Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007    Text size: 

Like Joost, Miro is an application that runs independently of web browsers and acts like an online TV station. When users open the application, they first see a large selection of channels.

But Miro spokesperson Nicholas Reville told XBIZ that Miro's chief difference from Joost is its compatibility with RSS feeds.

"Miro is a video-podcasting system," said Reville, who is the executive director of Miro's parent company, the nonprfit Participatory Culture Foundation.

Reville explained that Miro hosts no content. Instead, the application organizes and publishes any content available over an RSS feed.

"People can subscribe to any feed they want, and there's no way for us to restrict that," he said. "We have no interest in restricting it."

The landing page for the Miro application includes no adult content, but the default channel guide does include an adult section. Consumers can choose to use the default channel guide, or they can choose to build their own.

As of its soft launch, Joost did not allow adult content. Its current terms of service include the same ban. Representatives for Joost were unavailable for comment.

According to Reville, webmasters and producers can also use the Miro platform to brand their products by building a custom-branded Miro application. Once complete, a custom-branded Miro application would work just like a regular version of the application, but it would be skinned with the company's logo and colors, and it would come equipped with a channel guide that focused on the company's content.

Reville also said that like Mozilla's Firefox, Miro is a totally open-source application, complete with its own SourceForge-style repository and message board for web developers who want to write software for Miro. It's located at Develop.ParticipatoryCulture.org.