Goodbye Stage 6 - What will happen to Joox and Quick Silver Screen

As pretty much everyone knows by know, Stage 6 is being shut down on February 28th. This is truly disappointing but what can you expect from a high quality / high bandwidth site like that. I truly cannot imagine what their hosting costs must look like month over month.

There are few things that come to mind here:

1) Download the Veoh player, because when it comes to quality Veoh may be the best bet for user uploaded content. Most likely Veoh will become the new player for copyright infringement. I've used Joost & Miro (democracy player) BUT Veoh takes the cake as the superior IPTV content provider. Its really tough to find anything enjoyable on Joost / Miro but Veoh already hosts syndicated content from sites like ABC and NBC etc. Just wait on a My Veoh site launching that caters toward finding syndicated (illegal) copyright content in Veoh. This may be Joox, this may be Red Curtain Movies - infact Joox which was predominantly a Stage 6 deep linker has already declared they are revamping their site. It was amazing to see how users reacted to stage 6's closure by uploading links to pretty much their entire video library to Quick Silver Screen in Veoh format.

2) Bit Torrent sites will see traffic boosts. I can't watch a streaming movie on Google nor many of those other stupid video sites because the quality is terrible. My bet is people wanting to download content will switch to torrents (which are notoriously slow on many high speed networks due to packet shaping / throttling). If you live in Toronto Bell is faster than Rogers for torrent BUT is still nowhere near streamable speeds.

3) What will occur from the increased posts of illegal copyright content in these other movie sites? Google has yet to settle it's billion dollar copyright suits and with Stage 6 being shut down, they are likely to see an increase of illegal content on their servers and many more law suits. Being a Microsoft developer, and having watched Google revamp the internet dev vertical, (making it harder for everyone) I have every interest in seeing them get squashed by these claims.

4) The studios are playing around with digital markers in video which identify the video as being copyrighted. The technology basically read frames and look for strange shapes / overlays of shapes to be determine the source - and thereby can determine if the content is copyrighted. Moreover - they are digitally stamping screeners with unique imprints to identify the shop that leaked the film. It is just a matter of time before the USA legislates that the loophole in DMCA which provides for "take down notices" is changed OR more likely the free market will dictate that change based on the reduced costs of automation (hold on for recession everyone, it will be the next step in automation ... sorry). If I was Veoh, I'd rather automate this process than have a department that responds to take down notices. Keep in mind, torrent sites, while they may be able to determine where the leak is, they won't be able to stop the torrents from being shared.

Now if only I could run bit torrent to a video stream, then I'd be happy.

Losing Stage 6 is like losing the love of your life, no matter how hard you try to win her back, the reality is they are already gone.

Over and Out

Calling on the MPAA! Do you want to reduce copyrights

I wrote an application that could tremendously reduce copyright infringement on the www. However, I'm really caught between selling this as a service to the MPAA and making it an open source Web Media player.

While I need to make money to eat, to sleep, to live, I also don't want to be a part of the solution as it means no free high quality DivX movie downloads. But better that than be part of the problem. Or something like that.

Is anyone aware if the MPAA is working on copyright reduction / copyright propogation reduction technologies?

Joost Signs Another: Warner Bros; Future of TV?

I Joost can't say enough good stuff about Joost. I got a free beta invitation, and well, the content just keeps piling on.

"As one of the premier television production studios, the fact that Warner Bros. has chosen to create its first online channels on the Joost platform shows that we are creating a unique, communal television experience for viewers where content owners can distribute professionally-produced programming with the quality and security they need," said Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, executive vice president, content strategy and acquisition. "The program offering that Warner Bros. will showcase on Joost demonstrates the depth and breadth of our content – from classic programs to current hits, from sitcoms and dramas to sci-fi and adventure, the Joost platform offers channels and programs that have broad appeal and are in high demand." - Link

One of the big things that caught my eye is that Warner Bros. has signed an exclusivity deal with Joost. If Joost can manage to continue down this road they will do pretty well. I mean can you really argue with the guys who started Kazza and Skype?

I keep blogging about this stuff because IPTV is here to stay, it's still a fairly immature technology (meaning adoption from the network side isn't happening too quickly, and neither is critical mass developing), BUT it may represent the largest growth opportunity on the net right now(other than mobile, especially as we recognize Video Advertisement ROI).

If video ads in IPTV can target all of the niche benefits of advertising similar to magazines (Video Advertisement ROI: The Internet as a Magazine), it's possible that some of those shows you never wanted to get cancelled, won't actually get cancelled.

