Viacom Turns to Joost, Spurns YouTube

Vincenzo writes "Viacom has signed a deal with Joost that will see content from MTVI, Comedy Central, and CBS distributed on the new P2P distribution service. The move comes just two weeks after demanding YouTube pull over 100,000 videos offline. 'Joost's promise to protect their copyrights was a major factor in Viacom's decision, and also a stumbling block in their discussions with YouTube/Google. At the moment is it quite easy to download and store video content from YouTube, but no such exploit for Joost is known to exist.' It's also a 'secure' distribution medium in the eyes of many in the entertainment industry, since users can't upload content themselves.'"

Comments

Great thinking guys

[AKAImBatman]

At the moment is it quite easy to download and store video content from YouTube, but no such exploit for Joost is known to exist.

The lack of executive foresight never ceases to amaze me. Did they ever consider that no exploits exist for Joost because:

1. Joost isn't yet available to the public at large. (You need to sign up for a beta.)

2. No one cares about Joost?

If Viacom signs a contract with Joost, the "security" of their distribution method will change in a hurry.

The amazing part is that a simple trip down the hall to the IT department would have told these executives this. It's just too bad that execs never trust their own technology staff. As far as they're concerned, we're just a bunch of whiners and worry-warts. :-/

Besides, someone might save that 2 minute Craig Ferguson clip to their hard drive. OMG, OMG, OMG! The world will end! What will they do?!? (Shh! No one tell them about VCRs!)

That being said, I'm sure this move is actually more political than technical. Which only makes Viacoms position that much worse. Do they really want to cover over their political maneuvering by making themselves look uneducated?

From the Joost website:

Yesterday, we were The Venice Project(TM). Today, we're Joost(TM). Tomorrow, we're yours!

And that would make us, YourJoost(TM)! Which you can watch on a tube. Sort of like a... YourTube(TM). Or something.

Who writes this stuff?

Re:Great thinking guys

[truthsearch]

One of the nice things we see in music these days is the little guy creating and distributing high-quality audio. I'd like to see the same for video. The problem so far is that only these behemoth companies own the current content and can afford large production and distribution. If finally we'd see some significant competition from startups then Viacom and others might be forced to let go a little. If some hot new show distributed freely over the internet took eyeballs away from Viacom content maybe they'd be forced to come to their senses. Maybe.

Re:Great thinking guys

[gEvil (beta)]

(Shh! No one tell them about VCRs!)

You're forgetting that their response was almost identical when VCRs first came out.