bhj 24 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I’m Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I’m writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you’ll be able to view and download videos until Thursday. I know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many Stage6 users, and I’d like to take a few moments to explain the reasons behind our decision. We created Stage6 with the mission of empowering content creators and viewers to discover a new kind of video experience. Stage6 began as an experiment, and we always knew there was a chance that it might not succeed. In many ways, though, the service did succeed, beyond even our own initial expectations. Stage6 became very popular very quickly. We helped gain exposure for some talented filmmakers who brought great videos to the attention of an engaged community. We helped prove that it’s possible to distribute true high definition video on the Internet. And we helped broaden the Internet video experience by offering content that is compatible with DVD players, mobile devices and other products beyond the PC. So why are we shutting the service down? Well, the short answer is that the continued operation of Stage6 is a very expensive enterprise that requires an enormous amount of attention and resources that we are not in a position to continue to provide. There are a lot of other details involved, but at the end of the day it’s really as simple as that. Now, why didn’t we think of that before we decided to create Stage6 in the first place, you may ask? That’s a good question. When we first created Stage6, there was a clear need for a service that would offer a true high quality video experience online because other video destinations on the Internet simply weren’t providing that to users. A gap existed, and Stage6 arrived to fill it. As Stage6 grew quickly and dramatically (accompanied by an explosion of other sites delivering high quality video), it became clear that operating the service as a part of the larger DivX business no longer made sense. We couldn’t continue to run Stage6 and focus on our broader strategy to make it possible for anyone to enjoy high quality video on any device. So, in July of last year we announced that we were kicking off an effort to explore strategic alternatives for Stage6, which is a fancy way of saying we decided we would either have to sell it, spin it out into a private company or shut it down. I won’t (and can’t, really) go into too much detail on those first two options other than to say that we tried really hard to find a way to keep Stage6 alive, either as its own private entity or by selling it to another company. Ultimately neither of those two scenarios was possible, and we made the hard decision to turn the lights off and cease operation of the service. So that’s where we are today. After February 28, Stage6 will cease to exist as an online destination. But the larger DivX universe will continue to thrive. Every day new DivX Certified devices arrive on the market making it easy to move video beyond the PC. Products powered by DivX Connected, our new initiative that lets users stream video, photos, music and Internet services from the PC to the TV, are hitting retail outlets. We remain committed to empowering content creators to deliver high quality video to a wide audience, and we’ll continue to offer services that will make it easy to find videos online in the DivX format. It’s been a wild ride, and none of it would have been possible without the support of our users. Thank you for making Stage6 everything that it was. --Tom www.vioku.com looks like the best alternative www.stage6.com Link to comment
gogoblender 3,072 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 omg, wow, nooooooooooooooooooo shytsters... emergency, all hands to pulling videos off and putting them somewhere else... owch And rip...too bad it couldn't last... I guess that kind of bandwidth right now is too expensive...it was avant garde..... one day that sort of bandwidth will be cheaper...but for now... *gulp* there is ..youtube? lol, poor Schot...he loved their quality gogo Link to comment
Rotluchs 82 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 would be too bad although I never uploaded videos there myelf, I always preferred watching stage6 video-clips over those on youtube.. I will not only miss the better quality of divx content on stage6, I also just felt more comfortable with the stage6 style of embedded videos and the HP itself.. somehow.. Link to comment
bhj 24 Posted February 25, 2008 Author Share Posted February 25, 2008 the post I quoted above was org Posted 7 hours ago (2/25/08 5:07AM PST) by Spinner | Comments (3206) Posted 11 hours ago (2/25/08 5:07AM PST) by Spinner | Comments (5796) Posted 1 day ago (2/25/08 5:07AM PST) by Spinner | Comments (8082) The Comments Link to comment
