Who owns your CAD data? |
|
Posed this question,
most people would respond: “I do.” An organization’s CAD data is a
valuable asset and it makes up the “DNA” of their product line. Some CAD companies see this matter a bit differently. Several years back, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) changed the format of their Pro-E files and added a layer of encryption. A number of CAD products had added the ability to read native Pro-E files and PTC felt threatened as the reason that many people considered purchasing Pro-E was to be able to read these files from customers and/or suppliers. Eventually, this encryption was decoded but legal hurdles still need to be overcome by those wishing to read these new file types. Most recently, another company has made
similar moves. AutoDesk, in their latest version of AutoCAD, 2004, has
added file encryption as well. What this means to the user that upgrades
is that, once a DWG file is saved in the new format, it can not be
opened directly in previous versions of AutoCAD. Why this matters is
because many companies have historically upgraded their versions of
AutoCAD over a long period of time. It was highly probable that
customers and suppliers with which a company partnered were using an
older version of the tool. AutoDesk’s strategy in doing this is
twofold: 1) To force the upgrade issue for those that want to read these
file format from other companies, whether they need it or not 2) To
hinder progress of competitive CAD companies that read/write the native
DWG format. In a statement from John
Sanders, VP of Autodesk's Platform Technology Division, Autodesk’s
position is: “The DWG format was changed to benefit customers by
making them more productive with significant new AutoCAD features and
functionality. The only encryption in the AutoCAD 2004 DWG is file
password protection, which is totally under the control of the user. It
is there to allow for secure transmission of drawings solely at the
user's discretion.” The
viewpoint from the OpenDWG Alliance (http://www.opendwg.org/
), an association of CAD customers and vendors committed to
promoting open, industry-standard formats for the exchange of CAD data,
is a bit different. In a press release dated May 16, 2003, they state:
“AutoCAD 2004 is the first version of this best-selling CAD program to
implement significant forms of data compression and header encryption in
its file format. Earlier versions of the AutoCAD implemented basic
compression forms to reduce file size, and included trivial encryption
of embedded ACIS solid-model data. In AutoCAD 2004 DWG, a comprehensive
compression algorithm is applied to almost all data structures, and the
file and section headers are encrypted using a magic-number/XOR
algorithm.” In addition, even though they have
reverse-engineered the new format and now support it, Evan Yares,
President of the OpenDWG Alliance states: “Despite the fact that we
support the format, users should continue to be cautious about using
AutoCAD 2004 DWG files for projects which require long-term data access
as the format does contain encryption.” So, the question is who do you believe and who has more to gain (or lose) with this new strategy? Regardless of the answer to the question, the ability to truly leverage the value of your data is directly at stake. |