RedLasso — Blog — Ryan Spoon

On March 1st, I wrote that "RedLasso Video Is Taking Off… Out of Nowhere". Since then, RedLasso has become a key tool for most sports and celebrity bloggers who are able to rapidly create videos from network and cable television. The sports world in particular has used RedLasso to grab game highlights and ESPN clips. Today, in a move that really isn't *too* surprising, RedLasso is "suspending" their product's service: "We are left with no alternative but to suspend access to our video search and clipping Beta site FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE." Notably, the emphasis on "FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE" was not mine.

The email suggests that service suspension is around video search and clipping - meaning that no further videos can be made.

... But, the suspension is far more wide spread as it appears that no RedLasso videos are working across the web... effectively suspending the entire RedLasso service and product.

Blogs everywhere are gasping right now as much of their content has been rendered 'dead' and it's an important lesson in the consequences of not owning your own content and/or relying on third parties.

from: Gil Edwards date: Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:07 AM subject: An Important Message from Redlasso.com

To Our Loyal Friends and Users:

We would like to thank you for your continued support of Redlasso. You have been essential to making Redlasso a household name online. Unfortunately, due to the legal actions taken against Redlasso by two networks, we are left with no alternative but to suspend access to our video search and clipping Beta site FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. The networks have provided a big blow to the blogger community’s right to exercise the first amendment and comment on newsworthy events. It is anti-Web.

During this service suspension, we will continue our conversations with content providers, with the goal of establishing formal partnerships that will quickly help us restore access to the Beta site. When we return, we will let you know immediately.

For our business and Radio To Web clients, Redlasso will continue to operate and provide those services to you without interruption.

Again, thank you. The team at Redlasso.com

I am starting to see RedLasso video embedded through the web and would anecdotally say that, on newer content, I've seen more RedLasso videos than YouTube. The Janet Jackson video before is from a recent PerezHilton embed (one of his many).

The player is so-so (I still prefer VideoEgg's) - but what makes RedLasso interesting is how much televised and near-live content they are indexing. There isn't much information available about RedLasso (including on their website), but here is an overview of their service:

RedLasso offers a one of a kind TV and Radio search engine that starts by recording and indexing live television. Recording TV enables RedLasso to then index all the video while translating the voices to text. Searching for a particular term will return results from a number of networks. Users can then use the RedLasso video player to create up to ten minute clip from any search result. I searched for "free agency" on ESPN and found a clip about the upcoming baseball free agency pool. I have included the clip I created below though RedLasso also enables you to send it to a friend or directly link to it. I think RedLasso is a great idea as it offers a way for content producers to find and embed content that was previously not easily accessible. Read More