Blog Site Hires Ex-CBS Chief to Smooth Ties with Broadcast Networks

NEW YORK,
May 30: Redlasso, a video-sharing site for bloggers that is facing the threat
of legal action by several U.S. broadcast networks for copyright infringement,
has tapped a former CBS chief to function as a senior advisor.

Michael
Jordan became the head of CBS in 1995 when the company he led, Westinghouse
Electric Corporation, acquired the broadcast network. He was CEO of the merged
company until 1998, shortly before the sale of CBS to Viacom.

At Redlasso,
Jordan will provide strategic counsel to the management team, and serve as an
intermediary to several U.S. networks that have taken issue with the site,
which allows users to search for TV and radio content and create clips that can
be used with blog posts.

NBC
Universal, Fox News, Fox Television Stations, CBS and Allbritton Communications, according to published
reports, have sent cease and desist letters to
Redlasso. The company has said it will “continue to make its site
available for use by bloggers providing social commentary on newsworthy
events.” It will, however, “work towards cooperative, mutually beneficial
arrangements with those and other content providers.”

“Our basic goal is to
develop a win-win relationship with the networks,” said Al McGowan, Redlasso’s
chief operating officer. “However, we are gratified by the blogging community’s
overwhelming acceptance of our platform and the tools it provides. In fact, in
April alone, we had 24 million unique visits and 10 million video plays. We
think this acceptance of Redlasso is great news for content providers because, before
Redlasso, their content was spread all across the Internet with absolutely no
means by which to monetize this content usage. In response, we have developed a
simple and elegant solution by which this content can be monetized, giving the
networks a valuable income stream from material that was already being used for
free.”

Jordan noted: “I have the
greatest belief in the solution offered by the company and its long-term
viability. Redlasso is converting a marketplace challenge into an opportunity
for content providers, advertisers and the online community, creating a new
value for traditional perishable content.”

—By Mansha Daswani