NBC universal and News corp., the company behind FOX and FX, is cutting off access to TV.com and the open source media center software Boxee; at the request of content holders.
“Later this week, Hulu’s content will no longer be available through Boxee,” Hulu CEO Jason Kilar wrote in a blog post. “While we never had a formal relationship with Boxee, we are under no illusions about the likely Boxee user response from this move. This has weighed heavily on the Hulu team, and we know it will weigh even more so on Boxee users.”
Kilar continues, “Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes. While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence — bumps and all — we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners. Without their content, none of what Hulu does would be possible, including providing you content via Hulu.com and our many distribution partner websites.”
Even though TV.com and Boxee will be denied access, AOL Videos will still be allowed access. It shouldn’t surprise me if money was the reason.
Even though people are upset about Hulu being pulled from Boxee, Kilar does mention that he is reading the Internet.
“For those Boxee users reading this post, we understand and appreciate that you’re likely to tell us that we’re nuts. Please know that we do share the same interests and won’t stop innovating in support of the bigger mission.”