A group of researchers have developed a way to identify pirated
movies by reducing the original to a signature genetic code. The
system can match even videos that have been altered or had their
colors changed to the source, an area where many video piracy
mechanisms fall short. Drs. Alex and Michael Bronstein and
Professor Ron Kimmel have come up with a way to isolate a
certain subset of data from video files that serves an analogous
role to a fingerprint at a crime scene. While the creators
haven't published research on this exact project in order to
guard the proprietary technology, it works by applying a series
of grids over the film to reduce it to a series of numbers. Once
the film has been systematically reduced, copyright holders can
take the "DNA signature" of the video and scan sites that host
pirated videos for it. According to the three researchers, the
signature should be able to find correct matches even if the
videos' borders have been changed, commercials have been added,
or scenes have been ed