IBM Patents Idea of Making Your Data Crappier Over Time
Digital documents have, in IBM's view, a notable disadvantage. If the data is not corrupted, the data remains the same for as long as it exists. However, there is now an idea how to change that.
IBM refers to this particular invention as an "aging file system" that simulates a natural aging process to documents printed on paper. For example this aging process could be automatically applied to .doc, .jpg or .gif files, a patent filing states. According to IBM, there is a need for a new kind of filing system that "automatically and selectively ages files contained therein such that the files themselves are caused to age with time and are not maintained in their originally stored state." IBM even says that "there is a need to provide such an aging function to apply automatically to all files stored on the filing system without requiring a continuing user monitoring effort."
Imagine your surprise when, a couple decades from now, you see your digital pictures that have been automatically exposed to an artificial aging process and now deliver only a fraction of the quality they once did. We wonder, if that aging process could also apply UV, water and fire damage to a statistically correct portion of your image data and documents. Imagine facing a tax audit a few years from now and having to tell the IRS that your documents have been aged automatically and were lost due to a statistical fire. Brilliant!
Let's not stop here and imagine the Library of Congress a few thousand years from now in the same light as the ancient library of Alexandria. I wonder if IBM could find ways to automatically decompose digital files?
You can find the details of the invention in detail here. And yes, IBM appears to be completely serious about this one and we hear that the company may already be in negotiations to sell it in the next wholesale package to Google.
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sounds like another form of drm to me...
oh your files got aged because you didnt buy the updates.
rediculous the whole point of switching to digital media was in part because it can be reproduced without error. so whats the idea behind it.... make money by inventing something that corrupts data over time... the only real application for this is to force upgrades on applications or o.s's.. maybe adding it to windows 8 so in 2016 when it reaches its eol it will work for another year or so then give errors... forcing you to upgrade to the latest offering.
this should be considered malware by any self respecting anti malware company
Totaly agree with HEXiT. This is one of the stupidest digial inventions I have heard of. Anyone who chooses to download / install / save files in this format is mad (or a very cynical mass media producer)
1 word, denyability
I'm confused by this article, is it an accidental mis-post of next years april fools? "There is a need"? Really IBM? Whose need?
I HEXiT is correct, but there are other uses as well. For example this "technology" can be applied to automatically removing confidential/personal information off from servers after a period of time by encrypting -
then again, it's much easier to just delete files as they get older -_-
there are data rentention policies for that where aged data is removed, they are madatory policies for certain data types, and they also dictate how long it should be maintained for.
So why do they decay over time? Why don't they just disappear? Once a file starts decaying, it is useless anyway. For example, I would not listen to an MP3 or watch a movie if a few seconds of it were garbled - I'd delete it and acquire a new copy. It's the same with documents. So what even is the point of decay over time? The files become simply wasted disk space. People would write scripts that automatically delete files at the point they start decaying.
where's the link at?