Could Video Fingerprinting End Legal Fingerpointing?

Not anytime soon but major content providers and distributors are hoping variations on the theme will prove successful enough to at least make a difference now. The WSJ takes a snapshot of fingerprinting technology and how the current reality and eventual real promise of such tech is being used in negotiations now. For instance, pledges of proactive fingerprinting got AOL. Microsoft and Yahoo in on the ground floor of the NBCU-News Corp. JV. The JV has said it’s willing to work with Google and YouTube, being sued by Viacom, on a distribution deal but will require the same pledge. Google, meanwhile, has signed some deals that include helping content providers identify and remove content but, as yet, hasn’t been able to deliver. The company said this past week its tool set is nearing launch, stressing again is not promising filtering before content is posted publicly.

— According to the Journal. NBCU will participate in a test of fingerprinting with YouTube from April to June with results planned for sometime this summer. (Hard to believe the JV and Google could reach a deal before that’s done.) NBC General Counsel Rick Cotton said he sees progress and that the JV deal “removes entirely the notion that this is so technically difficult that it can’t be done on a large scale.”

— Google is using technology from Audible Magic Corp. according to “people familiar with the matter.” AOL is waiting for a fingerprinting standard. Yahoo isn’t using any yet, either.

— The EFF’s Fred von Lohmann calls Google’s approach a “plausible middle ground” and warns that knowing too much can cost a distributor its DMCA safe-harbor privileges. Meanwhile, the MPAA says its tests show fingerprinting works. Audible Magic claims 99-plus percent accuracy when clips are degraded.

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