DivX pulls the plug on Stage6 video upload site

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

February 26, 2008, 2:40 PM

Explaining that the site was only an "experiment," DivX said Monday that it had shut off uploads to its Stage6 video site, and would be closing the site completely on February 28.

The official reason states that DivX simply ran out of money to keep the site going, and it was requiring an "enormous amount of attention and resources that we are not in a position to provide."

DivX's announcement follows another last year that it was looking into ways to deal with the site -- either through a spinoff or sale to another company. From the looks of Monday's announcement, neither of those efforts were successful.

Why was Stage6 requiring so many resources to run? Simply put, the site went from a attempt at promoting the DivX format to a haven for pirated content. DivX employees were forced to monitor it full-time and remove infringing content. In addition, high bandwidth usage from downloads of pirated movies and TV shows meant big costs in terms of bandwidth.

After Stage6, DivX said it remains committed to expanding the reach of DivX both through software and hardware.

"By no longer expending resources on Stage6, we sharpen our focus on creating a global standard for digital video while building a business that maximizes shareholder value," DivX CEO Kevin Hell said in a statement.