Watermark technology to stopping illegal downloads

[the8thark]

Watermark technology from Deakin University touted as key to stopping illegal downloads
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-...covered-key-to-stop-illegal-downloads/5602478

Researchers in Victoria believe they have discovered the key to wiping out illegal music downloads.

While music fans flocked to Geelong, near Melbourne, today for a glimpse of pop queen Kylie Minogue, across town local researchers were launching a new watermarking technology that they believe will help stop illegal downloads..

 

[cookiesnfooty]

This would not stop illegal downloads, where there is a new deterrent there will also be a workaround.

Illegal copies of work has been around for as long as I can remember any media entity.

 

[Jessica Lares]

In a time when a lot of people are streaming their media. :roll eyes: (I'm not, I buy outright)

The problem with this "watermarking" is that most of this stuff leaks BEFORE it gets in the hands of a consumer. Meaning, someone found a CD laying around a studio, and got access to it.

So it defeats the purpose.

Make good music and people will buy it. Simple solution.

 

[jeremysteele]

The problem with this "watermarking" is that most of this stuff leaks BEFORE it gets in the hands of a consumer. Meaning, someone found a CD laying around a studio, and got access to it.

Agreed. With movies, for instance, nearly all of the top titles are leaked way before they hit theaters, usually via video recording at screenings and leaked DVDs from the studio.

 

[firedept]

Unfortunately where there is a "booty" to be had, there will always be a "pirate" to have at it. It is funny, as I imagine that some of them work harder and spend more time figuring out how to get it free that it is worth.

I always pay for mine. The people who created it deserve their reward for the hard work they put into it.

 

[jeremysteele]

Unfortunately where there is a "booty" to be had, there will always be a "pirate" to have at it. It is funny, as I imagine that some of them work harder and spend more time figuring out how to get it free that it is worth.

I always pay for mine. The people who created it deserve their reward for the hard work they put into it.

To put it into perspective: when I was younger (obviously had less spendable money, etc) I pirated the crap out of everything, especially high end software like Maya, creative suite, etc. It let me use software that I never would have been able to afford, and my parents never would have bought for me back in the day. The experiences gained were numerous. When I was 12 the choices were A) pirate, B) use a 30 day trial (and reset it constantly) or C) somehow save up $2k to buy the software. Yeah, hard choice.

Now that I make money of course I buy everything. If I didn't pirate anything when I was younger - I would be in a much different career right now.

Of course movies/music/tv shows are a different subject entirely. I stopped pirating those when legal alternatives finally came around (itunes, spotify, hulu, etc).

 

[Nermal]

Of course movies/music/tv shows are a different subject entirely. I stopped pirating those when legal alternatives finally came around (itunes, spotify, hulu, etc).

It's certainly become easier to get those legitimately, although there are still problems. For example, a friend recommended that I watch "Halt and Catch Fire". It's still on TV so it's not available on Blu-ray. It's not on Hulu. It's on AMC's site, but only the latest few episodes so you can't start from the beginning. It may be on iTunes US, but Apple's made the DRM more and more restrictive over the years and it's reached the point where I won't buy anything from there anymore.

I don't know where else to turn if I want to watch it legitimately

 

[firedept]

To put it into perspective: when I was younger (obviously had less spendable money, etc) I pirated the crap out of everything, especially high end software like Maya, creative suite, etc. It let me use software that I never would have been able to afford, and my parents never would have bought for me back in the day. The experiences gained were numerous. When I was 12 the choices were A) pirate, B) use a 30 day trial (and reset it constantly) or C) somehow save up $2k to buy the software. Yeah, hard choice.

Now that I make money of course I buy everything. If I didn't pirate anything when I was younger - I would be in a much different career right now.

Of course movies/music/tv shows are a different subject entirely. I stopped pirating those when legal alternatives finally came around (itunes, spotify, hulu, etc).

Understood. And I would not look down at anyone for it. It is expensive and unless your pockets are lined with gold, people do have to look at other alternatives. But I do not promote it because people invest a lot of time and money in creating it and rightly deserve to be paid for their work.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I hate it when I can't buy something. I can listen to any radio station in the world, but most of the time, I can't buy what they're playing due to region copyrights not extending to the US.

That's the kind of thing that pushes people to piracy, or to look for loopholes.

 

[roadbloc]

This will not stop illegal downloads. Nothing will.

 

[maflynn]

This will not stop illegal downloads. Nothing will.

Agreed, people will find work arounds, they always do.

 

[MattInOz]

I hate it when I can't buy something. I can listen to any radio station in the world, but most of the time, I can't buy what they're playing due to region copyrights not extending to the US.

That's the kind of thing that pushes people to piracy, or to look for loopholes.

That is the main part of the problem in Oz. All the content of the world comes here via a local rights holder. Who have held the price firm even though the Australian Dollar has improved significantly since the price was set. The legislation protects their position as it was meant to help local artists/culture but it really does nothing to help that anymore.

Anyone bypassing the local rights holder using say a US service with a legitimate US credit card even is still counted as illegally downloading.

I still find it funny they always complaint of falling sales and blame downloads when the biggest problem is they clearly have no respect for the customers or desire to give them quality content and service.

 

[malman89]

It's certainly become easier to get those legitimately, although there are still problems. For example, a friend recommended that I watch "Halt and Catch Fire". It's still on TV so it's not available on Blu-ray. It's not on Hulu. It's on AMC's site, but only the latest few episodes so you can't start from the beginning. It may be on iTunes US, but Apple's made the DRM more and more restrictive over the years and it's reached the point where I won't buy anything from there anymore.

I don't know where else to turn if I want to watch it legitimately

Lately I've gone more the route of "less illegitimate" haha. Find a stream host site where the onus is on the person hosting the content, not the viewer.

 

[The Doctor11]

Will this work against screen recorders? I dont think so.

 

[gnasher729]

Watermark technology from Deakin University touted as key to stopping illegal downloads

Aren't they coming a bit late to the party? Watermarking technology has been available for years.

Of course it only works with materials that can be watermarked, like legal downloads. If I buy a CD from a store (remember what a CD is? ), there's no watermark. All the CDs with the same music are identical. Even if it was watermarked, there would be no connection to me.

I think where that good professor is totally talking out of his arse is when he claims that 95% of music downloads in Australia are illegal. Does he really think that illegal downloads outnumber iTunes + Amazon + everyone else by a factor of 20?