-color.

However, Photoshop CS refuses to open the image, and provides an error message regarding the (il)legality of currency reproduction and an "information" button that takes you to the web. (Photoshop 7, of course, has no such qualms).

What the hell is this? In my book this is completely unacceptable - Photoshop is an image editor, not a censor, government policy enforcer or anything else.

Adobe, you've got some explaining to do.

Brian

[Richard Kimball]

I found this posted on the Adobe user forums. Other users confirmed that Photoshop 8 analyzes photos and will not open photos of money. Since it's not an announced feature, I have no idea what else Adobe considers illegal content.

The rest of the thread is here. If you're not an Adobe user, it asks you to create an account, but you can view the thread as a guest by clicking the link above the registration box with the thread title on it.

I use PS 7, and am not considering upgrading. PS 7 doesn't have this wonderful feature.

Also, though, I find it difficult to imagine Adobe just coming up with this nanny-feature on their own. Many users of the new PS have complained about how slow it is, and this image analysis has to be one of the reasons. That makes me wonder, who is telling them to do it?

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[lowbridge]

bump

[Khurkris]

...my toes were cold this morning...but they warmed up.

[Wumpus Hunter]

I wonder what that information" button sends back home to them?

[smith288]

Be like me and use Paint Shop Pro 8.

[Richard Kimball]

That thought struck me, also. I know that Realplayer and Windows Media Player track where the user goes to view videoclips online, and send the information back to their respective companies, but this, to me, seems to be breaking new ground. Photoshop isn't some freeware that you download from the web, it's d*mned expensive (my copy is legit, btw. I don't pirate software or songs), but when you register, they have everything on you. You also can't really be in the graphic arts field without using Adobe products. I also doubt that you have to hit the information button for the program to send a report, especially if you have a full-time connection (assuming they are collecting this data).

Every day it seems like our personal space gets a little smaller.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Is paint shop pro 8 free? I'm a cheap SOB.

[AAABEST]

Anyone out there want to become a mulit-millioinaire?

Create software products that keep all prying eyes out of the users machine. Also there will be big demand for software that isn't part of the "clampdown".

I want a cut of your first million.

This country is become a friggin' surveillance industrial complex, this stuff will be in demand. It's starting to piss me off.

[MediaMole]

This was featured on TechTV last night. It appears that any image with currency as an element will not open. Imagine if the picture of a kid with his first earnings cannot be opened.

I'm all for stopping counterfeiting, but there have to be limits.

[Theo]

I use Photoshop **all** the time, and find this fascinating! It is pretty nasty of Adobe to do that, to "critique" what we're doing with the software we've purchased. Perhaps it's tied to the secret messages demonized Muslims are "hiding" in photos they send back and forth? Weird....

Previous versions did have hidden stuff in the images that "copyrighted" an image, no? Digimarc "watermark," it's called. Even if you did a screenshot of such a "copyrighted" image, Photoshop would *know* that it was copyrighted by a particular person/company because of the invisible watermark embedded in the image. Wonder if the technology is related?

Ted.

[Richard Kimball]

Photoshop 7, which I use, doesn't do this. However, if Adobe has been pressured into putting in this feature, I suspect most other image editors will eventually have it. My concern is the future. In ten years, all of the current graphic editing programs will be obsolete (imagine trying to do serious graphics in Windows Paint).

I can't use a hobbyist program (I'm not saying PSP is) and produce serious images. If this is a government initiative, the next version of PSP will have it. I think we need some serious disclosure as to who is behind this. If it is a governmental agency, there are fourth amendment issues involved (not that this matters to most people anymore).

[Incorrigible]

Not only does it keep intruders out of your machine, it keeps software running on your machine from connecting externally without your knowledge.

Though given that they have a free version, I doubt you'll be getting a cut of sales!

[Grig]

Somne digital photocopiers do the same thing, they won't copy the page, or even shutdown if you try to copy a bill.

There will be a hack out to disable this before long I bet.

I also bet it doens't check if the image is of Canadian or any other foreign money. I wonder if it covers past versions of US bills.

Doesn't the treasury dept have pictures of bills online?

[smith288]

There is a free demo of it that lets you do anything for a limited time. But its only 60 bux and is VERY comparable to Photoshop. It even accepts Photoshop plugins. Version 8 is leaps and bounds better than its previous versions.

Here is some of my previous work with it.

[boris]

Interesting. It might be interesting to see how much of a bill it will accept. Or what part it focuses on. For example, snip off the corner of a dollar bill and try to scan that.

Or mask out various regions.

Maybe it's a "holographic" technique, and looks at the whole bill somehow.

Maybe it's reverse steganography, whatever that might be.

Hmm.

--Boris

[AAABEST]

I appreciate the tip, but zone alarm is a toy. It certainly won't keep certain types out. Like say .... the GOVERNMENT.

I'm talking air tight. Also products that allows on to surf without a footprint (proxies don't work).

The latter would be a tough one though, as they'd always be able to get close to you area wise.

[garbanzo]

I think it's time to call a few congresscritters and make 'em do something useful for a change. What's next - image viewing software that reports back to the government the content of your images?

[Tench_Coxe]

Actually, I would suspect that if they do not notify the customer on purchase that this feature exists in the software, there are certain contractural violations ( for example, someone selling you milk without teling you it contains syrup of ipecac ).

[Richard Kimball]

I had that on my PC, and I was amazed at how many programs try to access the web. RealPlayer tried to access about every thirty minutes. I wish I could find a Mac program with similar functionality. However, I may be overly paranoid. I trust Zone Labs, but I immediately suspect that almost all "firewall" freeware collects it's own data.