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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 6, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com 

o Supreme Court Withdraws from California DVD-Cracking Code Case
o Digital Gadgets Take Center Stage At Consumer Electronics Show This Week
o Report: Content Delivery Network Streaming Market $90 Million in 2002
o Music Education Software Firm MakeMusic Raises $2 Million

> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers

o Briefly Noted: AskJeeves - banner ads, Gracenote CEO, THQ - Rainbow
Studios, VBox Communications - Nielsen Media Research, Harmonix Music
Systems - "Amplitude," Gigex - "America's Army: Operations," Sand Video -
H.264, DDD Group - patent, VividLogic - 1394 HDTV, 2002 Online Film
Critics Society Awards, Apple - CES
_____________________________________________

> Marketplace: Homeland Security Directory, Interest-Based Navigation

Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.

To post a Classified Ad:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/mainpostingpage.html
or contact Tinzar Than at tinzar@digitalmediawire.com
_____________________________________________

o Supreme Court Withdraws from California DVD-Cracking Code Case

Washington -- The U.S. Supreme Court has withdrawn its temporary interest
in a case where a Texas man was accused of trade secret violations in
California for distributing computer code that can be used to crack the
security on DVDs. Last week, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor placed an
emergency hold on a ruling issued by the California Supreme Court, which
said that Texas native Matthew Pavlovich could not be sued in California
for damaging entertainment and technology firms located there, by
publishing the DeCSS code on the Internet. On Friday, O'Connor rescinded
the hold, in effect granting Pavlovich the right to distribute the code
but not protecting him from future litigation. "The entertainment
companies should stop pretending that DeCSS is a secret," said Cindy Cohn,
legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil
liberties firm that is representing Pavlovich. "The Supreme Court wisely
recognized that there is no need for an emergency stay to prevent Mr.
Pavlovich from publishing DeCSS."
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20030103_eff_pavlovich_pr.html 
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-979197.html?tag=cd_mh 
_____________________________________________

o Digital Gadgets Take Center Stage At Consumer Electronics Show This Week

Las Vegas -- The Associated Press on Monday provided a preview of the
Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the annual gadget convention being held
this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. The article posits that CES continues to
thrive while other tech conventions like Comdex and TechXNY have faltered,
because the PC industry is now flat while the market for gadgets that
converge advanced consumer electronics with PC functionality continues to
grow. Among innovations that will be unveiled by consumer electronics
firms this week are Panasonic's 1GB flash memory card, Intel and
Sonicblue's portable video player, wireless "smart displays" from
ViewSonic and Philips, and a number of car satellite TV receivers and
digital home gateways.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=528&e=1&cid=528&
_____________________________________________

o Report: Content Delivery Network Streaming Market $90 Million in 2002

Seaside, Calif. -- The CDN (Content Delivery Network) market for streaming
media services generated about $90 million in audio and video commercial
contracts related to the media sector in 2002, according to an industry
report published by Seaside, Calif.-based research consultancy AccuStream
iMedia Research. CDNs, which include AOL, RealNetworks, Akamai, LimeLight
and Speedera, are hired by content providers to facilitate and speed the
delivery of streaming audio and video to Internet end users. "The
reduction in bandwidth fees and maturation of the CDN pricing model
coincides with a growing base of broadband users and a corresponding move
by key content brands to more aggressively exploit their audio and video
franchises," said AccuStream analyst Paul A. Palumbo. 
http://www.accustreamresearch.com/news/jan0903.html 
_____________________________________________

o Music Education Software Firm MakeMusic Raises $2 Million

Minneapolis -- MakeMusic, a developer of music notation and other music
educational software, announced on Monday that it has raised $2 million in
new financing through a private placement of its stock. The company said
it believes the new funds will bring it to profitability in 2004.
Minneapolis-based MakeMusic also said its shareholders approved a 1-for-10
reverse stock split, part of its plan to try to maintain its listing on
the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. MakeMusic distributes the Finale music
notation program as well as SmartMusic, a software-based music practice
system.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030106/62346_1.html 
http://www.makemusic.com 
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==========================================
DMW Publications: Available for DMW Subscribers NOW!
November Law & Policy Report | Game Industry Report | iTV Chronicle
==========================================
Contact tinzar@digitalmediawire.com or call 323-464-0793 to order your
copies.
To purchase directly, go to:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.htm

Digital Media Law & Policy Report  (November)
A new report every month - must-read publication on legal and policy
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Game Industry Law & Policy Report (published 11/1/02)
Special industry report covering law & policy matters impacting the game
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feature article and an exclusive interview with Doug Lowenstein,
President, Interactive Digital Software Association.   Price:  $19.00
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For those who believe in ITV - "INTERACTIVE TELEVISION: The Definitive
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm 

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Briefly Noted:

(Emeryville, Calif.) Search engine provider Ask Jeeves announced on Monday
that it has removed all banner ads from its search engine site Ask.com.
The company recently also removed all interstitials, or "pop-up ads" from
the site, part of a growing backlash against the unpopular ad format.
Emeryville, Calif.-based Ask Jeeves said it will focus its advertising
sales on paid sponsorships. "Though we're removing banners from Ask.com,
search marketing remains a powerful way to brand products and services
online," said Ask Jeeves Web Properties president Steve Berkowitz.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030106/sfm021b_1.html 
http://www.ask.com 

