Maybe they should start by talking to Masayoshi Son, who has his own plans of changing the world with TV distribution…now Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the entrepreneurs who created the pioneering application Kazaa and Skype, are working to develop software for distributing TV shows and other videos online, reports BusinessWeek. The project is called “The Venice Project”...the two have assembled teams of software developers in about a half-dozen cities around the world, including New York, London, and Venice.
The teams are currently in negotiations with TV networks, although it’s not clear whether any agreements have been reached. A formal announcement of the new venture could come as early as this fall. Not clear: both entrepreneurs are still working at Ebay, and whether eBay will put some money in or use the services of the new project. It is expected Niklas will put in some of his own money (after all, he has tons now, with Skype’s sale to eBay).