Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
I have no idea how they think they could identify DRM-cracked content; the filename may not be the same; the filesize won't be the same; the metadata may-or-may-not be the same (and there's no crime or even infringement in having metadata that matches something else). I suspect what they want to do is visit the torrents, grab something popular, and scan people's computers for copies of that exact file; p2p networking requires identical copies to be most effective. (Filesharing services like Rapidshare & Megaupload don't, so people would start renaming & otherwise tweaking those files in order to prevent an exact match in case of digital search.)
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I imagine hash functions would be a reasonable efficient way to look for infringing content and wouldn't pick up false positives like you mentioned. They could also have some form of digital watermark to look for.
Sure it would be possible to get around these systems by changing metadata or removing the watermarks but the point isn't to catch every infringer. I suspect a large proportion of people don't modify the files they illegally download. If you can detect some percentage of these people you might be able to scare them and others away from piracy.
The goal isn't to make piracy impossible (that'll never happen); the goal is to raise the cost of piracy relative to legal channels.