Battling Piracy, BayTSP-Style

“On an average day, there are 16 million violations that we’re finding,” said BayTSP spokesman Jim Graham. Of that, one million violations a month receive takedown notices. “Not all clients want to send takedown notices,” said Graham. “A lot just want to see the data on what’s available out there.”

Here’s how BayTSP works. A client gives it a list of titles (movies, TV shows, etc.) to monitor. BayTSP’s automated hardware then sniffs around major P2P sites, IRC, Usenet groups, public FTP sites and web sites and reports back its findings.

For P2P sites, if a title is found and the client wants to have it removed, BayTSP automatically generates a takedown notice that records the individual’s IP address, date and time identified, and sends it off to the ISP. The ISP then forwards the notice to the individual. Some ISPs and universities are adopting the open source Automated Copyright Notice System to automate the process of notifying infringers.

But what does all this cost? Between $25,000 and $500,000 a month, depending on how many titles you are searching and what services you want performed.

Full story here

The Wall Street Journal did a profile a couple months back:
- BayTSP employs more than 20 video analysts
- Analyst salaries start at around $11 an hour
- Viacom pays more than $100,000 a month to BayTSP
- BayTSP error rate on Web videos is only around 0.1%

Anti-Piracy Gang Launches their own Video Download Site to Trap People

Media Defender, a notorious anti piracy gang working for the MPAA, RIAA and several independent media production companies, just launched their very own video upload service called “miivi.com”. The sole purpose of the site is to trap people into uploading copyrighted material, and bust them for doing so.

Miivi claims to offer hight speed downloads of blockbuster movies hereby luring people into downloading copyrighted content.

SafeNet Launches Piracy-Monitoring Service

SafeNet Launches MediaSentry Business Intelligence Service for Audience Measurement and Piracy Monitoring on Global Peer-to-Peer Networks
World's First Service to Offer Content Owners and Digital Promotion Companies Direct Measurement Capabilities on Industry's Most Prolific File-Sharing Networks

Digital Hollywood Spring, Santa Monica, Calif.,– June 11, 2007 - SafeNet Inc., a global leader in information security, announced the launch of its MediaSentry Business Intelligence (BI) services portfolio which features world's first direct measurement of user activity across the most heavily trafficked peer-to-peer (P2P) networks globally.

The BI Direct Measurement service represents a significant opportunity for content owners and online advertisers to achieve an unprecedented level of visibility into P2P networks that have historically proven difficult to measure and understand.

By leveraging a combination of SafeNet's proven techniques for identifying and tracking content online and the unique analysis tools and reporting capabilities offered with BI Direct Measurement, customers will now be able to monitor, track, and understand user behavior and consumption on global P2P networks.

This insight into global consumer demand across one of the world's largest bases of content seekers can be used by content owners and online advertisers alike to understand emerging markets and measure consumer response to new distribution techniques, marketing initiatives and advertising campaigns.

"As the media industry identifies and begins to embrace a variety of new and innovative methods for turning next-generation consumers into captive audiences there is a desire to dedicate a larger portion of overall investment to online channels," said Analyst, Digital Media Practice, Frost & Sullivan, Zippy Aima. "Success reaching these new and evolving consumer segments requires a comprehensive and accurate understanding of what is truly happening on peer-to-peer networks. Until now, this type of data has been minimal at best."

Unlike other measurement services which employ a traditional sampling approach whereby data is captured in snapshots over specific time intervals, BI Direct Measurement continually captures all download activity for a chosen piece of digital content in real-time. Thus, visibility into how and when content is propagating globally across networks increases exponentially.

According to Vice-President, Global Outsourcing, SafeNet Infotech, Deepak Prasad, "Valuable download metrics including total quantity of files available, time of day, geography, version, download duration and success rates enable content owners to further assess consumer interest and content demand as well as quantify the impact of digital piracy."

"With more than 12 million users at any given time, peer-to-peer networks represent a tremendous business opportunity," said Vice President, MediaSentry Services, SafeNet, John Desmond. "Our goal is to provide the insight customers need to effectively protect their most valued digital assets while also finding ways to turn these growing communities into lucrative marketing, advertising, and distribution channels. BI Direct Measurement delivers this insight thus enabling our customers to develop forward-thinking distribution strategies which offer consumers attractive and compelling alternatives to pirated materials online."

