SA startup Custos uses bitcoin to disrupt digital piracy

wimconradie writes: The concept of putting unique watermarks in digital media has existed a long time. This startup took it a bit further by replacing the watermark with a bitcoin bounty. If somebody claims the bounty, the copyright owner is immediately notified due to the bitcoin blockchain transaction which is public to everyone. This effectively makes reporting of pirated media much more effective. In a philosophical sense, it combats the way piracy is structured, by incentivising downloaders to work against (report) uploaders.