Suhit Gupta
04-21-2005, 10:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/Nikons+photo+encryption+reported+broken/2100-1030_3-5679848.html?part=rss&tag=5679848&subj=news' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Nikons+photo+encryption+reported+broken/2100-1030_3-5679848.html?part=rss&tag=5679848&subj=news</a><br /><br /></div><i>"A Massachusetts programmer says he has broken a proprietary encryption code that has effectively forced some Nikon digital camera owners to use the company's own software. Because Nikon scrambled a portion of the file, legal worries have kept third-party developers like Adobe Systems from supporting Nikon's uncompressed "raw" photos in their software. Nikon sells its Nikon Capture utility for $100. "It's an open format now," said programmer Dave Coffin, who posted the decryption code on his Web site this week. "I broke that encryption--I reverse-engineered it.""</i><br /><br />Nikon's encryption is found in the high-end D2X and D2H cameras so it doesn't necessarily affect all us regular SLR users however it is interesting to note that Photoshop creator Thomas Knoll had warned last week that Nikon files would not be supported in its Camera Raw software--by decrypting the encoded white balance information--for fear of violating the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act.