Virgin Media is to trial a software tool to measure copyright
infringement on the internet when it launches its planned
music download subscription service.
The CView tool from business and technology consultancy Detica
is aimed at helping internet service providers (ISPs) and
creative industries understand the level of digital piracy in
the UK.
CView will enable ISPs to apply advanced analytics to
high-volume anonymous data traffic to measure the proportion of
unauthorised file sharing without identifying or storing user
data.
According to Detica, the tool has the potential to measure
illegal file-sharing across all UK ISP networks to enable
industry and government collaboration to respond to the digital
piracy challenge outlined in the Digital Britain report.
Andy Frost, director of media at Detica, said the Digital
Britain report sets bold targets to reduce illegal file sharing on
ISP networks, but until now measuring the extent of the problem has
been based on conflicting consumer surveys and speculation.
"We hope the launch of Detica CView will pave the way for
stronger collaboration between ISPs and the media industry by
enabling all parties to more accurately measure the success of
shared initiatives, reduce digital piracy and provide an
unparalleled level of accuracy," he said.
Understanding how consumer behaviour is changing will be an
important requirement of Virgin Media's upcoming music offering,
said Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin
Media.
"Should they become law, the government's legislative proposals
will also require measurement of the level of copyright
infringement on ISPs' networks," he said.