Viacom, Joost enter Internet TV deal
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(InfoWorld) - Joost, theÂ online TV serviceÂ developed by the founders of Internet telephone company Skype, has struck a licensing deal with Viacom International. A spokeswoman for Joost's public relations firm confirmed the deal and said additional details would become available on Tuesday. The deal should help Joost coexist peacefully with content producers rather than operating at odds with them. YouTube, the popular online video sharing site thatÂ Google boughtÂ last year, continues to run afoul of content owners that are unhappy to see their copyright content displayed on YouTube without proper licensing. In early February, Viacom asked YouTube toÂ remove over 100,000 clipsÂ from the site. In a statement, the media giant said that it had become clear that YouTube was unwilling to come to a fair agreement to make Viacom content available on YouTube. Viacom also blamed YouTube's inability to deliver filtering tools that would prevent unauthorized content from appearing on the site. In addition, Viacom complained at the time that Google and YouTube were retaining all the revenue generated from presenting content without sharing it with the people who created it. Joost, formerly known as The Venice Project, continues to accept beta users. The service allows customers to watch television programs on their computers. Rather than streaming the content from a central server farm, Joost works in a peer-to-peer fashion, with users serving as a network that shares content among users.
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LOS ANGELES  - Men's cable channel   Spike TV is joining other Viacom properties that have taken   their content digital in a significant way with Wednesday's   official launch of a broadband player on SpikeTV.com.
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Media & professional: TV firm gains access to online community of 15m.
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Viacom Inc said on Wednesday it has  selected Microsoft Corp. as its Internet advertising partner in  a five-year agreement initially valued at an estimated $500  million that involves online games, shows and movies.
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Joost on Monday launched a National  Basketball Association channel on its online video service that  will offer highlights from the past and present.
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(InfoWorld) - A new application from Raketu CommunicationsÂ aims to integrate IPTV (Internet Protocol television) with social networking, two of the Internet's hip technologies. Raketu.tv, which became available in beta mode on Tuesday, delivers IPTV and VOD (video on demand) programming. The social-networking component factors in when using the IPTV or VOD services with Raketu's other communication and entertainment application, which shares the company's name. Raketu, which debuted last September, aims to integrate separate communication and entertainment programs that should be combined into one client, said Raketu CEO Greg Parker. It includes VoIP, instant messaging, and file-sharing. While simultaneously using other applications and Web sites accomplishes the same tasks as Raketu, Parker said that his software eases communicating and information gathering by combining several services into one program. Users no longer have to use multiple programs and Web sites to accomplish the same task that one application provides, said Parker. For example, friends could use Raketu to watch a video on surfing while discussing it via VoIP or instant messaging. The friends could then use a travel search feature in Raketu that locates airfares in an effort to plan a surfing vacation. "We're a bit of YouTube, a bit of MySpace, a bit of Joost, a bit of different social-networking technologies," said Parker. "We feel that we do a better job of integrating these services." Parker also noted that Raketu differs from other p-to-p services like Skype and Joost by not using super nodes, which link multiple computers together to transfer data. "This means you don't use your bandwidth to help other people get content, which means users get a more secure and faster service," said Parker. Media Global Intertainment will provide the IPTV content. As of Tuesday, the service offered five stations, including Cartoon TV and BBC Parliament. VOD content will come from Klikvu.com, which offers shows in categories such as extreme wrestling, soccer, and sports. VOD selections offered four categories as of Tuesday, including action sports and documentary. The VOD offerings are pay-per-view, which is how the media service will generate revenue, according to Parker. Social networking, which permits users to find friends and create and manipulate online content, has increased in popularity with the advent of Web sites such as MySpace.com, which News Corp. purchased for $580 million in 2005, and Google's YouTube video-sharing site. While Internet video is seen as playing a major role in the Web's development, the availability of content is crucial to this service. YouTube has been sorting out charges of copyright violations from entertainment companies whose content users illegally uploaded to the site. Meanwhile, Joost, an IPTV company launched by Skype's founders, announced Tuesday that it entered a deal with Viacom International to offer its television shows and feature films.
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'A year from now we will see Joost in the living room' This week, Joost started publicly talking about getting equipment manufacturers to embed its video-playing software in TV sets and other consumer hardware.â¦
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A new application from Raketu Communications Inc. aims to integrate IPTV (Internet Protocol television) with social networking, two of the Internet's hip technologies.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Akimbo Systems Inc., a startup that plans to deliver video over the Internet to television sets, has signed a deal for mainstream content from Time Warner Inc.
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Site will run programming from the two networks and hope to compete with YouTube.
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News Corp. and NBC Universal Monday debuted their joint-venture online video service Hulu.com with a private beta, adding a new rival to Apple&#39;s iTunes and Google&#39;s YouTube services.Hulu joins Joost&#39;s video offerings in this increasingly hot and crowded space. While only opening on a limited basis to select users, Hulu is the first major initiative by content owners rather than technology companies who must rely on licensing agreements with television, film, and music providers for their content.Along with Hulu&#39;s own site, the company said its videos would be available through partners such as AOL, MSN, and MySpace, although links for Hulu on these sites were not apparent at the time of writing.The company also said it had closed a $100 million round of financing from Rhode Island-based private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.Hulu&#39;s beta and service--the launch date for which has yet to be announced--include a few full-length films, and clips and full episodes from shows such as &quot;The Simpsons,&quot; &quot;Prison Break,&quot; and &quot;House.&quot; Hulu will offer video content on a free, advertising-driven basis.
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The parent companies of the four largest US broadcast networks plus cable content giant Viacom joined with MySpace, Microsoft, and online video providers Veoh and Dailymotion in signing a standards and practices document they hope will become the "Television Code" of online copyright protection.
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Viacom Inc.   said on Wednesday it has agreed a deal to sell its Famous Music Publishing unit to Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
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Yahoo Inc has agreed to distribute an  online music performance series through a high-definition  channel from Viacom Inc&#39;s MTV, the New York Post reported in  its online edition on Thursday.
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Joost, the Web site that  distributes TV and video fare through peer-to-peer technology,  is getting a little cozier with the TV business through a new  partnership with VH1.
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New Internet TV services such as  Joost and YouTube may bring the global network to its knees,  Internet companies said on Wednesday, adding they are already  investing heavily just to keep data flowing.
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Viacom Inc., engaged in a public  copyright battle with Google Inc.'s YouTube, has agreed to  offer videos to Joost, the Internet video service created by  the founders of Skype and Kazaa.