Unable to snuff out file-swapping networks in court, record labels and other media outfits are shifting their anti-peer-to-peer crusade to a new venue: the file-trading networks themselves. Hence, "Overpeer" makes it"s mark...
Overpeer "intervenes on behalf of our clients to protect their content from piracy on P2P networks. And, in certain cases, we also may help them build relationships with potential customers who happen to be on the P2P site," Marc Morganstern, CEO of Overpeer says. He won"t reveal exactly how Overpeer"s technology works, but he will only say that the company uses an "extensive network of servers," and that "there are several different techniques we use to intervene and make it very difficult to find and download pirated material. It involves software and hardware and proprietary information."
Overpeer"s patent application offers a few more clues. The application, which credits Overpeer board members Cheol-Woong Lee and Chang-Young Lee as inventors, describes the methodology:
- 1) Search for digital music file on network.
2) Collect illegally produced digital music file.
3) Edit illegally produced digital music file (damage sound quality).
4) Distribute digital music file on network.