What is Joost?

The video site, pronounced "juiced," is not as well-known as YouTube, which is the current brand name for user-contributed Web video. Like the original Napster in regards to song swapping, MySpace for social networking or iPod in relation to MP3 players, YouTube is the name most people think of when it comes to viewing video – both authorized and pirated – on the Web.
And that probably suits the folks at Joost just fine, whose creation is for authorized video, not people posting clips of "The Sopranos." In fact, it was Joost's guarantee to prevent unauthorized content from being distributed through its network that helped seal the deal for Viacom, which inked a content deal with the startup right before the media company launched a billion-dollar copyright infringement suit against YouTube's corporate owner Google.
Now you can add Time Warner, Sony, the National Hockey League and toy maker Hasbro to the ever-growing list of companies going the Joost route, a list that already includes Warner Music Group and CBS.
While Joost isn't necessarily like YouTube in that anybody with a computer and a Net connection can post video, it does rely on users for content distribution. That's because Joost is built upon a peer-to-peer network, with Joost sending video to certain P2P clients, which in turn distribute the video to other clients on the network. When you watch a video via Joost you're receiving a stream from members of that P2P network, not a central server at Joost HQ.
The latest deals give Joost users current, not so current, and downright ancient content to browse, including "Larry King Live" and other CNN programs courtesy of the Time Warner deal, content from Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition and cutting edge entertainment fare like "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and "Robot Chicken" from Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System.
But the latest Joost news also conjures up the ghost of TV past with Sony providing reruns of 1970s prime time favorites like "Charlie's Angels" and "Starsky & Hutch," while Hasbro contributes old episodes of "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" and the NHL provides hockey games from previous seasons.
Founded by the creators of Skype and the original Kazaa, Joost, is free for viewers. It will generate income through target advertising, and has already run advertising trials with major advertisers including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft.
However, Joost is still experimenting with how it will run ads and has tried short advertisements before or after programs, ads that fade in while a program is actually running and traditional 30-second TV-style ads.
Although Joost is a current buzz word among corporate circles it has yet to enter the average Web user's lexicon, mainly because the video site is still in beta testing and is open for business to a limited number of users. But once Joost opens its doors to the global Web community, its authorized content inventory is sure to give YouTube a run for its money. And maybe even make a little money for itself.