Six companies have signed on to the program as initial Fantasy Platform partners. Apps from MLB.com, Bloomberg, and others will be available in the CBSSports.com App Central when it launches on January 31st. A developer web site for the platform offers a variety of tools for those interested in creating apps for the platform.

The decision to open the platform up for development comes from an awareness that fantasy sports players are accessing a wide variety of tools to manage their teams. Jason Kind, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CBSSports.com, says that “providing outside developers access to our proprietary service will benefit the entire fantasy industry ecosystem, creating additional value for companies, developers, and advertisers while consolidating and enhancing the experience for fantasy players.” The Fantasy Platform is designed to offer players the chance to integrate key fantasy management tools directly into their team management, helping to streamline the process and make it more enjoyable for players.

The initial six Fantasy Platform partners are Advanced Sports Media, Bloomberg Sports, MLB.com, Rotowire, StatSheet, and Ziguana.

Rooney has held the time slot at the end of 60 Minutes since 1979. There, he has made a name for himself with his musings on life and the changing times. He is known by many for his sometimes strange delivery and odd choice of topics.

And while some of his rants have seemed ridiculous over the years, Rooney is a powerful figure in American journalism. He has been producing TV essays since 1964 and has written 16 books in his career. He has also won four Emmy awards and various Writers Guild awards.

But to most, he will always be remembered as the Andy Rooney of the last two minutes of 60 Minutes. And while occupying that time slot, Rooney has given us some real masterpiece rants.

I’ve decided to compile a Greatest Hits playlist with the help of YouTube – in no particular order.

Andy Rooney doesn’t know who Lady Gaga is –

Andy Rooney hates Bill Gates and Windows –

Andy Rooney can sleep everywhere –

Andy Rooney is a “know-nothing boob” who hates modern art -

Andy Rooney on Christmas catalogs (one of my favorites) –

Andy Rooney Hates Numbers –

Andy Rooney Talks Tools (staple removers are better than staples) –

Andy Rooney talks fashion magazines –

Andy Rooney on the months of the year –

In the latest round of who-can-we-sue, disgruntled “victims” of file sharing have taken aim at CBS’s CNET, specifically their software downloading site cnet.download.com.

Entrepreneur, FilmOn Founder and “eccentric billionaire” Alki David has filed a lawsuit against CNET alleging that they aided in copyright infringement by distributing P2P clients, most notably LimeWire but also Morpheus, iMesh and FrostWire.  Of course, LimeWire is already in its own mess.

Joining Mr. David as plaintiffs are a number of rappers and R&B artists that include members of 2 Live Crew, Pretty Ricky and Ying Yang Twins.  Fifteen plaintiffs are listed in all.

Whose fault is copyright infringement, if anybody’s? Is it the person who shares the files, the makers of the client, or in this case do you agree that CNET shares some responsibility? Tell us what you think.

Part one of the argument is that CNET is guilty of copyright infringement because they allowed users to download software that was used for copyright infringement.

The CBS defendants have been the main distributor of Lime Wire software and have promoted this and other P2P systems in order to directly profit from wide-scale copyright infringement…the CBS Defendants’ business model has been so dependent upon P2P and file sharing applications that entire pages of Download.com are designed specifically to list and categorize these software offerings.

So, blame Dick’s Sporting Goods for selling the hockey stick that was used to bludgeon someone to death with.  Got it.  Maybe we should sue Google for providing search results linking to CNET.  Actually, let’s just sue the internet.  Let’s sue Al Gore.

All ranting aside, the fact remains that while CNET was distributing LimeWire, is was a legal product. Limewire does not inherently have to be used for “copyright infringement.” File sharing does not necessarily equal copyright infringement.  Of course, P2P clients are used for the sharing of copyrighted files – nobody can deny that.

But I simply don’t know if we should sue the tackle shop for selling the bobber used to snag and keep the fish from the catch-and-release pond. Should we?

But I digress.  The second part of the argument is that along with hosting downloads, CNET also wrote reviews for products like LimeWire, thus instructing users specifically how to break the law.

The CBS Defendants have not just distributed and profited from software applications used to infringe copyrights on a massive scale.  They also furnished articles and other content that explained how users could use P2P software to infringe.

On cnet.com, Download.com and other website, the CBS Defendants offered videos, articles and other media that instructed how to use P2P software to locate pirated copies of copyrighted works and remove electronic protections placed on digital music file sin order to prevent infringement.

