Competitrack introduces advanced video fingerprinting technology for policing online video piracy and copyright infringement. This solution can effectively help video sharing websites like YouTube and Metacafe avoid unlawfully displaying copyrighted materials.

A combination of rack-mounted hardware and client software invented by German developer Dr. Ulrich Hienzsch, this technology uses advanced digital pattern recognition technology and can locate content from movies, music videos, television programs, and even B-roll. Full motion and still video clips each have their own unique fingerprint of sound and light patterns that are detectable with advanced software algorithms.

Already used by the majority of performing rights organizations in the U.S., Competitrack’s system is superior to other fingerprinting technology because instead of analyzing just the audio or closed caption portion of a video track, this system identifies both sound and video luminescence patterns on a frame-by-frame basis. In addition, the system generates few ‘false positives’ and is fully automated, which greatly reduces resource allocations and staff involvement. Quality of the pirated content is not an issue. Grainy, low quality, and even resized and bitrate-converted formats have been properly detected in current client implementations. Competitrack’s solution can detect pirated content with clips as short as 5 seconds long, and no audio is required at all. Other video fingerprinting systems recently introduced into the market can only recognize content clips of 30 seconds or more, and typically require that the audio tracks remain unchanged from their original source.

Competitrack’s solution is also unique in that it is adapted from a fingerprinting system with a proven track record of success. “We have used several generations of the Hienzsch system to detect video content for almost 10 years,” says Bob Moss, President of Competitrack. “It is highly accurate, reliable, and easy to operate. We think it will be an extremely helpful tool in fighting video piracy.” Competitrack has detected over 2.5 million video clips with thousands more being added each week.