Coming soon, ad technology that could turn piracy into profits

London, Nov 5 : The original owners of a pirated video will now be able to make profit when the copied content will be broadcasted online, all thanks to a new technology developed by California-based company Auditude.

The new system will simply overlay copyright-infringing footage with advertising designed to generate revenue from the video sharing websites like MySpace and YouTube.

Such sites have often been asked to remove content like music videos and TV shows uploaded without permission from the copyright holders.

The sites have been accused of profiting from such activity, which is considered to be a major block in making profit from providing free video online.

In a trial for the new system, any MTV content uploaded by users of MySpace will be automatically branded with advertisements intended to generate revenue for the TV companies, part of the MTV network, including MTV itself, along with BET, Comedy Central, Spike and Nickelodeon.

The new software examines shows aired on TV channels involved, while searching for matches in footage uploaded by MySpace users. The system is combined with a way to serve adverts on top of any copyrighted content found.

"This is a game-changer. We're going from a world of 'no' to a world of 'yes', while protecting the rights of the copyright holder," New Scientist quoted Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing at MySpace, as saying.

Auditude is serving ads that are currently a semitransparent strip that covers the lower third of the video player.

Not only does it classifies the source of the clip and when it was originally aired, it also provides links to pages where it is possible to view a full-length, high-quality version and purchase a download of a show.

Last year, YouTube introduced its own software to spot pirated footage, which can automatically remove any matches, or add advertising to them.

However, Auditude, which can search for archived material, can even TV shows as they are transmitted, and automatically identify and label any content later posted online.

ANI