There’s no shortage of video sites that let bloggers embed movies into their posts. But until now, bloggers have typically had to rely on others to capture, edit, and upload this content – there hasn’t been an easy way to create your own clips from recently broadcasted media.
RedLasso is looking to change this. The site, which is currently in private beta, has created a useful (and potentially problematic) system that allows bloggers to sift through recent television broadcasts and extract their own clips.
The site captures content from big-name media sites (CNN, Comedy Central, and the BBC) within an hour after airing. RedLasso then creates an index of each file using closed captioning transcripts and phonetic audio detection (the company says that using phonetics instead of dictionary-based detection works better for proper names and places).
This index is searchable for relevant broadcasts, presented in their entirety. After finding a desired portion, the user can set the endpoints and a clip is generated and ready to be embedded.
The system sounds useful, but it also seems ripe for abuse. Because shows are captured in their entirety, RedLasso could easily be used as virtual (and free) Tivo. To combat this RedLasso is taking a proactive approach: they’re screening every applicant to the beta to ensure that they are actually bloggers. They’re also monitoring video usage, so if they notice that someone’s been watching a bit too much of The Daily Show, they’ll terminate their account. This may work well enough in a closed beta, but the company might not be able to handle an increase in abuse once the service goes public.
And then there’s the copyright issue. RedLasso says they have been in talks with a number of networks, but they have yet to establish any content deals. This is going to be the deal-breaker for the site. The company’s COO, Al McGowan, says that the short clips they generate fall under fair-use, but we’ve seen that argument fail countless times. And what about the full shows that are being hosted on RedLasso servers? If the site has a hope at long-term success, it’s going to need to establish those licensing deals before legal maneuvers shut them down.
RedLasso held a Series A funding round of $6.5 million last November, and they are looking for $10-15 million in a Series B round. Another player in this space is Blinkx.tv (which features audio detection), though users can’t define their own clips.
Update: And…the cease & desist letters have hit. The company failed to mention their new legal troubles in our interview today, even in response to direct questions on the matter. When questioned again about it a few minutes ago, McGowan said “we didn’t know the letter had leaked.”
A. copyright infringement
B. You can do the same with TiVo, Windows MC, Linux Media center, and so on, then upload to youtube, which most everybody does.
Why would investors put 7M in this?
This can’t be aimed at Americans. Venture capital blows my mind. I can’t wait for my first VC demo in June.
This really isn’t the right approach. The quality of content available on the web won’t increase until that content can be protected AND distributed easily. Going to yet another web site is not the way it should work, and embedding a ’snippet’ of video in a blog?? Where’s the curve jumping appeal in that.
Of course, if you had a way of sending and protecting content anywhere…
Hulu already does this soooooo… What’s the big deal?
Also, if anybody wants an exact duplicate of the functionality, I could have our devs recreate this with 10 low cost x86 machines running Linux Media Center, ffmpeg, and a java daemon that I used for our social network along with a 100MB full duplex line == cheap.
I could bring the product to market for 850k in expensive and overpriced Southern California. If I can’t you can take me to court for breach of contract.
i doubt this has a future due to many legal issues. not likely that content owners will allow their material here.
That includes a clean IP adobe flex 3 based clip editor, and web 2.0 style graphics and website. The site can also be repurposed if too many C&Ds come in. Don’t hate me, we need extra revenue.
Legal issues … doesn’t Hulu.com have the inside track on this “feature?” It is not a site, it is a feature.
ummmm…cease and desist letter, anyone?
http://www.alle...ox_sue_redlasso
FOX, CBS and NBC have already sent a letter from their legals ( Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz), to ask Redlasso “WHAT ARE YOU DOING”??? Answer is waiting on 29th May!!!
I’m a frequent Hulu user and don’t know of a way to chop up news clips for my weblog. I’ll have to look more closely. I know it can be done with tv shows. For those of us who don’t have TiVos, media PCs, and the time to edit video RedLasso provides a useful service. It needs work on the UI end, but it’s helped me out on a couple of occasions.
I will see how they go through the legal hurdles before considering this site.
Chris:
>B. You can do the same with TiVo, Windows MC, Linux Media center, and >so on, then upload to youtube, which most everybody does.
