Skype Founders' Venice Project Revealed

Filed in archive Announcements on October 5, 2006

like the real Venice, this project is partially submerged

Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are trying their hand at online video. They are working on a new software application that combines professionally produced TV-quality video with the Internet.


Called "The Venice Project," the software connects with the Web and opens a full-screen window that apparently displays near high-definition-quality video images. This is more than just TV. If you toggle your mouse, a variety of tools appear while the video is playing. DVD-like controls appear at the bottom. On the left is a list of preset channels to choose from.

Their web site www.theveniceproject.com has very little information presently, but you can apply to become one of their beta testers or just be included on their email list for future news updates.

Zennstrom and Friis have a history of developing disruptive technologies. They are the co-founders of the controversial peer-to-peer File-sharing program Kazaa, as well as Skype, the VoIP application eBay bought for $2.6B.

Like Skype, The Venice Project is designed to work within the intellectual property rights system, not against it. It's built on peer-to-peer technology, but it's not a file-sharing system. The infrastructure is made up of user PCs--each with same software installed, rather than using central servers to store and distribute files. Users also don't download files; they stream them, which makes it much more difficult for users to distribute illegal copies of the content they're watching.