The core offering from Infoflows Corp., the Fedmark Platform is targeted to the protection of digital assets; specifically, the identification of their potentially illegal use on the Internet. Currently available for the Stock Image sector, the vendor has now announced the product's availability for the video market as well; stating that Fedmark Video will be available in late 2007. The vendor expects to later expand the technology into other market segments, including music and software (source).

Fedmark is delivered as a Web service, that customers access by browser. The platform combines digital analysis, Web crawling, and visual search capabilities to enable content owners to determine who is using their content on the Internet. The four step process includes:

- Providing images that need to be protected to the Fedmark platform

- Analysis and indexing of the provided images by the Fedmark platform for visual searching

- A scan/crawl of the Web to identify uses of the provided images

- A reporting process which informs the customer where the images are being used

The platform supports the identification of digital objects via both passive (where the original object is not specifically marked in any way) and active (where the original image is marked) methodologies.

To identify and track the images, the platform leverages the "Handle System," created by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) and its founder, Dr. Robert Kahn. According to CNRI, the Handle System is a distributed platform that provides identifier and resolution services for networks--including open protocols and a namespace--that together enable the storage of identifiers (handles) on a computer and the resolution of those identifiers into information necessary to locate, access, contact, authenticate, or otherwise use the resources referred to by the identifiers. This meta-information for the resource can itself be changed without requiring the changing of the resource. Dr. Kahn serves as an advisor to Infoflows.

The vendor states that support for Fedmark includes a reporting tool and compliance services; and additionally the platform allows for reverse-type queries, where a person can find the owners of supplied images.

The Fedmark Platform is available now in the US for images (JPG images, to be specific; the vendor states that they are adding support for PDF and PNG), and is expected to be available for video later this year. The image service is expected to next be offered in Europe and Asia.

Contact Infoflows for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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