Redlasso continues service, hires ex-CBS CEO

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Redlasso, a video-sharing site for bloggers, has hired former CBS Corp Chief Executive Michael Jordan to help it smooth relations with the media industry after broadcast programmers sought to shut down its practices.

General Electric Co's NBC Universal, News Corp's Fox News and Fox Television Stations, CBS and Allbritton Communications Co in May demanded Redlasso stop violating their copyrights by streaming video clips of their news, sports and TV shows without permission.

In a response delivered Thursday afternoon to lawyers representing the five broadcast programmers, Redlasso said it would continue business as usual making clips of news broadcasts available to bloggers.

"We've been in conversation with them all along," Redlasso CEO Al McGowan told Reuters in a phone interview. "We were not surprised, but disappointed we received the letter."

McGowan said his company had been in talks with the broadcasters on how to design a service that would be useful to bloggers searching for news clips, while building a business model that ensured these clips are protected.

Like users of Google Inc's YouTube, Redlasso users can embed clips, or place them on their Web page. The clips and any associated advertising are controlled by Redlasso, McGowan said. Clips typically run under 2.5 minutes.

Unlike YouTube, which has taken down clips identified by content owners as having been uploaded without their permission, Redlasso said on Thursday it will continue with its practice.

McGowan said he hoped hiring a media industry veteran like Jordan could help rekindle discussions to license the content for a business that could help media companies make money off news videos that typically have a shorter shelf life compared to entertainment.

"I have joined forces with Redlasso because I have the greatest belief in the solution offered by the company and its long-term viability," Jordan, former CEO of CBS and Westinghouse Corp, said in a statement.

"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."

The service, which has been in a password-protected test stage since November 2007, has proven popular with bloggers, including the Huffington Post, Perez Hilton and Politico.com.

In April, the site received 24 million unique visits and 10 million video plays, the company said.

A representative for NBC Universal was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li, editing by Richard Chang)