First, BitTorrent (the P2P file-sharing giant that went “legitimate” over a year ago) is teaming up with Joost (which uses P2P tech to stream TV on the Web) to launch a “new Net TV service,” MediaPost reports. Then NBC and News Corp. announced they were teaming up to launch a video site this summer, the Wall Street Journal reports. The BitTorrent-Joost deal could make life a little tougher for YouTube, too, because Joost recently announced a deal with Viacom, which is suing YouTube for $1 billion for copyright infringement. Stanford law Prof. Lawrence Lessig clearly explained what’s going on with this lawsuit in a New York Times commentary this week, and University of Chicago law Prof. Douglas Lichtman explained in a Los Angeles Times commentary why he joined Viacom’s defense team in this landmark case in copyright law. In slightly related news, the EU is considering a law that could mean “criminal sanctions, including prison time for employees,” for all kinds of Internet companies, including video-sharing ones, “if their … services are ever used to carry illegally copied material such as music or film,” IDG News Service reports. As for numbers: According to comScore Networks, “nearly 123 million people in the US (70% of the total US Internet audience) viewed 7.2 billion videos online in January,” the latest figure available and – with the help of its acquisition, YouTube – Google was the US’s No. 1 online video provider. Here are “DVGuru” blogger’s reviews of 10 major video-sharing sites.
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