In this intensely digital society, recording shows is completely common place. YouTube is full of amateur shaky videos of concerts from all genres. Shaky being the primary word here. Researchers at Cornell University have created an algorithm that can identify the user of any GoPro or Google Glass product by their wiggle or shake. Fascinatingly enough, each person does wiggle in their own unique way. So you may want to think twice before you post that next “awesome” video you got at such and such festival. Using this algorithm, copyright lawyers could in theory sue you directly for being the creator of the video, as they could potentially identify you through your special little wiggle. Although the likelihood of these lawyers going after you is not very high.
The upside to this algorithm is that with the new policies for police using body mounted video systems while on patrol, prosecutors will be able to easily identify the officer in the video. Using just 12 seconds of of film, the algorithm can identify you by your lateral and vertical motions. The study used 37 participants with a GoPro attached to a baseball cap and was able to correctly identify the user 88% of the time.
So it isn’t perfect yet, but it does raise a lot of concerns about what you put on the internet. If you were to post a video that has copyrighted music on it, it is plausible that the faceless corporations in a last ditch effort to hold on to their copyrights could try to hold you accountable. It might behoove you to get a YONDR for every show you go to or is that something you would be comfortable risking?
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