Azureus Launches High-Def Video Site

Peer-to-peer file sharing software company Azureus today launched a new video-sharing Web site called Zudeo to distribute both amateur and professional high-definition video.

Flush with $12 million in new funding, Azureus is offering film and video makers the chance to be seen but not paid. The Zudeo site says filmmakers can present works with "no limitations in duration or file size," though practical considerations such as the average attention span of viewers and current hard drive capacities suggest that attempting to upload a petabyte of HD surveillance video accumulated over the course of a year might be ill-advised.

Zudeo aims to compete with other popular video sharing communities like YouTube, Revver and MetaCafe by offering content with better image quality and longer programs. Zudeo has an edge here because peer-to-peer distribution of large, popular files works more efficiently than traditional client-server distribution.

Azureus' client software, which has been downloaded over 125 million times, uses the BitTorrent peer-to-peer protocol. BitTorrent, Inc., a separate company, last week announced $20 million in new funding and partnerships with eight media companies to make their content available for download.

Azureus is expected to announce its own deals with professional media companies in coming weeks. Details about compensation for professional content creators have yet to be disclosed.