The explosion continues

SKYPE CO-FOUNDER NIKLAS ZENNSTROM

The Financial Times has an interesting article on The Venice Project, a new online video project from the founders of Skype.

The project, the founders claim, will combine “the best things about television with the social power of the internet” by using P2P (Peer to Peer) technology to allow viewers to create their own TV networks.

The idea is that producers can offer their videos to the project, and they are then shared across the Internet using P2P technology. Viewers can then view the video in high-quality, full screen mode. The creators are quick to point out that it is not file-sharing service, though; the content is encrypted and can contain adverts and the like, making it more attractive to TV producers.

But the advantage to the user is that it is on demand: they can watch shows whenever they want, pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding through the shows. It sounds like an interesting concept, but I’ll wait to see it in action before throwing out my TV.