The digital rights management technology works by embedding a unique ID or fingerprint on individual copies of multimedia content.

The tool includes special codes that can withstand so-called collusion attacks, in which multiple users conspire to electronically steal and distribute copyrighted material, said K.J. Ray Liu, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university's A. James Clark School of Engineering.

Such attacks generally involve the theft of multiple copies of copyrighted material, such as a movie, that are pieced together in an attempt to dilute or erase the digital identities associated with each copy, Liu said.

"If you can find 100 people to collude together, you can reduce the fingerprint by 100 times, and nobody will be able to identify" the source of a leak or copyright infringement, he said.

The digital fingerprint technology is designed to resist such attempts at dilution, said researcher Min Wu, an assistant professor at the school.