DSL Gateways Will Mark Video to Catch Pirates

Home gateway manufacturer Thomson SA plans to incorporate video watermarking technology, which it also developed, into future set- top boxes and other video devices. The watermarks, unique to each device, will make it possible for investigators to identify the source of pirated videos.

This type of protection can still be compromised. If video is not re-encoded directly, but instead has individual frames captured and audio extracted, it would essentially rid all remnants of the watermark. What’s interesting though, is that they state if a video is re-encoded and uploaded, it’s source can be traced within seconds.

Source: PC World AU