figure this : The classic David Bowie and Queen coaction " Under Pressure " pops into your head . You have n’t heard it in geezerhood , and suddenly you may think of nothing but the lyrics . But you ca n’t remember them all , so you instinctively hop online and look up the call and give it a listen . Where do you go first ? You could go toiTunes , where you might ascertain the strain available as a 99 cent MP3 . But instead , you go to YouTube . And then you want to deal your uncovering with your friends , so you post a link on Twitter . Within transactions a dozen people are listening to that same strain without paying a dime bag .
This is the form of situation digital content Lord are n’t too unfounded about . Someone possess the right to most of the subject available on the WWW , and all too often it ’s distributed without permit . How can companies monetize something that ’s so easily ( and frequently ) duplicated and partake for free ?
One answer is a process calleddigital fingerprinting . Digital fingerprinting technology trust on complex data processor - driven analysis to identify a piece of media like a song or video clip . Here ’s where the fingermark analogy is born : Just like every person has a unparalleled fingermark , every slice of culture medium has identifying feature that can be pick out by smart software . But what good does this variety of identification really do ? Sites like YouTube can scan files and match their fingerprints against a database of copyrighted material and barricade users from uploading copyrighted files . Sounds simple , proper ? Surprisingly , citizenry often confuse digital fingerprinting with watermarking or do n’t have a exonerated picture of what the engineering entail .
Part of the problem is that the term " digital fingerprinting " can actually refer to two alone unlike things . The first substance we ’ve already cross , but the second works from a more traditional fingerprint analogy , equating your personal computer to an on-line fingerprint that can be used to track your online bodily function . Both conception refer to a unique identifier , but with completely different functionalities – this second meaning has nothing to do with pick out copyright songs or videos . Neither one involves scanning real fingermark , but they ’re pretty cool technologies anyway . Let ’s take a look at how they solve .
Watermarking vs. Fingerprinting
It ’s leisurely to coalesce up a digital fingerprint and a digital watermark , but these are two very different technologies with jolly similar goals . When fingerprints are most ordinarily mentioned in popular culture , they ’re cite in undercover agent movies or secret as visible identifying markings masses leave behind . Well , that ’s not how a digital fingermark do work – you ’ll never see any seeable evidence that a digital fingerprint subsist . The condition watermark , on the other hired man , typically refer to a completely visible marking on a digital file . Watermarks swear out to restrict the unlawful dispersal of content by annoyance more than wise technology [ source : Milano ] .
A water line is a logotype or other identify marking placed on an image or television that is seeable at all prison term . The watermark aim to admonish Internet users from assume a photograph or a video recording from one Web site and using it for their own use without acknowledge the source . It ’s pretty hard to pretend a photo belongs to you when it has someone else ’s logotype plastered all over it ! regrettably , there ’s nothing that really guarantees a water line will be effective . Piratescan still share watermarked video recording , and some photos with little watermark can well be cropped to hide the identity of their rightful owner . A second var. of watermarking add together an imperceptible piece of data point to a Indian file that can be used for tracking purposes . While this may sound even less useful than a seeable watermark , it actually allows content proprietor to chase the extraction of a file by its unique watermark [ root : Milano ] .
Digital fingerprinting offers an even more promising style to restrict the spread of copyright material . The very make-up of a file , which you could call its deoxyribonucleic acid , can be analyzed and recognized by a computer program designed to filter out licensed material . That fingerprint represents the digital equivalent weight of a red flag – when a computer system know how to construe its message , it acts as a warning that says " I ’m copyrighted ! " Of course , it ’s not quite that simple . The next varlet will dive into the technology that throws up that red flag .
Digital Fingerprinting Technology
Unlike watermarking , digital fingerprinting never involves modifying a single file . The most hopeful use of digital fingerprinting is preventive rather than tracking - based . For fingerprint to work , software has to be able to accurately place a piece of media andrelate that file to an external database . To achieve this , fingerprint softwaresamplesan audio or video file to pick out tiny portions of the file cabinet that are unparalleled to that firearm of medium . Those sample distribution could necessitate a handful of red picture element that make up a eccentric ’s hat at the 57 - minute patsy of a movie or the exact slant of a singer ’s articulation 30 seconds into a Song dynasty [ source : Milano ] . Those are exceedingly simplistic examples – fingerprinting entails taste multiple criterion to form an accurate mental representation of the media in enquiry .
