EE
Times has an interesting article about a new antitheft mechanism developed by NXP Semiconductors and Kestrel Wireless. DVD
manufacturers wanting to use the system would incorporate a small RFID chip and a thin electro-optic layer into each disc. These discs
would then remain unreadable until activated by a RFID reader at the point of purchase.
Under the system, the DVD
manufacturer would overlay each disk with a thin electro-optic layer, conceived by Kestrel. Atkins said the layer functions "like a
shutter," barring a DVD player's laser from reading the disk. An RFID inlay comprising the RFID chip and an RF antenna is embedded in
the disk.
DVD disks incorporating the mechanism would remain unreadable until passed through an RFID reader at the point of
purchase. The reader would check a unique number embedded in the disk's RFID chip to confirm the sale. The RFID chip on the DVD would
then power up, creating a short electric impulse that would change the optical behavior of the disk's electro-optic film layer and make
the layer transparent. Any DVD player could then read the disk.
At this point, its questionable whether or not the benefits
of the security mechanism outweigh the added costs. Nevertheless, the solution will enter "advance trials" in mid-2007 and is expected to
appear in commercial optical disks by the end of the year. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.
