IP Democracy: Venice Project, Now Called Joost, Launches in Beta

The blogosphere, if not the mainstream press, has been eagerly awaiting the launch of an Internet video company founded by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Previously dubbed The Venice Project, the company, now called Joost, has launched in beta mode. (Joost means nothing. It’s not a word in either Zennstrom’s or Friis’ native Swedish.)

The latest venture by the P2P VoIP pioneers, Joost promises to deliver “TV-like” programming on the Internet using P2P technology. However, unlike Kazaa, another P2P company founded by Zennstrom and Friis, Joost is trying to woo content providers as partners and plans to make video available in a manner that pleases rights holders.

The big drawing card for cable networks, studios and other big-ticket content suppliers is Joost’s ability to distribute video over the Internet in a fast, efficient and inexpensive manner, according to CEO Fredrik de Wahl. Despite the hit track record of Zennstrom and Friis, and the promise of more efficient Internet distribution, few big content suppliers have agreed to license their wares to Joost.

(The graphic above depicts a “Warner Brothers Records” channel that current runs on Joost, but most of the content consists of music videos — and Warner Music is no longer part of the Time Warner empire. It’s was spun off into a separately traded company in 2005.)

It’s hard to tell whether Joost is a game-changer, as Kazaa and Skype were. Until a user becomes a beta tester (I’ve applied!) the offerings are behind a firewall. Stay tuned.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on January 15, 2007 10:05 PM to IP Democracy