justintv

Warning — topless girls making out

Tim Faulkner · 10/19/07 04:33PM

What to make of the latest episode of sexually explicit content, a drunken, topless lesbian make-out session, broadcast live on Justin.tv? We recall Jeff Goldblum's character in "Jurassic Park," mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, delivering the profound line, "Life will out." You cannot contain people's lives to PG-rated material on a site dedicated to "lifecasting." Warnings and threats of banning simply won't matter. In the wee hours of the night, DJ Structure enticed two lady friends into titillating his viewers with a reenactment from Girls Gone Wild — lesbian kissing, topless petting, and butt display. Justin.tv's policy of forbidding nudity and adult content could never prevent the arousing episode from going out live, and staying available for several hours, while Justin.tv's staff slept.

Jordan Golson · 10/16/07 04:16PM

A Justin.tv "lifecaster," who sports a head-mounted camera wherever he goes, is a huge jerk to a very polite movie-theater manager who asks him to remove his camera when he enters the theatre. Then he gets worked up and defensive when people call him out for his rude behavior. Ah yes, this must be what Al Gore envisioned when he invented the Internet. [TechCrunch]

Justin.tv not cool with porn, but startup pals are

Tim Faulkner · 10/16/07 11:09AM

Lifecasting site Justin.tv may be afraid of adult-only broadcasts. But some other startups also born from the Y Combinator startup factory are not so leery. Scribd, the self-ascribed "YouTube of documents," which allows any document to be stored and viewed on the Web, appears to be gaining traffic on the back of adult content. "Adult" is one of Scribd's most popular and largest document groups. In the company's words, "At Scribd, we are cool with adult content, and you should feel free to upload as much as you'd like." As a result, its traffic far exceeds Justin.tv — even though you'd think video would be more compelling than documents.

No sex, please, we're skittish

Tim Faulkner · 10/15/07 10:45AM


Lifecasting website Justin.tv has introduced an adult-content warning and age-verification system to broadcaster channels that want to push the limits of what the New York Times called "a PG-13 version of lifecasting." The broadcast of Dealer, considered offensive by some, appears to be the first channel to get the warning label. We suspect that, like a porn film's "XXX" rating, it will soon be a badge of pride strangely, though, nudity and sex remain unacceptable on Justin.tv in any circumstance. Why? Legal concerns aren't the issue.

Y Combinator's webcam can't touch MC Hammer

Tim Faulkner · 10/12/07 12:32PM

The Y Combinator guys may be acting starstruck, but maybe its MC Hammer who's playing the fanboy here. Y Combinator's coterie of entrpreneurs could easily return the favor by providing the rapper with real video services. Everyone, including MC Hammer, knows they can. Why would the startuppers reduce the Hammer to begging for volunteers — if not to subtly put him in his place?

Nude webcams okay when looking for money, not when you get it

Tim Faulkner · 10/08/07 06:44PM

Justin Kan, the original lifecaster behind Justin.tv, hyped his company on the prospects of seeing him naked or, better yet, in flagranti delicto. But if that was the draw of the site for you, forget it. Over the weekend, Justin.tv banned a would-be lifecaster after a single day of risqué broadcasting, and has since revised its community guidelines. Kan knew that appealing to the sensational side of lifecasting would draw interest, but now that the startup is attracting investors, sensationalism also brings potential controversy. And nothing chases away money like controversy. But what about the adherents to lifecasting? Won't they, too, be chased away if "lifecasting" is redefined as only including the parts of your life that would make it past network-TV censors?

Broadcast your miserable life with Justin.tv

Mary Jane Irwin · 10/03/07 03:53PM

On the Internet, everyone is famous to about 15 people. In case you happen to be an anomaly, Justin.tv wants to ensure you have your own shot at microcelebrity. Since YouTube quickly turned into a dumping ground for loser-generated content, creating another video destination that hosts unedited, streaming video of oh-so-important mundane lives seems like a brilliant idea. The fact that Justin Kan continues to raise funding despite his 30 seconds of Internet superstardom drying up is a sure sign of the pending Web 2.0 apocalypse.

