The founders of Skype, the internet calling powerhouse, and the old KaZaA peer to peer file trading service, are planning to launch an advertising-supported internet TV network in the coming months.
With shades of a higher quality, P2P YouTube, the project that’s code named “Venice” will allow amateurs and professionals to put their TV programs online for anybody to see. They haven’t said how they’re going to prevent copyrighted material from being placed on the service, which means people can most likely share actual TV programs from TV, just as they’re being shared on BitTorrent now.
If their track record is any indication - KaZaA was a major disruption for online music and Skype was a major disruption for traditional landlines - this Venice will be a kick in the nards for traditional broadcast networks. Will it be the thing that finally brings TV trading to the masses? We hope so.
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