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Redlasso Responds to National Broadcast Content Providers' Cease and Desist Demand

Posted on: Thursday, 29 May 2008, 15:00 CDT

In a letter to be delivered today at 5:00 PM ET to legal counsel for five broadcast content providers, Redlasso (www.redlasso.com) has said it will continue to make its site available for use by bloggers providing social commentary on newsworthy events as it continues to work towards cooperative, mutually beneficial arrangements with those and other content providers. Redlasso also announced that Michael Jordan, former Westinghouse Corporation and CBS chief executive, and one of the nation's best-known CEOs, has joined the company as a senior advisor. Among his responsibilities will be serving as chief liaison to the networks for Redlasso, as well as providing strategic counsel to the management team.

Redlasso is an online broadcast content tools site that enables bloggers, commenting on newsworthy events, to search blogger selected TV and radio segments and create limited duration clips for usage in blog posts. Redlasso's business plan is based on revenue sharing with content owners, providers and bloggers.

"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."

"I have joined forces with Redlasso because I have the greatest belief in the solution offered by the company and its long term viability," said Michael Jordan. "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."

Redlasso's site is simply a tool that permits the blogging community to search blogger selected content via keywords, enabling them to find and clip the limited duration vignettes on which they wish to comment and play on their blogs. Clip usage by bloggers is an exercise of first amendment rights to provide social commentary on newsworthy events. Other uses of the clips by bloggers are prohibited contractually by Redlasso. The company also employs sophisticated technology to make inappropriate practices difficult.

"The world has changed dramatically; there are new market forces at work here. As such, we would very much like the networks to join us in our goal to monetize the value created by the online blogging community, and to work with us to structure a deal to capture an acceptable share of it," Mr. McGowan said. "Our goal was always, and continues to be, the development of a platform that would be beneficial both to the content providers and the blogging community. And we're hopeful for constructive negotiations with the content providers."

Redlasso at a Glance

-- Launched November 8, 2007

-- 24 million unique visits in April 2008

-- 10 million video plays in April 2008

-- 105 million player impressions

-- Top sites using Redlasso include MySpace, hotair.com, Politico.com, Huffington Post, Perez Hilton, Philly.com, and AOLFanhouse, among others

Source: Business Wire

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