Schot 407 Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 I think I'm going to... This is so huge for me. I've got about 70 videos uploaded there. Ha! *promptly goes insane* Oh and 3 days to figure out what to do, lol. Somebody just shoot me now... Well, it was a risk. I always knew that. *sigh* I'm afraid to imagine how many thousands upon thousands of other people are already doing what I'm about to undertake. The downloading of all my videos to my pc. I'm guessing the pipes are going to be seriously clogged. I can't believe it. If I'm not very visible the next little while you can find me in the download lineup for Stage6. Then I'll be reuploading to some other site and correcting all the broken posts and wiki articles from this disaster... As if my pc having a near death experience yesterday wasn't bad enough, lol. Link to comment
Schot 407 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Ok... So I've been running madly around the Stage6 and talking to the community, lol. Oh this is just nuts. Some of the folks are trying to get at the very least an extension on the closure so we can all have time to get our content off their servers. Soooo. I signed the petition. There's 7868 signatures and they're aiming for 10,000. Help! Save Stage6.com There are also some "camps" being set up for all us Stage6'ers, haha. Link to comment
Erling 3 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 well I signed now and now they got 12584 PS: it was 12580 when I started typing my name and 12584 when I clicked post ps in the ps: while I typed this another 10 signed 12594 Link to comment
bhj 24 Posted March 1, 2008 Author Share Posted March 1, 2008 this is up at the Stage6 site now and below you can see Veoh welcome Veoh is pleased to welcome Stage6 users and publishers.Veoh already has many of the features you have grown to love on Stage6, and we are constantly expanding our feature set. Veoh lets you: * - Upload videos of any length (including DivX) * - Download videos to your PC and watch later (including DivX) * - Watch millions of videos from TV networks to independent publishers * - Communicate with over 23 million monthly users We hope that you enjoy using Veoh, and welcome :-) www.veoh.com Link to comment
fRACTAL 0 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 22467 signatures on the petition now! ~Doom Link to comment
bhj 24 Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 yeah but I dont think it will do any good Link to comment
myles 2 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Veoh kinda suck coz anything longer than 30 min needs to be dl or watch on its own software. People say veoh it sucks up your bandwidth for dubious reason (I don't know how true it is). Its just so sad that stage6 has to go... Link to comment
FrostElfGuard 9 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I cringe at the cost of their last few days...bandwidth stretched to the max as all their content providers pulled GBs out of them. Youch! Link to comment
gogoblender 3,072 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Is it gone...really gone? No spring backs, no last minute saves...nothing? gogo Link to comment
Schot 407 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Ah it's truly sad. Gone gone gone. *sniff* It's left thousands of people scrambling and not just the public but also big corps like Sony and so on. They had quite a number of big name sponsors with channels on Stage6. It was THE only place to showcase high quality videos. It's going to be impossible to replace that kind of a free resource at present but hopefully the obvious huuuuge demand will entice a company to invest in a new service like Stage6. I hope! In the meantime I've been scouring the net for some kind of alternative. Nothing as good as Stage6 so far but there are a number promised startups to appear within the weeks. Nothing for sure at the moment and everything to do about the closing and and connection to Veoh, *pukes*, is shrouded in mystery... The worst of it was the flood attack on the Stage6 forum. In the final 20 odd hours some script kiddie implemented a script that posted the same message every second on just about every single topic of the forum making it impossible for anyone to communicate. *sigh...* I doubt the various petitions will succeed in doing much but at least the attempt is being made. lol Frosty. Cringe indeed! Talk about a download marathon. I'm amazed I was able to pull down my stuff as fast as I did before the closing. Whew! Link to comment
