In this Tech Talk report, Time Warner Cable News tech reporter Adam Balkin explains how social live streaming apps like Meerkat and Periscope are dealing with piracy.
Don’t have HBO? You can still watch Game of Thrones without a subscription. Didn’t pay $100 for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight? Not a problem, also free. They are both new examples of online piracy, and the big question surrounding the two popular apps at the moment: Periscope and Meerkat. They allow users to live stream anything to anyone via a mobile device, and recently, that has included some live copyrighted materials like sporting events, concerts, or shows that require a paid subscription. The teams behind both apps say they do actively try to stop this from happening.
“There is a very straightforward law and we just, whatever request we get, we take down the content,” says Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin.
The issue here is that unlike YouTube or other video sharing services, these streaming services are instant.
“The live aspect of the platform, in that by the time that you recognize that this is happening, and then by the time you issue a ‘takedown,’ then by the time that gets processed, in many instances the event could be over. The stream could’ve already occurred,” says Richard radon of ZEFR, a company that makes sure content creators are paid when people view their content online.
During the recent TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Periscope’s CEO said that moving forward, technology itself may help, though he insists consumers won’t want to watch most of the material in question through his app.
“There are a lot of tools that could exist and can exist with a lot of time and development to handle this stuff in real time and we’re generally interested in working with partners in figuring that out,” says Kayvon Beykpour. “I’d say generally my personal view on this is that no one wants to watch ‘Game of Thrones’ over Periscope. I love Periscope, trust me, but it’s not the right way to watch an experience that should be had on a TV or an iPad with a nice sound system."
At the moment, it appears Meerkat and Periscope are legally in the clear because they do take down copyrighted material when they’re made aware of it. What to look for going forward: How laws might change if it turns out those takedowns, continue to be too little, too late.