Nielsen has super anti-piracy video plan

David Johnson December 5th, 2007

Anybody have any skinny on this? WSJ has an article that Nielsen has some new technology to offer publishers and netcasters that thwarts online video piracy. Digimarc is reportedly on board as a partner.

Update from Cory: Nielsen has just announced a new service that will allow publishers to track the viral distribution of their video across the internet. The goal is to “establish an industry-wide rules-based solution” using Digimarc’s watermarking and fingerprinting technology. Press release below…

PRESS RELEASE — The Nielsen Company and Digimarc Corporation
(NASDAQ: DMRC) today announced a new service – Nielsen
Digital Media Manager – that will enable media companies, social networks,
peer-to-peer services and user generated content sites to monitor and manage
the distribution of media content across the Internet.

Nielsen Digital Media Manager will use digital watermarking and
fingerprinting to establish an industry-wide rules-based solution to
copyright security and to assure copyright compliance. By providing a more
reliable way to track content, the service will help clients realize the
value of their digital content, promote the expansion of
Internet-distributed media and facilitate a number of revenue streams,
including ad-pairing, e-commerce, royalty reporting and others.

Nielsen already uses digital watermarking to encode 95% of national
television programming for its television ratings service, and the new
service will focus initially on the online distribution of television
content in the U.S. The companies expect these new solutions to be available
in mid 2008.

Nielsen and Digimarc also plan to work with the media industry to digitally
watermark DVD’s, movies, music, video games and other content in subsequent
phases of the roll-out of the new media identification and management
services.

“We believe these services will stimulate the growth of online video
distribution, to the benefit of consumers, content providers and
distributors,” said David Calhoun, chairman and CEO of the Nielsen Company.
“Until now, the lack of an independent, industry-accepted identification and
tracking service has limited the transactions that allow the delivery of
media content over the Internet. Now with our new media identification and
management services unique ability to identify content throughout the
Internet, both content providers and distributors can protect and monetize
the value of online media.”

“Digital watermarking enables content producers to harness the power of the
Internet and expand audiences for entertainment media by identifying media
content wherever it goes,” said Bruce Davis, chairman and CEO of Digimarc.
“The ability to identify content enables accountability, insightful
marketing, and enhanced consumer experiences. This initiative can turn a
perceived threat to the entertainment industry into a manageable solution
that inspires an exciting new era of digital entertainment.”

Under the agreement, Nielsen and Digimarc will work together to develop this
service and each will contribute intellectual property and technological
expertise. Digimarc is licensing digital watermarking patents from its
extensive patent portfolio to Nielsen for these new solutions and providing
development support. The solutions will take advantage of Nielsen’s
extensive expertise in digital watermarking and fingerprinting technologies,
its extensive network and systems infrastructure and its world class
capabilities for supporting media and advertising companies around the
world.

Nielsen Digital Media Manager will offer many benefits to key players in
digital distribution:

Content owners can leverage the popularity of new media distribution
channels by identifying what content is being shared, viewed, mashed up or
accessed. This intelligence enables content owners to make meaningful
decisions on what content to allow or disallow on such sites. At the same
time, they can decide where and how to distribute content while developing
new revenue streams, and how to measure the effectiveness of associated
marketing campaigns.

Content distributors, including social networks, user generated content site
operators and aggregators, can ensure the legitimacy of content shared on
their sites. This will enable them to establish new business relationships
with the content community, and explore new sources of revenue by extending
the reach of advertising and other value-add applications.

Consumers will enjoy expanded access to related goods, services and
communities and be able to more easily find video content when they want it,
regardless of format or operating system.