Hollywood Jumps on Joost
P2PTV service Joost jumped with $45 million from CBS and Viacom, as well as VC firms. The investment ensures Hollywood is at the table early. This contrasts with web video service YouTube, which has been hit with huge lawsuits after initially spurning the entertainment industry. Joost said the money will go product development, global expansion, and enhanced services.
Joost was founded in Amsterdam by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, who had started P2P developer Kazaa and Internet voice provider Skype. Joost currently has over 100 employees in Europe and North America. The video service is currently free to beta users, and will remain free as an ad-supported service when formally launched. Joost uses P2P architecture for video distribution.
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