Justin.tv, the live streaming service which started in 2007, has abruptly pulled the plug on it’s service today. With no warning or notification and no way for users to access their account or any videos they may have had, people are rightfully pissed.

Many podcasters and video podcasters used the site for live streaming and for archiving shows. Leaving them with their virtual pants down and having to move to other services like UStream, Livestream or Google Hangouts/Youtube Live.

Back in February JTV officially became Twitch Interactive. Twitch being a primarily video game centric streaming service while JustinTV was for everything else. A lot of content streamed was copyrighted material, that no one seemed to care was being streamed. If you wanted to watch 24/7 of Futurama, it was there. It’s not clear if this has anything to do with the sudden shutdown, but more likely it has something to do with rumors of Google purchasing Twitch for $1 billion.

If it is a Google move, it’s not hard to imagine the search giant wants people to use Hangouts or Youtube.

If this is another move by Google, it’s another public-infuriating one. Google seems to be becoming notorious for creating bad PR for itself as of late. With the G+ experiment and the debacle/laughable Google Glass program, as well as all the NSA business, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of things to be excited about when people mention the “G” word.

Whatever the reason, it seems the 7-year-old service is no more. Their website explains all APIs and accounts are gone. There is a video (hosted on Vimeo, btw) saying goodbye, and some FAQ’s for people wondering what happens next (though there doesn’t seem to be much as far as answers go, other than “So long, thanks for all the fish.” )

Twitch is allowing users to transfer their user names from Justin.tv by filling out this snazzy form (hosted on Google Docs) before Sept. 5, 2014.
More info can be found at Justin.TV