Digimarc Corporation recently received a patent for its digital watermark technology that adds a distortion to graphical, video, or audio content, indicating a copyright protects it. An automated monitoring service tracks these files and gives site owners alerts when users upload them on a user-generated site. Digimarc CEO Bruce Davis considers digital watermarking a significant development for the entertainment distribution business.

“If social networking sites implemented software to check each stream, they could identify copyrighted subject matter, create a report, negotiate compensation for the value chain and sell targeted advertising for related goods and services.”

Digimarc said the technology relates to what professional photographers and stock photo agencies have done for a decade.

Dell’s Idea-Storm website started rumors of Dell considering presenting customers the option of preinstalled Linux distribution when buying new PC’s from the company. Dell’s growing dissatisfaction with Windows Vista and the appealing price of Linux distributions have guided customers toward the operating system. Ars Technica’s Ryan Paul thinks consumers switching to Linux should do so with caution.

“I’m not saying this because I think that Linux isn’t ready for the desktop. I’m saying this because I don’t think that Dell is capable yet of providing full technical support for desktop Linux. Dell has a hard enough time as it is supporting Windows.”

Dell users may have to make the switch from Windows or OSX operating systems in the future, but right now it seems just speculation.

The Leichtman Research Group conducted a survey to show that 14 percent of adults watched online video once a week as of December 2006. The survey established that the total online video usage has improved, but the time spent watching TV has stayed about the same. A previous LRG study discovered that four percent of adults viewed online videos daily and another eleven percent weekly. TV leads online video with 93 percent of adults viewing around one hour a day. Men from 18 to 34 made up the online video viewers demographics. This demographic also holds true for more than two-thirds of adults who visit YouTube and any other user-generated content site on a daily basis. Only eight percent of online video watchers agreed to watch TV less often.

LRG’s Bruce Leichtman becomes excited about online video.

“Rather than replacing TV, in the near term, emerging video services like online video are best viewed as opportunities to complement and augment traditional TV viewing options.”

Horowitz Associates and Points North Group show 68 percent of online adults have an interest in watching downloaded TV shows on their televisions, but 45 percent would watch longer videos on their computers. EMarketer estimates the online video audience will grow to 157 million people by 2010.

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