Dow Plastics Proposes Controls to Fight Piracy

Piracy of entertainment and software content on CD, audio and video cassette and CD-ROM is a $US 25 billion problem. Dow proposes to control the losses through an independent legal entity that would track the flow of polymers in a manner similar to that used to track the paper used in printing currency. While polycarbonate is the material of choice for CD production, Dow’s polycyclohexylethylene (PCHE) is being touted as a primary material for next-generation DVDs. The firm believes that implementation of monitoring on PCHE supplies will help control piracy at the source. In a prepared statement, Henri-Luc Martin, Dow’s director of anti-piracy and PCHE stated: “By protecting the polymer used to make the discs, we strengthen the impact of other anti-piracy efforts and technologies.” PCHE was designed using a proprietary Dow processing technology and patented catalysts.