Just a few short years ago, there was a website that served as the home page for many people, and had its chosen field pretty much to itself. Its competition seemed to be just a bunch of also-rans and wanabees. But the company that provided its technology decided to go out on its own because they wanted their share, and now, they're the dominant name in their field — and several others. The earlier site has had its ups and downs, but is no longer on top.

The old site? Yahoo. The upstart? Google.

YouTube has been the online place for video. It's been so successful that Google bought it for $1.65 billion ... and was immediately hit with lawsuits from TV networks, studios, and other copyright holders...

Now, two of those aggrieved copyright holders, NBC/Universal and News Corp./Fox, are rolling out their own joint site, Hulu.com with videos of their shows and even some movies.

Early reviews have been pretty good, although Hulu doesn't officially open for business until next week.

The only dissenting note that I've encountered, is that its introduction coincides with an impending labor action by some other aggrieved parties... writers of the programming that HULU will be posting.

Surprise! They want their share, too