The Venice Project expected to launch peer-to-peer television network

Filed in archive Internet TV on October 23, 2006

conspiracy theorists link the grassy knoll to Skype, eBay, and targeted television

A few weeks ago, I first got wind of Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom's latest venture codenamed "The Venice Project" and reported on it. This project interests me because it's aimed at distributing television and video over the internet. These two gentlemen were also responsible for Kazza's file-sharing system and the Skype peer-to-peer phone service so they have experience in disruptive technologies.

The Venice Project team says that it is not a file-sharing application or a video download service. My take is that it will be similar to Veoh, making it a streaming peer-to-peer platform for television but built on top of the global index that provides the foundation for Skype.

The terms of service at their site suggest that it will involve users uploading and tagging content. Additionally, the platform will provide a targeted advertising-supported system, sharing revenue with programming providers.

So, let's scratch the Machiavellian itch in our brains.

We do know that eBay paid $1.3 billion for Skype and that (separate from Skype) eBay has not been faring well from Wall Street's vantage point. Also, eBay will soon be testing their auctioning system for television advertising. Might they not find a way to exploit the Venice Project and throw PayPal into the mix?

Another thing to contemplate is that Google's vision for YouTube rests on people uploading and tagging video and monetizing it with targeted advertising. Might the only difference be that The Venice Project will be built on a scalable low-cost distribution platform?

Could be interesting days ahead.