UK firm Detica has a new tool called CView which claims to be able to dig into ISP traffic data to measure how much illegal file-sharing is going on – without identifying individuals or storing their data. So it’s about measuring whether the level of piracy is going down, rather than enabling ISPs to identify individual pirates.
“The Digital Britain report set out some 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,” says Detica director of media Andy Frost.
“We hope the launch of Detica CViewTM 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.”
There’s bound to be cynicism around whether this can really work as well as Detica claims, so it’s one to watch.