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Google sees video anti-piracy tools as priority

Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:59pm EST

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Google Inc. (GOOG.O), racing to head off a media industry backlash, will soon offer anti-piracy technologies to help copyright holders thwart video piracy, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

"We are definitely committed to (offering copyright protection technologies)," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in an interview. "It is one of the company's highest priorities," he said.

"We just reviewed that (issue) about an hour ago," Schmidt told Reuters when asked what Google was doing to make anti-piracy technologies widely available to video owners. "It is going to roll out very soon ... It is not far away."

YouTube, which Google acquired late last year, plans to introduce technology to help media companies identify pirated videos uploaded by users. To date, the tools are only being offered as part of broader licensing talks, media industry insiders complain.

He declined to put a specific timeframe of weeks or months, saying that any move would take time to cover all Google's services, including YouTube, and to be made available to all copyright holders wishing to use the anti-piracy technology.



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