Digital copyright protection has always been a challenge since digital transfer of information via networks came into existence. It seems near impossible to track what happens with data online, jet digital content at its core is just a group of one's and zero's arranged in a particular way, just like a sort of fingerprint.
So, would it be possible to somehow attach a creators ID to this fingerprint and track its movements and manage/control its copying online?
This in theory is exactly what blockchain technology and the developments of tools around it promises to deliver (http://technologyandoutsourcingblog.fieldfisher.com/2016/blockchain-part-1-the-future-of-asset-transfer-and-ownership/).
Blockchain tools promise a type of data tracking and means to verify copying of that data within a network, meaning it can track the copying of specific content and verify whether it has legitimate transaction of values prior to it (e.g. things like payment of price that was set for licensing a copy and follow up on use of it within scope of user agreements etc.).
Basically, all transactions and copying that is being done will stay within a verifiable blockchain.
The blockchain is key to all of this because it supposedly is unhackable because the core is decentralized and shared over the entire network and prone to verification by all nodes within it (don't ask me how it all works, I'm just barley capable of grasping the concept of it all).
So to recap and make it plane simple, if this technology delivers on its promise, then every piece of original data (content) that gets registered through this kind of system, will be known forever within this system. And every copy that will be made within this system, will also be known and verified within this system and then be part of the register forever.
This is key of it all, because it means that in almost all cases copy's that exist outside this system/network would be considered counterfeit and or illegal copy's.
Some call this the holy grail against piracy, others call it just a different network that will run on top of existing networks hoe will still have lots of copying going on within them.
So, what do you think, Is this really the holy grail of IP protection?
For more info on this subject consider searching on keyword combinations;
(blockchain technology for digital content protection) or
(blockchain technology for intellectual property)
