We've all had our eyes on the new project from Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis for a while, but until now their peer-to-peer internet TV offering has simply been codenamed "The Venice Project". That changed this morning. Here's the press release spin:
Today, the company formerly known under the code name The Venice Project has revealed its official brand, "Joost™." Currently available in private beta testing, Joost combines the best of TV and the best of the Internet by offering viewers a unique, TV-like experience enhanced with the choice, control and flexibility of Web 2.0.
Co-founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Joost fills a critical gap in the online video entertainment arena. Joost is powered by a secure, efficient, piracy-proof Internet platform that enables premium interactive video experiences while guaranteeing copyright protection for content owners and creators.
Joost is still in the beta test phase, so it's a bit early to judge whether the finished product will have the same effect on the video industry as Kazaa did with music, or Skype on telephony. But Zennstrom and Friis have now reached the critical mass as disruptors where anything they do is well publicised because of their track record, and therefore more likely to succeed ahead of competitors. And they automatically have the ear of media companies who have seen what went before.
