A technique for creating a tamper-resistant machine identifier is disclosed. A file is created with a set of file blocks having random locations. Each block is identified by an object identifier that represents the block's location. A machine identifier is created based on the object identifiers of the file blocks. Machine-identifier-dependent software (i.e., software that is designed to perform its function only in the presence of a particular machine identifier) is created and loaded into the file. The software has the machine identifier embedded within itself, and checks the object identifiers of the file in which it is stored against the embedded machine identifier prior to performing its functions. The software may, in one example, be rights-management software that is adapted to allow commercially valuable content to be rendered only on a particular device having a particular machine identifier.