Or as I call it, the Anarchist Cookbook argument.

Part 54 of the lawsuit provides my personal favorite complaint, simply for its leave-no-stone-unturned approach:

As part of their review process, the CBS Defendants tested the software that they reviewed and, in the case of P2P clients, infringed copyrights to do so.  In a video that Download.com posted to its website, the CBS Defendants again reviewed LimeWire, but this time demonstrated how it worked to Download.com users.  The message of the video is clear: LimeWire is really great at infringing copyrights.

The lawsuit seeks damages as well as an injunction barring CNET from offering P2P client downloads.

Here’s a video of Alki David ranting against CBS, thanks to Ars Technica.  David says that CBS “finds itself publicly exposed as an irresponsible hypocrite, that has ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the creative community and created copyright infringement damages into the trillions of dollars.”

“Hypocrite” is most likely a reference to past legal dealings between CBS and David’s site FilmOn. Last fall CBS along with Fox, NBC and ABC won a restraining order against U.K. based FilmOn in the U.S. The networks argued that because FilmOn was rebroadcasting their content over the internet, they were in violation of copyright law. Although the merits of Alki David’s lawsuit against CBS deserve a fair debate, it is not a stretch to see this current lawsuit as some sort of retaliation for previous actions.

CBS has responded to the lawsuit, saying:

“This latest move by Mr. David is a desperate attempt to distract copyright holders like us from continuing our rightful claims. His lawsuit against CBS affiliates is riddled with inaccuracies, and we are confident that we will prevail, just as we did in the injunction hearing involving his company.”

Also, does anyone see the awesome irony in Dentron Bendross of 2 Live Crew suing someone for copyright infringement, considering his group was part of one of the more famous fair use lawsuits ever?

Oh well.  It shouldn’t be too hard to discern where I land on the issue.  But what do you think? Let us know in the comments.

CNET Limewire Torrent Freak Report

According to TMZ, Couric has “not officially quit, but nonetheless networks sources” say “it’s a virtual certainty that she will be levaing”. Reports have indicated that Couric’s contract expires on June 4 – exactly two months from now.

TMZ says its sources, who are “connected with Couric,” suggested that she wants to do some kind of syndicated show with news elements, and has been in talks with networks like CBS, NBC, CNN, and ABC, aiming for a September launch.

Couric has been active on Twitter, but has made no mention of leaving (or staying with) CBS, or plans for any other new show. Lately, she’s mostly been talking about vacation and colonoscopies.

A CBS spokesperson has said, “We’re having ongoing discussions with Katie Couric. We have no announcements to make at this time. Until we do, we will continue to decline comment on rumor or speculation.”

Couric has been in the CBS Evening News anchor role since 2006, when she left the Today Show.

In his new role, Lanzone will manage all of CBS Interactive’s operations globally. He replaces Neil Ashe, who was President of CBS Interactive since 2008 and announced in December he would leave the company when a successor was named.

Before Clicker, Lanzone was the CEO of Ask.com where he held a number of executive roles ranging from SVP of Product Management, to General Manager of Ask Jeeves U.S., and finally CEO. After leaving Ask, Lanzone joined Redpoint Ventures as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and raised $8 million to develop Clicker in October 2008.

“As we look to the future, CBS has the kind of platform that can take Clicker to the next level as we look to create a lasting, meaningful brand and destination.  We couldn’t be happier to become part of their family now,” Lanzone said on the Clicker blog.

“What should our users do in light of this news?  Act natural!  Seriously.  Keep sending us your comments and ideas, and we’ll keep building Clicker into the product you need it to be.”

Last year, the NCAA March Madness was available as a paid app for iPhone and iPod touch. Also available this year are free streams of the tournament outside of the U.S.

New features of March Madness on Demand (MMOD) include improved live viewing with better quality and larger streams, a personalizable channel lineup option, and live stats.

“MMOD is the primary online destination for fans of NCAA March Madness,” said Greg Shaheen, Interim Executive Vice President of Championships and Alliances, NCAA.

“The NCAA enters a new dimension with Turner Sports and CBS Sports that provides men’s basketball fans with enhanced features that will further enrich their online and mobile viewing experience.”