About MediaSentry Business Intelligence Direct Measurement

The combination of SafeNet's global footprint and technical expertise in investigation services resulted in the development of the World's most powerful and accurate measurements available for assessing file-sharing activity. From this, content owners gain significant visibility into consumer demand and file-sharing patterns on one of the fastest growing distribution channels today – peer-to-peer networks. The portfolio of MediaSentry Business Intelligence solutions provides content owners with the essential tools and information they need to:

• Quantify the scope and financial impact of digital piracy
• Monitor leaks and first releases of premium content online
• Track piracy propagation throughout the content's lifecycle
• Understand user behavior and assess global trends on file-sharing networks
• Evaluate the effectiveness of specific anti-piracy campaigns and initiatives
• Perform drill down data analysis by country, title and network
• Make informed decisions around future distribution strategies

Suretone taps P2P

Suretone Records is tapping P2P networks to distribute clips of music videos from artists such as Weezer, and taking a decidedly different approach by dropping any insistence of DRM technology.

However, the videos won't be complete. The video clips are positioned more as "teasers" to generate interest and awareness of the video clips, which fans can download and view for free. They will then be redirected to the label's Web site if they want to view the full video -- where Suretone will stream music videos for free along with advertising.

ArtistDirect's MediaDefender unit will take on the task of distributing the videos on the various P2P networks, and will have a dedicated channel on its own site.

Vidmeter Tracker: Track Videos on MySpace, YouTube, Metacafe

Vidmeter is one of the few video aggregators that seems to have some staying power: the site brings together the most popular clips from all the top video sites and puts them into a Top 100 list. Tonight, Vidmeter is leveraging that same stat tracking technology, and providing it to video creators to track their own videos.

Vidmeter Tracker, which launched a few hours ago, asks you to input the URLs where your video is posted. It’ll then grab the stats for that clip on all the popular sites: hi5, iFilm, YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe and many more. The tracker updates its stats several times a day, and provides an RSS feed and email updates: the stats include views, comments and traffic graphs.

In the video aggregator space, Vidmeter’s rivals include Vdiddy and VideoBomb. In the tracking space, however, it’s hard to think of many alternatives - surely that will change as the ad networks move into the video space.

SpiralFrog Floats Another Day, New Appointment Announced

SpiralFrog has been pronounced dead by numerous sources, though signs of life emerged on Wednesday. The company did not return an inquiry from Digital Music News on Tuesday, though a press representative did offer an executive announcement the next day. According to the release, the company has now placed Jordan Levin onto its board of directors. Levin is the former CEO of the now-shuttered WB television network, and is being billed as the "youngest CEO in broadcast television history". The move follows reports of several high-level exits, including chief executive Robin Kent and various executives and board members. The report circulated throughout the industry, raising serious questions about the ad-supported digital music model.
The announcement of a new board member signals some life at the company, an important move given the earlier assessment. Joe Mohen, chairman and founder of SpiralFrog, noted that Levin will bring critical expertise to the youth-focused venture. "Jordan Levin is recognized for his deeply nuanced understanding of young adults," Mohen said. "His media buying relationships led to groundbreaking deals with blue-chip advertisers creating innovative, brand-integrated programs and new programming alliances." Meanwhile, the release pointed to the launch of the "advertising-supported service in early 2007," though major questions surround that timetable. The situation remains fluid, and the onus is now on SpiralFrog to prove that funeral predictions were premature.

SpiralFrog Lily Pad Enters Troubled Waters

SpiralFrog, the as-yet-unreleased, ad-supported music service, is now reportedly in serious trouble. According to multiple sources, the once-celebrated destination has recently entered a very difficult juncture. "SpiralFrog looks dead," one executive close to the company flatly told Digital Music News on Tuesday. Another, a major label executive, pointed to a similar verdict while referencing "specific model flaws". The news surfaced at a late hour, making it difficult for SpiralFrog to return an inquiry, though a published report in CNet also validates the claim. The article pointed to the departure of chief executive Robin Kent, as well the exit of "members of his executive team and three board directors". The article cited sources "connected to the company."
The development follows a SpiralFrog media frenzy over the summer. The energy stemmed from the idea of ad-supported digital music, viewed as a possible solution to the challenges faced by the recording industry. In late August, the fever pitch peaked following a licensing deal with Universal Music Group, easily the largest of the four majors. That attracted other content holders, including EMI Music Publishing, though SpiralFrog was reportedly paying sizable licensing fees to attract major content holders. The tough fate of SpiralFrog takes some of the steam out of the emerging, ad-supported sector, though others - including Qtrax, Napster, and Baidu - are actively pushing the possibilities.