One major digital fingerprinting company , Audible Magic , work for vast subject matter providers including NBC Universal , Sony Music and 20th Century Fox [ source : hearable Magic ] . Audible Magic boasts that its CopySense technology can describe the source of a picture clip within five seconds of playback and can identify an audio filing cabinet within 10 seconds . And supposedly , that ’s under any conditions . Not only is Audible Magic ’s software system design to identify a pristine copy of a movie , the party claims its software can recognize a piece of media that was , say , show off a movie theater CRT screen with a handheldcamera .
designation is found on what Audible Magic call " the perceptual characteristics of audio and TV . " The system is smart enough to see past transformative changes to audio recording and TV files so that transcoding between data file format , get even audio , clip an ikon or even blurring a moving-picture show ca n’t fool CopySense [ germ : Audible Magic ] .
Does that think Audible Magic can identify every part of capacity on the net ? Nope – fingerprint only works with medium that has been break down and has a reference file upload to a database . That file contains all the perceptual characteristics Audible Magic use to distinguish a birdcall of video . Audible Magic ’s Global Rights Registry Database covers millions of single file from its guest .
And that ’s the substance of digital fingerprinting as a mean of copy protection . Up next : how a 2d kind of fingerprinting can tag your identity element online .
Digital Fingerprinting and Your Identity
The last page delved into the technology power digital fingerprinting as we typically think of it , but the terminus sometimes refers to an altogether dissimilar form of information tracking . This can be middling perplexing . We all know what fingerprint normally means ( we only have one readiness of fingerprints ! ) , but enter the digital world opens up way for equivocalness . In recent years , digital fingerprinting has been used to describe a method acting of identity trailing – essentially , every figurer has a unequaled fingerprint that makes it trackable across theInternet .
You ’ve probably heard ofIP address , the unequalled numbers attached to every computer on the Internet . AnIP addressisn’t an precise personal identity plug-in for a computing machine . genuine fingerprints never vary , but cyberspace avail providers ( ISPs ) can vary users ' information processing addresses . Digital fingerprinting accounts for other details to pin down the identity of your computer . And here ’s where things get a short shuddery : It ’s shockingly easy for WWW sites to read various turn of data about your data processor and project out who you are . The IP destination is just the first footstep – this shows who your ISP is and what country you live in . The login identity you choose on a Web web site can be another clue . If you use the same login on multiple site , that name may be easy to tail down with a uncomplicated Google search . The operating system installed on your computer , be it Windows or Mac OS X or Linux , tighten the focus . Even the connection web internet browser you habituate ( and the specific version you ’re guide , like Google Chrome 11.0.696.60 or Firefox 3.6.17 ) adds detail to your digital fingerprint [ source : Wall Street Journal ] .
As you may see , the technology exist to track your bodily function on the Internet . But is this really a sorry thing ? Well , that depend on how much you valuate your privacy . One usage of this technology lies in targeted advertising , which would take your information into account to leave advertising more likely to appeal to your interests . If you ’ve ever noticed Google Ads grabbing keywords off a page you ’re view to allow more topical ads or been surprised when Web web site cryptically identify the city you live in , you ’ve seen a introductory version of this engineering at employment . As this form of trailing becomes more common , advertising and trailing companies will supposedly offer opt - out entanglement sites ( much like telemarketer " do not call " lists ) that will protect your anonymity . Still , you should always be aware of how easily your identity element can be decipher .
Reasons for Digital Fingerprinting
The last two page plant that the term " digital fingerprinting " applies to two completely different technology . The matter they have in rough-cut , of course , is a computerized flesh of designation . Now that we ’ve established how each technology works , let ’s examine how each is used . YouTube presents an leisurely starting point . Copyright misdemeanor constantly threaten the picture land site , and in 2007 Viacom suedGooglefor $ 1 billion over clips available on YouTube [ reference : CNET ] . Google did n’t upload the magazine itself , but it did n’t stop users from uploading the clips , either . Policing a situation as large as YouTube is a Brobdingnagian challenge – how can Google keep unaccredited content out ?
With digital fingerprinting . Google use software it calls YouTube Video Identification to class through upload TV and recognize copyrighted subject matter . It also gives right of first publication owners the ascendancy to deny uploads or even monetise their content [ author : YouTube ] . This soma of digital fingerprinting really serves two purposes : It protects Google from harmful cause and limits the unlicensed spread of copyrighted material . Ideally , this means both the companies that own the copyright and the companies who host that content online are protected by fingerprinting . The content is n’t go around illicitly , and sites like YouTube obviate cruddy case .
Of naturally , digital fingerprinting does n’t have to be a restrictive technology . Another fantabulous example of fingerprint at body of work is Shazam , the music identification app that can match a song ’s audio sample distribution to a musical database [ source : Everything Else Matters Too ] . On smart phone , Shazam uses a mike to pluck up audio from a Sung , canvass it , and uses that data to find a match . Shazam then pull up a Thomas Nelson Page of selective information on the song and artist and provide quick access to a music storage where an MP3 of the song can be purchased .
