Re: Stopping photocopying, take II

[Rowena Hart <rhart -at- XCERT -dot- COM>]

Paul Branchaud wrote:

>I was informed a few years ago that a major coffee company (which will
>remain unnamed) printed their procedures and recipes on a special paper
>stock. This stock, when photocopied, printed a special code that identified
>which store had released the proprietary documents. Although this does not
>prevent photocopying, it does help to identify the source of your "leaks".
I
>believe that cheques can carry security features that prevent or deter
>photocopying. Of course, speciality papers will cost more...

Similarly, government will often create different versions
of the same key document (released to different groups
or departments) with unique, traceable wording. They
can (later, if necessary) track down a leak to a particular
office, department, or team based on the wording of the
leaked document.

I've heard this described as a version of the "telephone"
game that children play, in which one child whispers a
phrase or story into the ear of a second child, who turns
and repeats the "same" phrase to a third child.  This is
repeated until all children in the group have heard the
phrase.  The last child in the chain then says the phrase
out loud.  The phrase has changed considerably; the
facts usually stay the same, but each child has used a
unique phrasing to "retell" the story.

Rowena

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Rowena Hart   Technical Writer

Xcert International Inc.
1001-701 West Georgia Street  Phone:  1 (604) 640-6210
Vancouver, BC, Canada V7Y 1C6  Fax: 1 (604) 640-6220
Web: http://www.xcert.com    E-mail: rhart -at- xcert -dot- com

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