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Fingerprint file got you down? - October 15, 2007

Does it seem to anyone else as if Google's heart really isn't in this filtering thing?

Today's beta launch of its new YouTube Video Identification system was announced in a very brief post on Google's public policy blog, by David King, "YouTube Product Manager."

Nothing against Mr. King, whom Media Wonk doesn't know, but he doesn't bring quite the throw weight to the announcement that, say, Eric Schmidt might have.

Then Mr. King has this to say:

Like many of these other policies and tools, Video Identification goes above and beyond our legal responsibilities. It will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube, and choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even—if a copyright holder chooses to license their content to appear on the site—monetize their videos. In implementing this technology, we are committed to supporting new forms of original creativity, protecting fair use, and providing a seamless user experience—all while we help rights owners easily manage their content.

You don't often see sarcasm in a corporate announcement.

The Video Identification about page has this jewel:

No technology can anticipate the preferences of a copyright holder. Today, with millions of people and companies cranking out original video, preferences vary widely. Some copyright holders want control over every use of their creation. Many professional artists and media companies post their latest videos without telling us, while some home videomakers don't want their stuff online. Others want their fans to participate in the creative process.

The best we can do is cooperate with copyright holders to identify videos that include their content and offer them choices about sharing that content. As copyright holders make their preferences clear to us up front, we'll do our best to automate that choice while balancing the rights of users, other copyright holders, and our community as a whole.

And this:

No matter how accurate the tools get, it is important to remember that no technology can tell legal from infringing material without the cooperation of the content owners themselves. This means that copyright holders who want to use and help us refine our Video ID system will be providing the necessary information to help us recognize their work. We aim to make that process as convenient as possible.

Sounds more like a negotiation that a commitment to filtering.

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