We ’ve described how digital fingerprinting can be used to trackPCsacross the Internet based on various characteristic that make up a digital fingermark . That same trailing technology can be used for certificate , as well . sea rover and net users who upload and download illicit material can be key out , tracked and even cop using the power of digital fingerprinting . And because identification does n’t rely on an IP address alone , pirates who reach the Internet from different blank space on the same gimmick can still be trap down .
plain , tracking criminals is a noble use of digital fingerprinting – but if this is begin to sound like an invasion of privacy to you , you might be onto something .
Legality
As you ’ve probably figured out by this point , digital fingerprinting can be a brawny – perhaps even trespassing – applied science . Do you wish the thought of your every online move being cut across , even if it ’s only for the purpose of targeted advertizing ? Here ’s a better dubiousness : Is it even legal ?
Identity tracking fingerprinting tread on shaky honourable priming coat that may be deemed overly encroaching and unlawful in the time to come . But because it ’s a developing technology , those legal issue are still being sorted out . And with theInternetbeing a global connection , laws regarding digital fingerprinting may explicate completely differently from one state to another .
According to Canada ’s road map , a digital fingerprint belike constitutes personal selective information , so usage of that selective information could be in infringement of Canadian privacy law . Canadian organization are demand to exhaust every possible noninvasive method of personal identification before resorting to method acting like fingerprint . Because fingerprinting " may garner more information than is necessary to discover fraudulent and duplicate respondents in online research , " Canadian organizations could get in fuss for chase people unless they ’ve received permission or wipe out all other opportunities [ source : Verrinder ] .
The first form of digital fingerprinting we covered – matching identifying characteristic of copyright media to a database – does n’t suffer from the same honourable challenges as identity element trailing . License holders have the right to protect their message , and nothing about this shape of fingerprinting invades the user ’s privacy . Ideally , fingerprinting will actually lessen the routine ofcopyrightinfringement suit by halt the illegal diffusion of licensed media . Viacom ’s $ 1 billion lawsuit against YouTube was befuddle out of court in 2010 because Google was found to be in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA ) . Because the situation took down illegal TV when give notice , it was protect under the DMCA and was n’t held liable for the actions of its users [ source : Schonfeld ] . With better fingerprinting applied science , the lawsuit may never have spring up at all . That statement puts a hatful of faith into fingerprinting engineering science , bringing us to our last topic : How well does it really work out ?
Effectiveness of Digital Fingerprinting
Digital fingerprinting sounds like the gross technology to combat Internetpiracy . It forbid user from spread copyrighted cognitive content and potentially bypasses the hassle and expense of suit . Once implemented by an organization , digital fingerprinting is a largely automated system , which means less work for content provider and media sites likewise . Of of course , all that convenience assumes one critical matter : that digital fingerprinting actually works .
Digital fingerprinting must be able to distinguish 1000 or millions of opus of message – capacity that can be disseminated in many media formats , cropped or edited in unexpected ways , or even record off a movie theater screen . telecasting constituent like color , bitrate and even resolution can vary from video to telecasting . With all those variables , can digital fingerprinting really study ?
In 2007 , Audible Magic ’s Copysense fingerprinting technology was put to the test in an online telecasting site scream Soapbox . Soapbox was aMicrosoftproject that appropriate exploiter to upload videos a la YouTube . Even with Audible Magic ’s fingerprinting technology at work , technical school internet site Gigaom was well able to upload a copyrighted video from Comedy Central ’s " The Daily Show " [ source : Gigaom ] . It took daytime for the time to be have down from Soapbox – even after Gigaom meet Microsoft and Audible Magic for comment . guess the clip would then be index and protected against illicit communion , Gigaom examine to upload it again . It worked . They had similar achiever on Myspace , which also employ Audible Magic ’s fingerprinting .
hearable Magic protects against 11 million birdsong , movies and television display . But with decades of media at our fingertips in digital form , the software obviously ca n’t safeguard against all illegal uploads . Digital fingerprinting also ca n’t turn back most peer - to - peer file share-out , which distributes stuff directly between exploiter . The effectivity of digital fingerprinting in the hereafter is entirely up in the air . If companies like Audible Magic continue to improve their acknowledgment scheme and thrive their fingerprint database , sites with user - generated content will be easier to maintain and the engineering that key medium will be more powerful than ever . Who knows ? In 20 years , apps like Shazam may be able to differentiate between two resilient concert versions of " Free Bird " based on the duration of a guitar solo . Now that would be accuracy !
