Zucker: Hulu’s Not Backing Away From Anti-Boxee Stance
by Peter Kafka
Posted on May 28, 2009 at 10:15 AM PT
Brief update from NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker re Hulu’s back-and-forth with Boxee, the software that makes it easy to move online video services like Hulu to your TV: Zucker says Hulu, the joint venture between GE’s (GE) NBC, News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox and soon, Disney’s (DIS) ABC, still doesn’t want Hulu on Boxee.
During his D7 interview with Kara Swisher today, Zucker was asked about the company’s stance on Boxee, which it is trying to keep Hulu-free, with limited success: “Right now we’re committed to Hulu being an online experience, and that’s where our vision is today, and I think that will continue.”
What does that mean? For now, it means that the cat-and-mouse game between Hulu and Boxee’s engineers will continue. I’ve heard rumblings that this could one day escalate to legal action, and I know that the Hulu camp believes that Boxee is violating its Terms of Service. But last I heard (as of last week) it hadn’t gotten to that point. Which is good for both sides, as a legal fight would be expensive and stupid.
