Fingerprinting and Watermarking

Previously I've not distinguished watermarking from fingerprinting, in part because these terms have historically been used synonymously. Increasingly, however, fingerprinting has taken on a somewhat different meaning based on comparing audio or video against a media database of some sort. This sense of fingerprinting stands in contrast to watermarking by inserting a hidden message in a data stream. Future postings will elaborate the fingerprinting / watermarking distinction.