Hot Chick Tipping Point

Nick Douglas · 06/01/07 03:54AM

NICK DOUGLAS — Hot chicks can sell beer that tastes like water and foul-smelling body spray, and even a domain registrar. The male mind is easily sold. But the Hot Chick Tipping Point goes beyond advertising; it could be the one thing a business needs for wild success.

Landlord evicts startupper, allegedly bans his friends

Nick Douglas · 04/27/07 03:46PM

NICK DOUGLAS — Running a 24/7 business can mean fighting for your home. "Lifecaster" Justin Kan, and the team that runs his streaming web show Justin.tv from his apartment, got an eviction notice from San Francisco landlord Trinity Management Services. Someone's posted a web page about the drama alleging that Trinity has blocked people from moving into its Crystal Towers property because the applicants knew Justin. If that's true, the fight could escalate, since several startups funded by the Y Combinator firm live in Crystal Towers. A source tells me Trinity cited noise complaints. The company may not be happy with Justin's frequent recording of their public spaces, and they may have been on edge ever since March, when an outside prankster triggered a police raid. (Photo: Lane Hartwell)

Just look busy, okay?

Nick Douglas · 04/19/07 07:52PM

A big part of this company is looking like you're working. If you're not working, at least look like you're doing something. (Justin Kan, star of the streaming Justin.tv show, to his producer Lindsay. Justin's last project was Kiko, a web calendar that was quickly outgunned by 30 Boxes and Google Calendar before Justin's team sold the business on eBay for under $300k. — NICK DOUGLAS)

How webcam sex nearly saved the world

Nick Douglas · 04/11/07 08:50PM

NICK DOUGLAS — Last night, just as thousands of fans desperately desired, Justin.tv protagonist Justin Kan got laid. At least, we all assume that's what happened when the 24/7 camboy ended a second date (with a girl known to viewers as "J") by taking off his hat-mounted camera, turning off its microphone, joining J in her room, and turning off the lights. Why did this much-anticipated moment manifest as such a letdown? And why is it such a blow to the hope of humankind?

Twitter versus Justin.tv

Nick Douglas · 04/04/07 06:27AM

NICK DOUGLAS — OMG it's all the rage, I can't stop checking, I might miss something I used to dismiss as mundane! It's Twitter! And it's Justin.tv! I can't decide which is hype-ier, the one-line blogging service or the 24/7 camboy, and neither can the media both old and new. Round one, FIGHT!

Lifecaster amazed by stupidity of Today Show

Nick Douglas · 04/02/07 12:57PM

NICK DOUGLAS — Justin Kan of Justin.tv makes good 24/7 video, but a two-minute Today Show appearance? Not so much. The San Franciscan "lifecaster," who streams live from a camera attached to his head, woke up at 3 to talk with Today co-host Ann Curry. After the interview, Justin went home, where he complained about Today's poor preparation (he contrasted it to the competent folks at G4TV) and Curry's "irritating" questions. But hey, that awkward interview brought several thousand simultaneous viewers (who overwhelmed the poorly scaled Justin.tv feed).

He's just a camboy. So why can't I stop watching?

Nick Douglas · 03/27/07 06:25AM

NICK DOUGLAS — When I first heard that young San Franciscan Justin Kan started broadcasting his life on video 24 hours a day at Justin.tv, I thought, "so what?" Like many others, I just assumed someone had already been doing this. I was half-right; camgirls and bugged homes date back to the 90s. But by strapping the camera to Justin's head, the creators kicked this show up a notch. Still, what's so compelling about a 20-something guy in San Francisco? Why are 353 people watching Justin talk to his friends right now in his living room? After watching the show, reading the buzz, and talking to Justin in person, I've got a good idea why.