Additional features include:

*My Channels- The online, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps list all four TV networks: TBS, TNT, truTV and CBS by default. Through My Channels, users can plug in their zip code, select their TV provider and see their channel lineup for every game.

*The Game Center View- Users can follow stats of every team while watching games on TV.

*The March Madness Social Arena- Will allow people to connect to Facebook and NCAA.com and “Like” teams in each round.

The tournament field will be announced on Selection Sunday on March 13 on CBS and the tournament will begin with the First Four airing in primetime on Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16 on truTV.

Peter Kafka wrote this morning, "Barclay’s analyst Anthony DiClemente figures Netflix will pay CBS $200 million over the next two years – ‘similar to other deals struck with broadcasters’ – and most of that money will drop straight to CBS’s bottom line.  For context, note that CBS recorded $283 million in profits last quarter."

So $200 million will represent a nice bump in revenue for CBS.  Meanwhile, the sum shouldn’t come close to bankrupting Netflix, which has a market cap of $11.3 billion right now.

Netflix users also stand to benefit, as well, since they’ll get to see all the shows at no extra charge versus paying well over $1,000 for the DVD sets (even if they went used).

It looks like everyone’s a winner in the short term, then.  Kafka just pointed out, "The flip side, of course, is that the more video you consume over the Web, the more likely you may be stop watching conventional TV.  So long-term, it’s possible that CBS and the other networks are helping to hasten their demise."

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine anyone picking $#*! My Dad Says over Shatner playing Kirk or the much funnier Cheers.

Other shows included in the deal are: Family Ties, the original Hawaii Five-O, Star Trek, Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, and The Andy Griffith Show. 

"This deal recognizes the increasing value of our content in today’s marketplace," said Scott Koondel, President of Distribution, CBS Television Distribution.  "More and more, people want to be able to access our programming on a wide variety of platforms.  We are very pleased that the titles offered through this deal will now also be made available to a whole new community through the terrific and convenient service that Netflix offers.  We will continue to pursue additional non-exclusive distribution partners that are additive to our overall business."

NetflixNew Content Alert! Starting in April, Medium, Twin Peaks, Cheers, Frasier, Family Ties and The Andy Griffith Show will be available instantly from Netflix. We’ll also have Star Trek, Hawaii Five-O and The Twilight Zone. Click the Like button if you’ve watched any of these shows. http://bit.ly/NTFLXCBS9 minutes ago 1,273 likes 153 comments

"We are thrilled to be bringing CBS shows to Netflix and are looking forward to growing our relationship over time," said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix. "Netflix is now the only online premium subscription service with shows featured on all four broadcast networks and dozens of cable TV’s biggest brands."

While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, CBS retains an option to extend the agreement for up to two additional years. 

Netflix will begin offering CBS content in April.

Does it make any sense that networks are blocking content from Google TV? Tell us your thoughts.

It looks like Google has a long negotiating road ahead of them. According to TheNextWeb, “Google was said to be in negotiations with at least three television networks to unblock the content but that news surfaced towards the end of October and we’re now approaching the middle of November and it looks as if things have regressed rather than move forward.”

Why does blocking content to viewers ever seem like a good idea? Well it seems that networks don’t want television and online content to cross paths, as online content pulls in far less ad revenue compared to on-air commercials. Networks want you to watch their actual broadcasts.

When do you think Google will reach agreements with the networks? Let us know.

"It’s been a memorable campaign season on YouTube, but the time for persuasion and debate is over — now it’s time to vote," writes Ramya Raghavan of YouTube News and Politics on the company blog. "As polling results come in from across the country, we’re partnering with CBS News to live stream election results and highlight election trends on YouTube and Google."

"Already, CBS has been highlighting election trends through data from Google and YouTube platforms," notes Raghavan. "In addition to analyzing the top political videos on YouTube, they’re watching Google Trends and Insights for Search to determine what people are searching for and watching online. This approach of examining web trends adds a new level of depth to election reporting and is a model that news organizations can use for any major event or milestone."

9 out of the top 10 searches on Google today have been election-related, according to the company. Google itself is providing other tools to help users follow the elections and to find where to vote. 

In fact, social networks like Facebook and Twitter are doing their parts as well. Here you can see what Twitter is doing, and here are Facebook’s offerings. Chances are if you use Facebook, you’ve already seen some of them today. 

CBS is taking feedback and ideas via Google Moderator from their channel. The top submissions have a chance to make it on the air.