tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29578818985931848582024-02-20T16:31:01.205-08:00Anti CrunchyrollGendohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765364326386109843noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2957881898593184858.post-64040053927238994882008-04-06T04:35:00.000-07:002008-04-06T12:35:59.286-07:00Secrets Behind Crunchyroll<p>Launched in the summer of 2006, <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/">Crunchyroll</a> is a video-streaming site run by Crunchyroll, Inc. that grew by serving illegal (unlicensed) content, namely Japanese Animation (anime). The site generated revenue by soliciting donations and through advertising. After <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/29/crunchyroll-pushes-the-envelope-on-video-copyright/">failing to be bought out by Viacom</a> in 2007, Crunchyroll <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/27/copyright-infringement-continues-to-pay-4-million-for-crunchyroll/">secured venture capital funding to the tune of $4 million</a> through Venrock.</p>
<p>Who are the shadowy people behind this secretive corporation? The <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2008-03-25/vu-nguyen">only person to have come out of the closet so far is Vu Nguyen</a>, a co-founder who handles "business development." However, a search on <a href="http://134.186.208.228/caleasi/PDFDocs/004935825.PDF">publicly available records</a> through the State of California Department of Corporations indicate that the executive officers are as follows.</p>
<strong>Crunchyroll, Inc.</strong>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody><tr>
<td bgcolor="#cccccc"> <strong>Name</strong></td>
<td bgcolor="#cccccc"> <strong>Listed Position</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> Kun Gao</td>
<td> beneficial owner, executive officer, director</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> Vu Nguyen</td>
<td> executive officer</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> Sanha Han</td>
<td> executive officer</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> Brandon Ooi</td>
<td> beneficial owner, executive officer, director</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> James Lin</td>
<td> beneficial owner, executive officer, director</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> Ashwin Navin</td>
<td> director</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> David Siminoff</td>
<td> director</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size:78%;">(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form D, Notice of Sale of Securities)</span>
<br /><br />
<p>A Google search reveals that Kun Gao, Vu Nguyen, Brandon Ooi, and James Lin were graduates of the University of California, Berkeley. They are <a href="http://www.hkn.mu/about/muchapterofficers-fa03.shtml">listed here</a> with the Berkeley chapter of HKN.</p>
<p>Ashwin Navin appears to be the co-founder and president of BitTorrent. David Siminoff is from Venrock.</p>
<p>Kun Gao, listed first on the SEC filing which is also signed off by him as "president," was <a href="http://www.db.cs.cmu.edu/db-site/People/Alumni/">studying as a graduate student</a> at Carnegie Mellon University until recently. Meanwhile, Brandon Ooi is listed as the contact person for <a href="https://businessfilings.sos.ca.gov/frmDetail.asp?CorpID=02884495&qrystring=CRUNCHYROLL&qrynumber=NULL">Crunchyroll's corporate filing</a>, as well as for the <a href="http://134.186.208.228/caleasi/PDFDocs/004870832.PDF">predecessor to Crunchyroll, Code Mobs</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/29/crunchyroll-pushes-the-envelope-on-video-copyright/">Articles on the web</a> pointed out that Crunchyroll is run by employees at HotorNot. Indeed, Kun Gao's <a href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/%7Ekgao/">profile at CMU does indicate that he worked at HotorNot</a>. Brandon Ooi also <a href="http://grokbase.com/profile/id:qNcM-9B57nywekEin4RqpjsEcaFaxQwba8Pxa3qsBxo">worked at HotorNot</a>, along with <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=10488703"> Vu Nguyen as well</a>. Moreover, the founders of HotorNot, <a href="http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/1004/coolalum.html">James Hong and Jim Young, are both graduates of Berkeley</a>, like most of the founders of Crunchyroll.</p>Gendohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17765364326386109843noreply@blogger.com3