Cracking Down on Video Piracy

MySpace is stepping up efforts to block uploads of unauthorized content with new screening technology. Google, are you listening?

by Catherine Holahan

The pressure on Google to institute more aggressive copyright protections and policies is mounting. The latest heat emanates from social-networking site MySpace, which announced Feb. 12 that it is expanding the use of audio screening technology to block the uploading of unlicensed videos to its site. The company already uses "fingerprinting" technology licensed from content management company Audible Magic to filter out music owned by major labels.

In a statement, MySpace Chief Executive and co-founder Chris DeWolfe said the company's action was intended to show its users, many of whom are musicians, that it respects their work and ownership rights. "MySpace is dedicated to ensuring that content owners, whether large or small, can both promote and protect their content in our community," he said.

It's a point particularly important for MySpace to make, given that its parent company is News Corp. (NWS), owner of dozens of television stations, networks, and film studios. However, it also underscores the relative lack of copyright protection offered by YouTube and its parent Google (GOOG) at a time when media companies, including News Corp., are fighting to keep their unlicensed content off the video-sharing site. "It undoubtedly puts the pressure on Google," says James McQuivey, Forrester Research's (FORR) principal technology and media analyst.

We'll See You in Court

The media companies have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with Google. They have accused the search giant of directing traffic and selling ads to two sites that sold pirated films, according to a Feb. 12 report inThe Wall Street Journal.

News Corp. has subpoenaed YouTube for the identity of users who uploaded full episodes of Twentieth Century Fox's prime-time series 24 before they even debuted on television (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/26/07, "Google and YouTube: A Catch-22"). Late last week, YouTube gave up the identities, according to a Fox statement.

Similarly, Viacom demanded earlier this month that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips, including snippets of its frequently uploaded Comedy Central shows, after failing to reach a licensing agreement with Google or YouTube (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/2/07, "Viacom's High-Stakes Duel with Google"). In a statement, a Viacom spokesman complained of YouTube's lack of screening technology: "Filtering tools promised repeatedly by YouTube and Google have not been put in place, and they continue to host and stream vast amounts of unauthorized video."

Three Strikes and You're Out

YouTube has repeatedly said that it abides by the copyright laws, taking down infringing clips as soon as it is notified of their existence. The company also maintains that it has copyright-protection tools and is working on developing additional capabilities, which it will roll out over time.

In a Feb. 12 statement, a YouTube spokesperson said that the company uses automated technology to prevent files from being uploaded again after it has received copyright infringement notices and removed the offending files. It also highlighted a three-strikes policy that kicks users off the site who repeatedly upload material they don't own.

The spokesman said, however, that identifying copyrighted material on YouTube could not be a completely automated process because machines cannot tell whether the content owners want their clips to be uploaded for marketing and promotional purposes. "These matters are very complicated, and we are working with our partners to identify and solve these problems," said a spokesman.