Japan

Sep 23, 2005

New software detects illegal font copies

TOKYO - Software developer Quality Corp will this month release a system that prevents the unauthorized use of character fonts on personal computers.

With the product, called BizPack-F, agent software is sent to PCs connected to a company's network. The agent software searches for fonts that are included in the operating systems of PCs. It sends the search results to the server, where a list of set fonts on each PC is created. The system can detect illegal font copies based on serial numbers.

In devising the software, Quality collaborated with domestic font developer Morisawa & Co. BizPack-F can accommodate about 300 different types of Morisawa fonts and is also compatible with Apple Computer Inc's Macintosh computers, which are widely used in the publishing and printing industries.

The distribution routes for fonts are complex. Fonts are sold separately and as parts of sets with other software. Compared

with application software, users are often unaware that fonts are software products. As a result, such font developers as Morisawa have struggled to come up with ways to deal with their unauthorized use.

Quality will sell BizPack-F as an additional product of its QND Plus software management system, targeting printing firms and publishers. Prices will start at 500,000 yen (US$4,474), and the company anticipates first-year sales of 50 million yen.

(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)

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