Dicey video-sharing

Yes, video copyright owners have issues with YouTube, Grouper, and Bolt, but they may have even more litigious feelings for TVU Networks. The Shanghai-based video P2P company provides a downloadable media player that "transmits TV shows [much less grainy than streamed video], including pay-for-view broadcasts, from U.S. and international broadcasters such as ABC, HBO, the Disney Channel, The Comedy Channel, Al Jazeera and Telecapri Sports of Italy," CNET reports, adding that TVU could be the next Napster. CNET cites copyright experts as saying the company "can't legally rebroadcast the shows" without the copyright owners' permission. In addition to distributing a player, TVU is different from YouTube because it doesn't let users upload videos and doesn't appear to be signing licensing agreements with copyright owners (aka media companies). Canadian online legal expert Michael Geist looks at the legal ins and outs. Parents, it might be interesting to see if your kids know about TVUNetworks.com and, if so, whether they've downloaded TV shows from it. CNET says "the TVUPlayer appears to have gained attention in the United States following the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany. Thousands of soccer fans downloaded the software in order to watch matches not available on US stations." The TVU story reminds me a little of the one about AllofMP3.com in Russia (see this item on the latter).