The PAN Network, the birthplace of online digital audio, has recently announced the availability of a new system for the detection, deterrence, and the prevention of online music and video piracy.

The core technology of the system is PAN's patent-pending method of Digital Interactive Fingerprinting (DIF). Unlike watermarking, digital certification, encryption, and similar systems proposed in the past, PAN's DIF solution is extremely small, non-pervasive, and does not alter in anyway the integrity of the media file or affect its playback. The system can be installed on any web site, and interacts transparently and seamlessly with any media file (e.g. MP3, RA, WMA, etc.) as it is being downloaded from the internet to create a unique and virtually undetectable fingerprint. This fingerprint then provides the means to trace the identity of any person who downloads a copyrighted file and which subsequently appears on an unauthorized website.

The actual follow-up detection of unauthorized files on the internet is automated by means of a dedicated search engine. The search engine constantly scans the internet for the presence of fingerprinted files, and will automatically alert the copyright owner should any of their files be detected on an unauthorized web site.

A suite of DIF management tools is included with the system which enables music labels to maintain their catalog of files within the DIF system on a 24/7 basis. Anytime the label wants to check a suspicious file, the "DIF-Scan" utility program allows them to check a file anywhere on the internet for the presence of a fingerprint, and if found, provides the means to identify the person who downloaded the file.

According to PAN's Founder, Perry Leopold, "PAN's DIF System is designed to lift the veil of anonymity on the internet, which we believe is the root cause of online piracy. Once people come to realize that unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted works can be traced back to them personally, DIF should not only continue to provide a means to detect piracy, but will also provide a psychological disincentive to engage in piracy, and thereby prevent it. And at the of the day, prevention of piracy is the ultimate goal by which the success of any anti-theft system will be measured."

Established in 1981 as the world's first online service for the music industry, The PAN Network is the birthplace of online digital audio, as well as many other important innovations in widespread use on the internet.

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