last100 » Zattoo

Universal and Warner sue Internet TV startup Zattoo

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:20:25 +0000

Zattoo

Zattoo’s legal status is, arguably, a bit of a grey area. While the Internet TV service, which features live streaming of existing over-the-air and cable channels, claims it only does so within the law – either through government legislation or direct licensing agreements – its business model remains a controversial one. And it seems that Hollywood has finally taken notice.

Broadband TV news reports that Universal Studios and Warner Brothers are suing Zattoo for the way in which it streams German television channels ARD and ZDF. Under a 12 month license, Zattoo is able to carry both channels’ content live an “unabridged”. It’s the latter that the Hollywood studios are taking issue with since Zattoo inserts an advertisement everytime a user switches channel.

In a follow-up report, Zattoo co-founder and CEO Beat Knecht says he’s surprised that Universal and Warner have chosen to take action:

“We have been very careful playing by the rules,” said Beat Knecht, co-founder, CEO, and President of Zattoo, speaking to Broadband TV News, “Last December we blocked five Hitchcock movies from Universal at their request. We monitor very closely the broadcast schedules for any programme changes in order to comply with such requests.”

Furthermore, Zattoo claims that it doesn’t break any licensing agreements since the ads that it does show are post-roll, only visible when a users leaves a public broadcast channel, not when they first arrive or switch to another public broadcast offering. In other words, the company argues, ads or no ads, the live streams remain “unabridged”.

Also see: Interview: Zattoo co-founders

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Live TV on PC: Zattoo and LiveStation showing steady growth

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:44:57 +0000

Whether or not you’re convinced that in the age of on-demand there’s an appetite for live TV over the Internet, two services that deliver just that are claiming impressive growth.

“Zattoo is growing nice and steadily”, the company’s UK and Ireland Country Manager, Alexandra Illes, told last100 in an email. “We have reached over 2.4 million [users] and are now available in over eight countries.” Zattoo delivers live streaming of existing ‘over-the-air’ and cable channels, with various channel lineups depending on country.

IIles was writing to tell us about the latest Zattoo software update which adds features including new channel management functionality. “With a channel line-up that’s getting bigger and bigger, we thought it important to allow users to arrange channels in self-defined groups and change the order of the line-up. The idea is that each user can customise the Player to suit their viewing habits.”

In a press release put out on the same day, LiveStation, a similar service to Zattoo that streams a number of television and radio news stations, boasts that their users “have already spent seven years watching live news on their PCs.”

Whatever that means.

“These figures clearly demonstrate that there is an appetite for live news and events delivered direct to the desktop, whether in the office, at home or on the move”, continues the statement.

LiveStation’s current channel lineup includes Al Jazeera English, BBC World News, Bloomberg Television, EuroNews (English, French, Italian and Spanish), France 24, i>Tele, Russia Today and the BBC World Service. Unlike Zattoo, LiveStation hasn’t publicly launched and is still operating in a trial period.

The two services also differ slightly in the way in which they have chosen to work with broadcasters. While both company’s have formal relationships with a number of broadcasters, Zattoo has a different interpretation of UK copyright law, which it says gives it permission to retransmit any public service channel without a direct license agreement.

In contrast, LiveStation is taking a more cautious approach in which it only streams channels it has a direct relationship with, something that CEO Matteo Berlucchi appeared to allude to in the company’s press release.

“These figures tell us a lot about the importance of working in partnership with the broadcasters as we provide them with a new, global audience and drive traffic back to their channels and websites.”

Berlucchi added, “Imagine how this partnership with the broadcasters will change the global TV viewing landscape once there is heavy promotion and Livestation actually launches.”

The service is due for public launch later this year.

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Yay! Legal loophole allows Zattoo to expand UK channel lineup

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:20:36 +0000

Zattoo (see last100 review), which offers live streaming of existing ‘over-the-air’ and cable television channels, is deceptively disruptive.

The technology, peer-to-peer, significantly lowers the cost of delivering Internet TV, while a legal loophole has allowed the service to expand its UK offering, without formal licensing agreements. The company’s business model also occupies a somewhat grey area, whereby an advertisement is displayed for 5 seconds every time a user switches channel, meaning that, technically at least, Zattoo isn’t placing ads inside of third party content.

As of this week, Zattoo users located in Britain can access all five of the country’s “terrestrial” channels: BBC 1 & 2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5, including the ability to opt-in to various regional versions. Because each channel carries a public service remit, under section 73 of the UK Copyright Act, cable operators can re-transmit broadcasts live and uninterrupted without first seeking permission. Zattoo is effectively piggybacking the existing cable television provision after being given “in-depth legal advice by two major London media law firms and a QC on its legitimacy”, the company’s UK & Ireland Country Manager, Alexandra Illes, told last100 in an email.

“Zattoo works on a strictly legal basis”, says Illes. Formal licensing agreements exist with all broadcasters whose channels are not directly covered by the UK Copyright Act.

“Nevertheless, we have been negotiating with all these broadcasters since the beginning of 2007 seeking a co-operation beyond the rights established by the law.”

Assuming that Zattoo doesn’t need consent from any of the five terrestrial channels, there’s no doubt that section 73 wasn’t written with the Internet in mind. Two other issues also arise: the broadcaster’s themselves may not have the online rights to some of their own content in the first place, and Zattoo’s re-transmission has the potential to obscure viewing figures — the currency of the television industry — since they aren’t included in the official ratings. “The key to attracting advertisers”, TechCrunch UK’s Mike Butcher notes.

“We do cooperate very closely with broadcasters, providing detailed statistics to them, which they can include into their own on-line statistics. Further, we are talking to the official TV measurement bodies in every country”, says Illes.

Of course, users don’t care about these kind of legal or industry issues, they just want access to the widest range of Internet TV as possible. And to that end, Zattoo is going from strength to strength.

Also see: Interview: Zattoo co-founders

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