Shortly after Hulu pulled its content from TV.com, the popular online video web site has also requested Boxee stop sharing its videos, a post on Boxee's official blog indicates. Boxee is freeware cross-platform media center software that is popular among enthusiast PC users, which has grown in popularity as more people become interested in streaming content.
The blog entry starts out by saying the following: "We love Hulu. They have built a great product and brand," the blog entry continued.
But after that, however, things changed, and it appears Boxee was disappointed with the request, though understands business is business.
"Two weeks ago Hulu called and told us their content partners were asking them to remove Hulu from Boxee," Boxee said in the post. "We tried (many times) to plead the case for keeping Hulu on Boxee, but on Friday of this week, in good faith, we will be removing it. You can see their blog post about the issues they are facing."
One of Boxee's best attributes was the ability to stream Hulu directly to the TV for free, but users will now have to look for other ways to have Hulu content on TV.
The News Corp. and NBC Universal video sharing site said fans shouldn't be so quick to blame them, announcing it was their content partners that requested the content removal. An exact explanation from content partners was not publicly made available by Hulu.
"While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence — bumps and all — we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners," said Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. "Without their content, none of what Hulu does would be possible, including providing you content via Hulu.com and our many distribution partner websites."
