Stop Illicit Internet TV Interception Now!!!

Verimatrix, located in San Diego, CA, has developed software and equipment to keep ITV a.k.a. IPTV, digital video broadcasting (DVB), cable TV, and mobile delivery from being illicitly intercepted by non-paying customers. Don’t you just love this politically correct verbiage?

It uses "forensic watermarking," that resides in the video stream itself, so that a source can be identified in case of leaks. Ohhh -- those BitTorrent kindda leaks in the broadband pipe I assume?

So what does this fancy wording hide?

According the MPAA, worldwide revenue loss for the motion picture industry was more than $18 billion in 2005. In response, a variety of techniques have been developed and are now being deployed to help address content piracy. One of these techniques is called “forensic watermarking,” an off-shoot of digital watermarking of online images, ebooks, web pages, etc.

Verimatrix claims it can securely, robustly and imperceptibly hide serialization information inside your media content. This way you are able to establish a virtual "chain of custody" for your content that accurately identifies the source of unauthorized copies, thus aiding legal actions against the source of such copies.

Unlike encryption, which creates an envelope around content that can effectively secure delivery from point to point, a watermark is embedded in the content itself and remains even after a video is decrypted, decoded and possibly re-encoded to another file.

The most robust watermarks also survive the transition from digital to analog and back. The approach of re-recording an analog playback is called the "analog hole." Robust watermarking can survive this passage through the “analog hole,” enabling identification of unauthorized copies of, for example, camcorder captured material.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind my camcorder footage getting mashed-up who-knows-where-and-by-whom. With so much competition, giving away a low-res duplicate of your video is a viable -- I’d say necessary -- way to stay in circulation. NO watermarking, much less “robust watermarking” for that kind of content. However, don’t forget to GET CREDIT FOR YOUR WORK, by requiring Creative Commons Attribution and link-backs from the mash-up artists’ own and syndication sites.

Seeing Red with Magnify.net

Don't know about you, but I've been sick and tired of watching mostly "Preview Image Not Available" on Search Video's roll (under the calendar). So I decided to try another widget, available free at Steve Rosenbaum's Magnify.net. The choice was easy, after seeing how simple it was to set up our iTV 21 channel on the site.

Steve started Camera Planet 21 years ago with six dollars and a VHS camcorder. Now they're one of the largest producers and distributors of film, tv, and documentary projects in New York City. Recently he founded Magnify Media to enable all of us to freely use the technology they developed. As he says:

"I've been making media my entire life. Documentaries, tv programs, feature docs. But always with a middleman calling the tune, and paying the cost of production. For as long as I can remember, I was hoping for a day when the people that I made media for would pay (or not pay if they didn't like the work). Well I believe that time is now. Distribution is the future of media - and we'll work with our friends and partners to figure out this critically important piece of the puzzle."

Alas, the roll just rolls red rectangles, loading nothing. Another thing is, that the videos - Jaw Dropping Fire Poi...Super Pussy (it's NOT what you think, you...), Twisted Transistor, etc... - had nothing to do with the category I specified: Web Communities & Services. You do get to see the videos on their original sites, though, if you click on them. (Not on the image below, but the real thing.)


No problem, Steve - we'll wait for this to work. You and your crew certainly have your hands and screens full. Thanks for the opportunity!

Another Webcam Bites The Pixel Dust

Ebay to the rescue? I bid for and won another cam with great specs: 4 MP resolution, built-in microphone, digital zoom, guaranteed to work with Skype video, etc., etc. all for about $35! See the pix here:



All right, overseas shipping cost just as much, pound for pound, if you know what I mean.

Installation is almost a charm - everything works except voice input. Bam! BAM!! BAM BAM!!! Can't even start the webcam app next day - it just crashes and crashes...so does Skype. A frantic emailing session and new driver download later the same sequence of events repeats. Yuck!!!!

While I do make a point of buying from or supporting small vendors like myself, there comes a time when I can't be a guinea pig anymore. I must say, on the other hand, that the seller, UK Tech has proved to be very helpful in trying to make this thing work and accepting its return for a refund. I can heartily recommend them - but not for Mac gear....

P.S. The saga continues...the Microtek MV500 combo camcorder/webcam is already on its way!