Question Tech Question: "personal data stripping"

[Foxymac74]

A techical question (maybe to the developer team.... "me curious about".

When we download something, for example a movie or a tv show episode, it will be decrypteed (or sort of), am i right?
So... we access providers with OUR accounts.... that data is present into the file (stream) we download, and will it be, or ASP strips also this kind of data?

Thanks in advice for the answers.

 

[DeepSpace]

So you want to know if account data is embedded into the video, that could be used to track the download back to you?
First of all, as it is only intended for private usage, you should never face this issue.
Second, currently not, but there have been some posts about Amz testing/planning/patenting some techniques to edit some pixels in the video, invisible to the eye, but unique to each account. That could be used to identify the account it has been downloaded with. But as far as I know, this hasn't been implemented yet.

There are I think two posts about this in the forum, but I can't remember what their title was, so I can't search for them. Maybe someone else still remembers it.

 

[Foxymac74]

So you want to know if account data is embedded into the video, that could be used to track the download back to you?
First of all, as it is only intended for private usage, you should never face this issue.
Second, currently not, but there have been some posts about Amz testing/planning/patenting some techniques to edit some pixels in the video, invisible to the eye, but unique to each account. That could be used to identify the account it has been downloaded with. But as far as I know, this hasn't been implemented yet.

There are I think two posts about this in the forum, but I can't remember what their title was, so I can't search for them. Maybe someone else still remembers it.

Thanks DeepSpace for the detailed answer!
To answer you: no i'm not afraid of being tracked, so all the content i download is for private reviewing use only...
I read time ago about that watermarking techique, and guessing AMZ will use data from account to personalize the watermark (for "downtracking" purposes)... but it's far from implementation.
Mine was about technical curiosity.... so ASP don't put in the "end file" any data about the account.
Thanks.

 

[DeepSpace]

watermarking techique

Oh, yeah, watermarking... That word didn't came into my mind right now. By using that, I could find the newer posts of the two about this topic:

Amazon's new "AI" image generator watermarks images

I found this interesting as it relates to the possibility of an invisible watermark on TV and movies. If you think around that a bit I don't believe it's hard to come to the conclusion the watermark would identify Amazon as the source but also probably the individual user/customer...

forum.redfox.bz

but it's far from implementation

Well, as far as I know, they are only planning or testing it. But I only know about it because it got posted here, so it is possible they already tested it with one or two movies and there are articles about it, and just no one has posted it here yet.

 

[Ivan]

Content is always streamed from dumb CDN servers, serving static files. I doubt any account related watermarking can be done there...

 

[DeepSpace]

Content is always streamed from dumb CDN servers, serving static files. I doubt any account related watermarking can be done there...

They could make a system that creates a custom frame or fragment per account and then serve the modified playlist per account. That frame could be always a black spot at the beginning, ending or in the middle when it cuts to another part to reduce the amount of variants. But then it could easily be removed, so it needs to be on normal frames also, for some videos. But it doesn't need to be on all if they are less interesting for them to spend the money on.

 

[DQ]

I created one of the posts. It's around and being tested. Not just for video, also audio.

But anything in the corporate world is a calculation of cost/effort vs. reward. If they (the platforms/studios) think they lose only a small amount of revenue they won't spend millions to recover it. However, if they believe they lose far more each year than the cost of such an implementation (which would probably be complicated by cooperation by studios, platforms and CDNs) they will do it.

The long and the short of it is. Don't give them a reason to and we insignificant media fleas can stay on the dog and he won't scratch.

https://www.cartesian.com/video-watermarking-and-the-battle-against-piracy/

 

[whatever_gong82]

I created one of the posts. It's around and being tested. Not just for video, also audio.

But anything in the corporate world is a calculation of cost/effort vs. reward. If they (the platforms/studios) think they lose only a small amount of revenue they won't spend millions to recover it. However, if they believe they lose far more each year than the cost of such an implementation (which would probably be complicated by cooperation by studios, platforms and CDNs) they will do it.

The long and the short of it is. Don't give them a reason to and we insignificant media fleas can stay on the dog and he won't scratch.

https://www.cartesian.com/video-watermarking-and-the-battle-against-piracy/

Like you said, @DQ, as long as we're not sharing their intellectual property via warez or whatnot, they don't care what we do.

That also includes what we do with our purchased Blu-rays/DVDs and so on.

 

[Foxymac74]

Like you said, @DQ, as long as we're not sharing their intellectual property via warez or whatnot, they don't care what we do.

That also includes what we do with our purchased Blu-rays/DVDs and so on.

Completely agree. If I pay Amazon and have prime video service included, and if I collect movies or tv shows or documentaries that I like, and don’t share them via “whatsoever”, they don’t have to worry.

 

[whatever_gong82]

Completely agree. If I pay Amazon and have prime video service included, and if I collect movies or tv shows or documentaries that I like, and don’t share them via “whatsoever”, they don’t have to worry.

Agreed.

Besides, it'd be incredibly stupid to do so.

With the potential reality of invisible watermarking of any video files, and that technology does exists now, they can easily trace where the copy originated.

This is way easier to trace than making a copy from a Blu-ray disc or DVD, in which someone can say (lie) that they didn't get the Blu-ray/DVD, it was stolen, etc.

With an account like Amazon, Max, Disney, etc., they can track it right down to your account if it came from it.

I wouldn't want to be the test subject for a court case like that.

 

[DQ]

I spend money on streaming, discs, disc rental services and I buy a few titles from Amazon a month. If I was only streaming that stuff directly to a TV I would not do half of it.

Which is again to my point. They CAN stop whatever they want whenever they want. Amazon alone essentially has unlimited funds and resources.

But a business (a smart one) will not throw good money after bad. They will only spend resources if it behooves them to do so.