Rich Fiscus
12 Jul 2007 10:18
Scandinavian founders of new online video service Joost—Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, who once terrified the media industry with file-sharing technology company KaZaa, and then the telecommunications industry with Skype, are first-time guests at Allen & Co's 25th annual media conference in Idaho.
Joost has distinguished itself by seeking partnerships with content owners before making any of their shows available. The company landed its first big distribution deal with Viacom Inc just days before Viacom sued Google Inc. and its video-sharing site YouTube for copyright infringement.
"The time in the market is good for traditional media and digital to come together," Mike Volpi, Joost's newly appointed chief executive, told Reuters. "Technology has matured to a point where rights can be protected properly."
The Joost trio replaces last year's big attraction, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, whose wild popularity both terrified and attracted big media.
Source: PC Magazine