Google Plans YouTube Antipiracy Tool By September

Ever since Google purchased YouTube last November, critics have been wondering what the search giant will do to reduce and control piracy on YouTube. Google is now knee-deep in litigation concerning this very issue. In March, Google was sued by Viacom, who is alleging copyright infringement on YouTube. Viacom is seeking a hefty $1 billion in damages.

Some good news has been slipped by Google, suggesting that, soon, Google plans on eliminating the possibility of piracy and therefore future lawsuits. During a Friday hearing in the Viacom lawsuit, a Google attorney apparently told the judge that Google is working "very intensely" on a video recognition technology that "will be as sophisticated as fingerprint technology used by the FBI."

The video recognition technology will allow copyright owners to provide a digital fingerprint which will trigger a block from YouTube whenever someone tries to upload a copyright video without permission. Google has begun working with "major media companies" to develop video-identification tools. A YouTube spokesman confirmed that this initiative is already making amazing progress.

Google has plans to release the tool, at the latest, by December, but noted that "hopefully in September" it will be available. "We hope to have the testing completed and technology available by some time in the fall, but this is one of the most technologically complicated tasks that we have ever undertaken, and as always with cutting-edge technologies, it's difficult to forecast specific launch dates," stated Google attorney Philip S. Beck.

The purpose of the Friday hearing was to set the schedule for the rest of the case, but the scheduling wasn't completed. Another conference has been set for August 6, to continue where this one left off. If, however, the companies are able to resolve the scheduling issues and notify the judge of their agreements prior to that date, the hearing will be canceled and the trial will begin from there.

Does Google have what it takes to eliminate copyright infringement from a service that is already as massive and polluted as YouTube? Well, if anyone can, it must be Google and it's deep pockets. Google was already aware that it would take a lot of work to start turning it's $1.65 billion purchase into a cash cow. Now, they appear to be picking up steam and rolling out the upgrades.

I think that our future holds a much cleaner and more organized YouTube. Will the user experience remain the same though?