A startup called Anvato has raised $550,000 to launch a new video search service that helps publishers find copyright-infringing videos online. Backers include William Lohse, founder of Softbank Forums and former president of Ziff-Davis, former Ziff-Davis Interactive Media President Jeff Ballowe and Ogden Capital.
The Mountain View, Calif. company says it uses "perceptual signature" technology that works like the human eye, identifying scenes, objects and movements in a video without requiring any digital watermarking. Limiting its search to programs aired during prime-time on one broadcast network during the last six months, Anvato says it has already find 2,000 infringing videos.