All that is missing is critical mass on these services. But hey, there are 30 million people in Canada that can watch lame CRTC regulated telvision. This 30 million does not even come close to touching the number of broadband internet users world wide. So from an advertising perspective, if Joost can monetize viewers viewing habits and custom tailor ads for those users it could be a gold mine ($61 billion on television advertising in 2006).

Finally, and I think that it's brilliant to be able to link to Steve Paikin's The Agenda (gotta love Canadian content). They did a nice 30 min segment on the future of television in Canada last night. It is amazing that TVO the public Canadian station who hosts The Agenda, can't put together a better panel to talk about this stuff. Either way, they talk to a lot of the real economies involved. Oh and, you'll have to scroll half way through the below video to see the future of TV talk - and it's 30 mins long.

video removed please click link - MS

Other relevant stories I've posted about Joost

• Viacom Boosts Joost: Say No To YouTube?
• Advertising playground that could potentially define the future of advertising on the net (Yahoo - Comcast = The Deal of the Year)
• Microsoft To Acquire Yahoo!: v v v Video

Over And Out

Viacom Boosts Joost: Say No To YouTube?

I blogged about this the other day when Viacom stiffed Google on an advertising deal pertaining to all of it's digital properties. I thought it was a possible response to Google's inability to curtail copyright content on YouTube which resulted in Viacom's billion dollar lawsuit against the search giant. Further I thought we'd see media firms rally against YouTube. Well folks, it's happening!

In February, Reuters reported that Viacom signed a video deal with Joost to port hundreds of hours of programming to the startup's IP TV on demand platform. As CyberNet is reporting today Viacom Turns on YouTube, now Greets Joost with Open Arms:

"Viacom has made a new deal that involves the licensing of hundreds of hours of programming from networks like MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, and even movies from Paramount. What makes Joost more appealing for Viacom is that users aren’t able to upload content themselves. That may not be very appealing for some users who’d like the option for uploading their content, but what is appealing is that Joost will be running full episodes, and to boot? High-quality resolution, which is something you wouldn’t find from YouTube."

I'm fairly certain this will be a trend for media companies who are looking for more control over their digital content. In Fact, there are rumors on the Joost blog that CBS is jumping into the Joost mix with their premier shows: CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, CBS Sportsline, and Survivor.

Advertising innovators have embraced Joost and it shows with some of the big names they have sold spots to. Globally they have such clients as Coca-Cola, HP, Intel and Nike. In the USA they have signed deals with Electronic Arts, Esurance, Garnier Fructis, Kraft, Lionsgate, Microsoft Corp, Motorola Inc, Nestle Purina PetCare, Procter & Gamble, Hugo Boss Fragrances, Sony Electronics, Taco Bell, United Airlines, US Army, Visa, and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. Further in Europe they have deals with GM, IBM, L'Oreal Paris, Nokia Nseries, Unilever, Virgin Money, Vodafone and Warner Brothers.

"Joost has attracted partners from every major brand category because we offer an advertising platform that is similar to TV, with high-quality programming; and we're providing unparalleled user statistics and insights, as well as an unmatched level of interactivity, targetability and measurability," said David Clark, executive vice president of global advertising, Joost. "Our launch partners and their creative teams are a tremendous asset for Joost, as we work together to create inventive ads that allow them to reach and interact with consumers in new and compelling ways."

I'm sure this is where Google would have liked to take YouTube but unfortunately for them, Joost beat them to the punch. The question is, when Joost launches to the public will YouTube continue to thrive? And how will the sharing features stack up to YouTubes?

One of the huge challenges for YouTube is how to license clips exported from copyright material. These clips are only legal if the original copyright holder has granted permission for them to be uploaded. Further, the law around DMCA states no firm may reap profits (ads) off illegally posted content, and further safe harbours these copyright offenders through something called a take down request. So YouTube allows this illegal content to be posted, knowing they cannot be held liable, and when copyright owners request the content be removed, YouTube must do so ASAP or be taken to court.

There have been rumors in the mix about the big networks collaborating on a clip sharing site which would rival YouTube but have 100% high quality legal content. This is something that Joost is doing now, and it will be interesting to see if the big media companies embrace their idea, or continue to go down their own road.

Unless ALL the networks collaborate on a video application it will be very tough to take on Joost once it gains traction (and increases program availability). And again as CyberNet has reported:

"Joost was started by Niklas Zennstrm and Janus Friis. Recognize those names? They were the two founders of file-sharing service Kazaa, and Skype. They swept up $2.69 billion when Skype was acquired by eBay, so clearly they’re not running into problems financing the Joost deal."

Over and Out!