Alibaba creates ‘video fingerprints’ to fight piracy

In a bid to curb piracy, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has come up with ‘video fingerprints’ technology that gives each original video a unique online identity. Short videos have become a popular form of advertisement for sellers on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall. But the videos are often left unpatented due to a cumbersome process, Xinhua news agency reported. To curb this malpractice, Alibaba’s security lab has created ‘fingerprints’ for all original videos on Taobao and Tmall, said He Yuan, a senior algorithm expert at the lab. The fingerprints can be used to identify the video even if it is trimmed or its images modified, he added.