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Sony Corp has announced that they will be launching a video sharing service called eyeVio in Japan on Friday. This would be the first step by the Asian Electronics and Entertainment giant towards challenging Youtube.

The service will be initially introduced in Japan, but Sony plans to offer it globally after gauging its uptake at home. According to CEO Howard Stringer:

This is part of Sony’s quiet software revolution. It’s an opportunity to transmit user-generated video anywhere you want to, anytime to anybody, in a protected environment.

Youtube with its meteoric rise to fame has attracted a host of competitors. First News Corp and NBC Universal announced last month that they will be launching a free online video service to challenge the domination of Youtube. CBS followed this by launching its “CBS Interactive Network�? with 10 distribution partners. Joost, an IPTV service by the founders of Skype has already build strong alliances with CBS and Viacom to distribute their programming on a revenue sharing basis and has also built an enviable advertiser network to serve advertisements.

Google has faced a lot of criticism, due to copyrighted content popping up on Youtube. This however is likely to change with the promised release of the new copyright protection technology “Claim Your Content“. They are also experimenting with the precise length, form and place of ads on Youtube, a feature that will be rolled out this summer. According to Suzie Reider, head of advertising for Youtube:

We’re looking at executions like a very quick little intro preceding a video, then the video, then a commercial execution on the backside of the content.

It is yet to be seen, if Google would be able to lure back the Media Corps to partner with Youtube and license their programming on a revenue split model. The Media companies might share their content with many services to maximize revenues or they might enter into exclusive agreements with a specific company after negotiating a hefty licensing deal, but till things clear out all we could say is that the stage is set for an exciting summer battle on the online video front.