Originally planned for a September release, the fabled YouTube
antipiracy
tool has finally appeared, according to Webware.
Due to the controversy and bad press being created by a swathe
of copyright lawsuits, Google hinted at the
development of a new breed of video
recognition technology for YouTube back in June.
This new technology was meant to
help the curb the posting of copyrighted material onto the video
community.
This new tool, however, is not a completely automated process
and,
without the help of content owners, may not be able to catch 100% of
the copyright videos that are constantly making their way to YouTube
viewers.
Video ID Technology
The Video ID technology (developed in-house) from Google has
the
ability to identify pirated video as it is uploaded, but only after
original content owners provide copies of their content to YouTube to
be included on the site.
Once the content owner uploads videos, they
can then specify whether they want to block others from uploading
copies of it. Elinor Mills also noted that users “can also ask YouTube
to allow others to post it and put ads next to it or otherwise promote
it on their sites.”
“The automated YouTube video ID system looks at all video as
it is
uploaded and tries to match it with a database of visual abstractions
of the copyrighted material that has been provided by content
owners.If the system finds a match it will either block it, post it,
or–depending upon the policy specified by the content
owner–put ads on
it, with the revenue being shared with the content owner.”
Launch Way Behind Schedule
When asked why the development’s launch was behind schedule,
YouTube
product manager David King responded saying, “Building a system like
this is extremely complex.
This is actually a project that Google had
been working on for a number of years already and then when the
(YouTube) acquisition went through we ramped it up as a priority. It
literally has taken until now to get the technology right.”
Google has mentioned that there is the possibility that some
content, in which the owners have opted to block others from uploading,
may make it onto the site, but not for more than a few minutes before
the new system catches and removes the offending video.
YouTube executive seem to be very proud with the system having
stated that is is “the first image-recognition technology implemented
on any large scale,” and also that Time Warner, Disney and CBS (who have been
testing the technology) are very pleased with it.
Not The Tool To End Piracy On YouTube
That’s all good and well, but it will be very time-consuming
for
production studios and content owners to have to provide all of their
content to YouTube before it can be blocked from being added by
others.
Despite the fact that 3 major companies are pleased, YouTube
testing of
the technology was conducted by 9 companies in total. What exactly was
the reaction from the other 6?
I give it only a matter of time before this development has
to go
back under the knife to become more automated. If any copyrighted
material makes it onto YouTube at all, they stand a chance for future
lawsuits, and I don’t see this first version being the tool to end
piracy on YouTube.
Michael Garrett is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
