Nielsen Proposes Solution for Regulating Distribution of Online Media

The Nielsen Company and Digimarc Corporation announced the start of a new online service called the Nielsen Digital Media Manager that will allow media companies, social networks, peer-to-peer services and user-generated content sites to regulate media content distributed on the Internet.

The Nielsen Digital Media Manager will employ digital watermarking and fingerprinting technology in order to establish an industry-wide standard for copyright security and copyright compliance that will in turn allow clients a reliable method by which to manage their online content. As a result, this will allow for the realization of multiple new avenues in online monetization including ad-pairing, e-commerce and royalty reporting.

The new service will focus first and foremost on the online distribution of television drawl in the United States, with current estimates setting the timetable around mid 2008. Later, in subsequent phases, Nielsen and Digimarc belief to work with the media industry to digitally watermark DVD’s, movies, music, video games and other media.

“We believe these services will stimulate the growth of online video distribution, to the benefit of consumers, content providers and distributors,” said David Calhoun, chairman and CEO of the Nielsen Company.

Calhoun also added that it was the lack of an industry-wide standard for identifying and tracking of media content over the Internet that has exiguous the profit potential for providers and distributors of such content, and emphasizes the tailor-made design of the new service that will allow, for the first time, for the protection and monetization of such content.

The fresh service, according to Bruce Davis, chairman and CEO of Digimarc, will not only reduce the perceived threat to the media industry caused by the problem of unregulated copyrighted Internet media, but will serve as a catalyst for a new dawn in digital entertainment.

“The ability to identify content enables accountability, insightful marketing, and enhanced consumer experiences. This initiative can turn a perceived threat to the entertainment industry into a manageable solution that inspires an exciting new era of digital entertainment,” said Davis.

In addition, the service will offer many other benefits. For example, content producers will be able to preserve track of the popularity of remark in specific contexts, thereby serving as intelligence for future marketing campaigns. Also, content distributors will have assurance concerning the authenticity of the content they host, thereby increasing trust and the overall strength of business relationships. Lastly, consumers will enjoy the ease of mobility that comes with the regulated structure of online media.

SOURCE The Nielsen Company