Tokyo - Sony plans to launch a video-sharing site called eyeVio in Japan on Friday, representing the company's first foray into an increasingly crowded market currently dominated by Google's YouTube, Reuters reported.

"This is part of Sony's quiet software revolution," CEO Howard Stringer said at a news conference.

"It's an opportunity to transmit user-generated video anywhere you want to, anytime to anybody, in a protected environment."

Despite the high traffic to YouTube, it has been repeatedly criticized for allowing users to post copyrighted content, even drawing a $1 billion copyright infringement suit from Viacom.

"We believe there's a need for a clean and safe place where companies can place their advertisements," Sony spokesman Takeshi Honma told Reuters.

Sony said it may expand the service abroad, but will first wait to see how it is received in Japan.

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http://tinyurl.com/345az4 (Reuters)