Talk about coincidence. Just yesterday I posted a request (through Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce) for a Demonoid invitation code, and today I learn that the site has been taken down, at least temporarily. It's a familiar scenario: torrent site gets taken offline, usually by their ISP, only to resurface shortly after when another ISP decides it's worth the money to host them, at least until the next wave of legal threats. So now we wait...

There is definitely a buzz in the air... er, in the fiber I should say. In the past month three new technologies have been revealed that use P2P models to stream high-quality, even Hi-Def, video content to your computer. The future of online video is about to change - again. 

The first disruptor out of the gate is called Joost, formerly known as the Venice Project. This is another product from the guys who invented Kazaa and Skype, so you know it's got incredible potential to actually take off. There's a feature article on the co-creators, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, in the latest issue of Wired. Some lucky people have managed to get in on the beta program, and apparently the quality is amazing. I'm still waiting for my test account but word has it they've been swamped with applications, especially since the wired article went public.

The other service that looks very similar to Joost is by a small startup called TVU. Started by Paul Shen, TVU Networks uses peer-to-peer technology to stream TV broadcasts live over broadband. TVU allows Broadcasters to stream their channels live over the internet, bypassing the Cable and Satellite carriers completely. There's even a message board, Viidoo.com, for members to keep up-to-date. TVU is featured in the latest issue of Fast Company.

The third salvo in this wave of online TV solutions is known as Veoh, another P2P solution aiming to stake its claim in the online video universe. This product apparently has the backing of Disney chief Michael Eisner (supposedly he's on the Board of Directors) and Us Magazine, among others. Content is organised into channels, and the experience is similar to YouTube but the actual video quality is waaay better.

The one thing that all three of these services require that YouTube, Google Video, and other existing video sites don't, is a separate application. That's the catch with P2P: it requires client software. Is that so bad? Well, some people may not want to download and install yet another application that may impact their system's performance. And certainly, for any P2P network to function effectively, it requires as many users as possible to actually share the load. So we may see some reticence from the folks who are unwilling to "contribute" to the cause. Then again, the temptation of free, high-quality digital video, complete with PVR-like functionality, user-ratings and custom channel-building, may all be too tempting to refuse.

Time will tell.