Schot 407 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Or is it gone? Wow, what a drama this is, lol. Interestingly enough I recieved a message from a member of Stage6 the day before it closed that I need not worry because the service will return with a new identity. Soooo... It looks like the fat lady hasn't quite sung yet! <--(English expression to say it isn't over, YET!) LiveUniverse Launches Hostile Bid to Acquire and Save Stage6 March 7, 2008 — 10:05 AM PST — by Adam Ostrow — LiveUniverse is taking their attempt to acquire Stage6, the video sharing site that was recently shutdown by parent company DivX, to the masses. The company issued a press release this afternoon announcing that they have offered DivX $11 million plus equity for Stage6, but have been rejected by the DivX board, who apparently is refusing to negotiate. In the release, LiveUniverse outlines its offer, which includes DivX retaining 10% ownership in a new video network that generates more than 400 million combined page views between its various properties. You may recall that LiveUniverse, which is MySpace founder Brad Greenspan's company, also recently purchased Revver and officially launched LiveVideo. By most accounts, Stage6 was reasonably popular, so it would appear Live Universe is trying to acquire another video site on the cheap and leverage their existing infrastructure to minimize costs. In addition to announcing its attempt to acquire Stage6 to the public, LiveUniverse has also setup a page for fans of Stage6 to urge DivX to take the deal. When we posted about Stage6 shutting down, a lot of disappointed users jumped in on the comments, so perhaps LiveUniverse can play hero and cause a big enough uproar to force DivX's hand. Check out the full details of LiveUniverse's offer after the jump. — LiveUniverse's Offer to Buy Stage6: LIVEUNIVERSE OFFERS DIVX $11,000,000 + EQUITY PARTICIPATION TO ACQUIRE ASSETS OF STAGE6. — Consideration is combination of cash, stock, online carriage, and promotion of DivX software 1) LiveUniverse was and is willing to execute a definitive agreement immediately and close the transaction within approximately 72 hours. 2) After acquiring controlling interest in Stage6, LiveUniverse will merge Stage6 with four of its video entertainment websites that in aggregate generate over 200 million page views per month. The combined entity would be one of the top video sites online with over 400 million monthly page views. DivX will receive a 10% equity interest in the new entity. 3) LiveUniverse shall pay DivX $3,000,000 in cash. 4) LiveUniverse shall issue $5,000,000 in online advertising carriage to DivX. DivX will promote its products and services across LiveUniverse's network of music, video, and social networking related websites receiving over 40 million unique monthly visitors. This will result in less marketing money spent by DivX. (standard rate card) 5) LiveUniverse's Revver property will provide technical services, including leveraging its Revver Wrapper technology to properly track and share revenue with content creators. This will help to drive interest in and grow the Stage6 site. 6) DivX/LiveUniverse Strategic Partnership over 36-month period: DivX and LiveUniverse would partner to sell DivX products across the LiveUniverse network. LiveUniverse would receive standard affiliate fees and commit to promote DivX across its network of properties. LiveUniverse will generate enough sales to earn at least $1,000,000 in affiliate fees from sales of DivX software products over a 36-month period. Any shortfall will require LiveUniverse to pay for the under-delivery. Typically an affiliate fee is 15-20% of revenue generated, therefore LiveUniverse would need to sell approximately $5 million in DivX products during the agreement term. 7) LiveUniverse will also contribute a license for its new LiveVideo community technology to vastly improve the Stage6 user experience and grow the community. DivX shareholders will receive 10% of the new company. DivX may have the right to "put" this stock position to LiveUniverse to purchase if it elects after 36 months, whereupon LiveUniverse would be forced to buy this 10% position via the "put." Such "put" to LiveUniverse shall cause LiveUniverse to pay DivX an additional $3,000,000 in cash. Link to comment
DreDBanGeR 32 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (edited) oh man ... even thouhg I only have 4 or 5 vids there this totally blows.. I hope they can raise their bid a bit and DivX won't play the corporate "arschloch" like microsoft allways loves to do. my vids were still running yesterday , well all but 1 .. I couldn't get one to work ... thank god I still have all my vids on my hd .. well that is except the one that can't load Edited March 13, 2008 by DreDBanGeR Link to comment
Schot 407 Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 It does blow. Big time. I've found a temporary solution at Animetorrents.com, heh. I'm not entirely sure I'll stick with them: My Sacred channel. For now it's the highest quality option I've found. Link to comment
Recommended Posts