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Viacom Bypasses YouTube; Gets Joost
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Just two weeks after Viacom demanded YouTube pull 100,000 of its clips from the upload giant, the entertainment conglomerate is expected to close a deal with new online broadcaster Joost, the brainchild of former Kazaa and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.
In a key move for the burgeoning webcaster, The Wall Street Journal reports the pact will allow Joost to license hundreds of hours of programming from Viacom cable networks such as MTV, Comedy Central and Spike TV as well as movies made by the company's Paramount studios.
Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told the Journal that Joost's promise that it would protect Viacom's copyrights was a major factor in the decision to pursue the deal. The same issue helped to stymie the company's talks with "GoogTube."
"This assures any potential partners that we’re open for business and that we’re able to enter into transactions with companies that respect our content and the considerations of our business," he said.
Media analysts suggest the deal will put pressure on YouTube to come up with similar licensing pacts with copyright protections. In a possibly retaliatory move, it was reported today that YouTube would offer strict anti-piracy tools, but only to companies that have distribution deals with the service, media insiders told Reuters.
