Levi Shapiro has extensive experience in the mobile video and entertainment space and has joined IPTV Evangelist as a contributing producer/writer and recently interviewed Robert Petty, CEO of ROO as part of the our Interview Series.

Mr. Shapiro currently oversees Los Angeles operations for Telephia, the dominant player in mobile-related market research. In this role, he has created partnerships and products for leading movie studios, television networks, game publishers and record labels. He has also helped develop innovative new products including the industry's first-ever Mobile Television Diary.

You can read more about Mr. Shapiro background in the About Us section.

I met some friends at the Web 2.0 gathering at the Time Warner Center last night. We were expecting to see some interesting companies in the space however, most of the event revolved around mobile phones and in-home entertainment gear, such as TV's and a digital fridge, and seemed more like the Home Entertainment show. Worse, with all the TV sets there, none of them had the Mets game playing... I mean this is New York, what where they thinking?

There was one company that seemed strangely out of place for the Web 2.0 show :-), a media solutions software company
Live Technology was featuring their new platform, Live AdMaker.

After speaking with the CEO, it became clear this product is interestingly positioning for ad insertion specific to individual markets and across different media delivery platforms. Since pre-rolls are going to be the Holy Grail for IPTV across fixed and mobile platforms and content creators are concerned about what Ad's are going to roll into their content, I am interested to know more about the capabilities of this platform. I may be taping an interview and demo with them in the coming weeks...stay tuned.

As reported in the BBC Business section today, YouTube has removed close to 30,000 clips from its site that Japanese media companies said were infringing on its content creators rights.

Certainly, YouTube has learned the lesson from Napster 1.0's failure, which it is better to go along to get along...

The deal will certainly create a monster outlet for Google and perhaps copyright issues can be technically addressed at the gateway.

A side story however, interests me more, which was in the piece that appeared in of all places Yahoo! News.

"Google's YouTube coup may intensify the pressure on Yahoo to make its own splash by buying Facebook.com, the Internet's second most popular social-networking site. Yahoo has reportedly offered as much as $1 billion for Palo Alto-based Facebook during months of sporadic talks."

"Yahoo really needs to step up and do something," said Roger Aguinaldo, an investment banker who also publishes a dealmaking newsletter called the M&A Advisor. "They are becoming less relevant and looking less innovative with each passing day."

To that I say, Yahoo! does not need Facebook, it needs a coherent IPTV strategy. Not much has been heard from Lloyd Braun of late and one wonders if Yahoo! has the determination to be a key player in the space? In addition, why is CEO Terry Semel, the former head of Warner Brothers Pictures not pressing the flesh with Studio executives to create on-line synergies?

A. Perhaps he thinks studios will see Yahoo! as competition
B. He does not see IPTV revenues as sufficient over the long term to offset Capex
B. He no longer has the clout to pull off big deals
C. That is what Lloyd Braun is suppose to do
D. All of the above

The New York Times article speaks to many of these and other points.

"Two years ago, Yahoo made an expansion in Hollywood in an attempt to produce new video-focused Web sites, but it later backed off from the plan amid internal bickering."

It is time for bold moves by bold executives, if they still exist.

The news that is sweeping the net and Wall Street Journal today is that Google "may" be looking to acquire YouTube. If the sale goes through will YouTube become to Google what Broadcast.com was to Yahoo, an expensive acquisition with questionable returns? Of course, 1.6 Billion would be a bargain for Google compared to the 5 Billion that Yahoo! squandered on Bcast.

The WSJ article had an interesting quote by Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff who said "But Google also could present a solution", indicating that Google might be able to develop automated systems to block unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.

As a smaller content creator, I have concerns about my media used without permission and agree that Google might be opening itself for potential liabilities. Large media outlets such as Fox and NBC have reversed course as of late with respect to their content being used on-line, witness all those eyeballs and the good will it creates for those brands. I think if Google can create the technology to safeguard my media I would certainly consider that platform for distribution though to be direct, most of the content is rather low quality as say compared to a higher percentage of content you will find on CurrentTV.

Interestingly the man who benefited so nicely from the Yahoo! deal, Mark Cuban had stark words for YouTube, saying among other things "Take away all the copyrighted material and you take away most of Youtube's traffic. Youtube turns into a hosting company with a limited video portal".

Of course, Cuban was clear to indicate that he made a prediction, "but that doesn't mean I don't like 'em".

With the news that Yahoo! has purchased on-line editing and mash-up site, Jumpcut, this should move them into the direction of leveraging their core assets, namely Yahoo! groups.

© 2006 JumpCut

"It is a way for people who don't think of themselves as artists and videographers to be one," said Jason Zajac, vice president of Yahoo's social media division. "It seemed like a powerful concept to free the creativity of people and help them engage."

Mr.Zajac's statement leads me to conclude Yahoo! will seek to create easy to use tools to foster story telling and communication for those community groups who are not technically proficient at editing. The Co-Founder and CEO of Jumpcut Mike Folgner went on to say, "We like how there are different places in Yahoo to plug in our technology."

In my article, Yahoo! IPTV 2000/2006, I wrote about the need for Yahoo! to move into this area and leverage these groups of users who are already in place and are low hanging fruit for the company.