Joost is the brainchild of Kazaa and Skype
inventors Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström. It is a free online TV
service that is still in beta and has yet to complete its sign-up
of content providers.
Viacom was previously reported to be talking
to Google-owned YouTube about allowing some of its content to
appear on the site, but earlier this month it demanded that YouTube
take down 100,000 clips of its copyrighted content.
The breakdown of the CBS deal and the
willingness of Viacom to sign with Joost could be a sign that
content owners are deserting the user-generated buzz of the web 2.0
hero YouTube in favour of the more controlled Joost.
Joost's is a closed network which will provide
only selected, pre-approved material, much like existing
television, only without the schedules. Users download Joost
software and can choose to watch streamed television or films
whenever they like, choosing from the entire catalogue of material
and watching adverts which will pay for the service.
YouTube, on the other hand, is designed to be
open, and to accept videos from anyone who posts them there. Its
success has been built on short clips of shocking or funny
incidents caught on camera as well as snippets of TV or film
material posted without copyright owners' permission.
The Viacom-Joost deal will give Joost users
access to much, but not all, of Viacom's content, including
television from MTV, Comedy Central and film studio Paramount.
Joost is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, meaning
that material is hosted and shared by all users, not just by a
central server. Though peer-to-peer technology is currently
associated with unauthorised file sharing, Joost's will be a closed
network.
While YouTube's service provides video through
a small screen within a webpage, Joost, which used to be known as
The Venice Project, delivers video on a full screen with its own
interface designed around channels of similar content.
Joost beta test mode and no official launch
date has been named. The results of the Viacom deal will only go
live at full launch, which is expected later this year.
