San Diego – When Veoh launches today, the Internet TV service will harness the same file-sharing technology long associated with the illicit digital downloads its creator once fought.
Veoh Networks Inc. is the brainchild of onetime Internet piracy cop Dmitry Shapiro. After a year and a half of public testing, the site opens for business stocked with more than 100,000 videos by amateurs and pros.
As mainstream TV networks and studios seek new online outlets, Shapiro hopes to take advantage of their growing discontent with Internet giant YouTube. To that end, he has found an investor with a Hollywood pedigree: former Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael Eisner, who serves on Veoh’s board of directors.
Veoh is one of an emerging group of online video sites seeking to move beyond pratfalls and karaoke.
Veoh seeks to differentiate itself with longer videos, high-quality pictures and sophisticated online publishing tools.