Wrong. Unlike RedLasso, YouTube has no clue what show, episode, network, etc that the uploaded video comes from. Instead, they hide behind DMCA and profit from ads while forcing content owners to continuously monitor their sites for copyright infringement. RedLasso gives viewers (clippers) what they want – broadcast video clips in a timely manner; and content owners what they want – information about how their content is being used, the sites, the viewers.
>Why would investors put 7M in this?
Because no other site does what RedLasso does. Hulu has a half-baked clipping feature but the embeds are not what users want. Current content owner websites don’t give users access to the content they want in a timely manner, RedLasso does.
King of Prussia is the coolest name for a place! I wonder what weddings are like over there????
Peace,
Parris Whittingham – New York City Wedding Photographer
p.s. get ready for bloggers to start loading snl clips, south park and flavor of love like you have never seen before.
p.p.s they should do mashups so you can create you own mixes of various clips in an editing queue
I think that perhaps this concept is just a little ahead of its time…
The demand is there, but C & D’s will continue flying at them relative to the traffic.
I have difficulties seeing their ‘abuse’ system being able to scale
The abuse system needs to be automated. Since RedLasso knows what the user is watching it seems fairly straightforward to add rules around how much content from a show can be watched without it being perceived by the system as time-shifted viewing. Just need some creative thinkers and coders to fix that issue IMO.
King of Prussia. Gamehendge.
If Redlasso is the Helping Friendly Book, then the networks are Wilson.
Recently sent to Bloggers …
Dear Bloggers and friends of Redlasso,
We would like to thank you for using Redlasso. We have built this tool with you in mind. It is your support that has proven that Redlasso is a relevant distribution channel, and it is your continued support that will help us achieve our goals as the bridge between the blogging community and the publishers.
Redlasso believes in, and encourages the proper use of copyrighted material. We launched our site as a solution for publishers, bloggers, and advertisers to the very real problem of untraceable video on the internet.
As you probably already know, Redlasso received a cease and desist letter from several media companies yesterday.
Although we have great respect for the media companies involved, we strongly disagree with the letter’s conclusion. The media companies are asking us for a response by May 29th. We are currently reviewing the letter and plan to respond in due time.
We were disappointed with the letter, especially given our transparent and open approach with the major content providers. We have been upfront in all of our discussions over the past two years including providing site logins, updates on our traction in the marketplace, and our business model. We will continue with our open approach as we continue to look to enter partnering agreements with all publishers.
This will not affect the usability of the Redlasso site. We are open for business and will remain so as we continue the discussions.
Our goal from the outset has been to develop a platform that will be beneficial to content providers, the commentators in the blogosphere and ultimately to people who visit these sites.
The Beta you have been participating in was devised to demonstrate that there is a demand for this type of service. We have not earned any revenue from the site and it is our full intention to get agreements in place with content providers so they can share in the opportunities and revenues enabled by Redlasso’s tools. We also believe that you should share in this revenue.
We believe we offer a valuable service for several reasons:
1) Redlasso brings order to the use of content by providing content producers a reliable means for tracking video and audio usage on the internet. The “Redlasso player” is replacing “untraceable players” on many blogs, so partnering with Redlasso will finally enable a profitable blogging distribution model for content providers.
2) We have addressed the specific needs of the blogger distribution channel. You have told us you want a single site giving you the ability to search, and create limited duration clips of, broadcast media to meet your mission of covering and commenting on daily events in the news.
3) We are a media tool center for bloggers. We are at your service as you continue to create news about news.
4) You have made the Redlasso Beta a success demonstrated by the 24 million uniques and 10 million video plays in April.
Redlasso wants to keep the dialogue open between us at all times. We want to hear from you.
We in turn will keep you apprised of our progress with our talks with content owners.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thank you again for your faithful patronage and support.
Sincerely,
Redlasso’s Management Team
It should be noted, that at the moment, Redlasso has no abuse system in place. They are trying to get as many viewers as possible. once they get the contracts then they will remove the copyrighted videos, like sports clips (NFL is planning a C&D also) and TV series that have the commercials cut out.
i can understand why the networks are pissed. Redlasso is making money from the networks content and they aren’t sharing any profit. the networks could easily provide the functionality that Redlasso provides with far less than the millions that Redlasso has already spent and is looking for.