(Berkeley, Calif.) Gracenote, a provider of CD and digital music
recognition technologies, announced on Monday that it has appointed Craig
Palmer as president and CEO. Previously, Palmer held executive positions
at eWanted, Aspect Development and Cadence Design Systems. Former
Gracenote president and CEO David Hyman will become the company's chief
strategy officer and executive vice president of sales and business
development.
http://www.gracenote.com  

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Video game developer THQ announced on Monday
that "Spalshdown 2," a sequel to the top-selling PlayStation 2 water
racing game, is currently in development at Phoenix, Ariz.-based Rainbow
Studios. The game is the first Rainbow title to be published by Calabasas
Hills, Calif.-based THQ, and will be released sometime this summer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030106/60140_1.html 
http://www.rainbowstudios.com 
http://www.thq.com 

(Mountain View, Calif.) Optibase, the licensed distributor for broadcast
and broadband receivers manufactured by VBox Communications, announced on
Monday it has sold 3,000 digital TV receiver cards to Nielsen Media
Research for use in that company's new Media Monitoring System. The cards
will enable Nielsen to provide broadcasting data to support ratings
products, program verification of local station broadcasts of national TV
programs, commercial verification, and verification of unscheduled
broadcast content such as public service announcements and infomercials.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030106/60029_1.html 
http://www.nielsenmedia.com 
http://www.vbox.to  

(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America on Monday
announced it will release "Amplitude," an expansion for its music mixing
game "Frequency," in March 2003. The title, featuring new music to remix
from artists including David Bowie, Weezer, Garbage and Quarashi, will
take advantage of the PlayStation 2 console's online capabilities,
allowing gamers to challenge their friends in multi-player and remix mode
over the Internet. Cambridge, Mass.-based Harmonix Music Systems developed
the title for Sony.
http://www.us.playstation.com/games/SCUS-97125.asp 
http://www.harmonixmusic.com  

(San Francisco) Gigex, a provider of video game distribution technology
and marketing services, announced on Monday that it has distributed
1,185,000 downloads of the "America's Army: Operations" game since its
release six months ago. The online game was developed by the U.S. Army as
a way to communicate information about Army opportunities, adventures,
challenges and training.
http://www.gigex.com 
http://gigex.com/americasarmy.asp 

(Andover, Mass.) Sand Video, a developer of video compression technology,
announced on Monday that it will demonstrate what it claims will be the
first high definition video decoder based on the emerging H.264 standard
this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. Massachusetts-based Sand Video
said that it is holding discussions with consumer electronics
manufacturers that should result in its technology being featured in
products like DVD players, set-top-boxes, digital cameras and camcorders,
and HDTV sets by early 2004.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230062047&ticker= 
http://www.sandvideo.com 

(Santa Monica, Calif.) DDD Group, a developer of online 3D video
technology, announced on Monday it has been granted a new patent in Europe
for its "dynamic depth cueing" technology. The technology enables existing
film or video images to be converted for display in stereo 3D, in essence
regenerating 3D information that is not recorded when a conventional film
or video camera is used. Santa Monica, Calif.-based DDD Group now holds
eight patents for its process of delivering "glasses-free" 3D technology.
http://www.ddd.com  

(San Diego) VividLogic, a provider of digital home entertainment software,
said on Monday it plans to introduce a wireless 1394 HDTV video network at
this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The device,
utilizing chipmaker Magis Networks'Air5 chipset, will let consumers share
digital audio and video entertainment content between consumer electronics
devices in the home over high speed IEEE 1394 ("FireWire") interfaces.
http://www.vividlogic.com 

(New York) The winners of the 2002 Online Film Critics Society Awards have
been announced, with "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" taking awards
for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Ensemble Acting and technical awards
for achievements in Editing, Sound and Visual Effects. The 132-member
Online Film Critics Society, whose members include representatives from
FilmThreat, FilmCritic.com, Salon and the Internet Movie Database, also
awarded Daniel Day-Lewis Best Actor for "Gangs of New York," and Julianne
Moore Best Actress for "Far From Heaven."
http://www.ofcs.org 

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Monday speculated on what new product
Apple will be unveiling at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. The
device will reportedly support 802.11g and Bluetooth wireless networking
standards, but analysts and sources were divided on whether the device
will be some sort of tablet computer, or else a new version of its popular
iPod device that will support video. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple
introduce an iPod with touch-screen capabilities as well as additional
applications to include cell-phone connectability and gaming as it
continues to evolve into a fully functional PDA," Technology Business
Research analyst Tim Deal told News.com.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-979204.html?tag=cd_mh 
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm 

_____________________________________________

====================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm 

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==========================
CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
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To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm 

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AT&T and the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

To purchase the directory, go to: http://www.homeland-directory.com
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_____________________________________________

Digital Media Wire, Inc. leverages its integrated media network to provide
exceptional value to individuals and companies determined to capitalize on
the convergence of media, entertainment and technology. Digital Media
Wire, the first in a series of business-intelligence publications,
delivers original daily briefings on the business, legal and financial
developments shaping digital media.

Digital Media Wire is part of the Tech Wire Media Group, an international
network of publications that includes Potomac Tech Wire, New England Tech
Wire, Southeast Tech Wire, Bay Area Tech Wire, Tri-state Tech Wire and
European Tech Wire. The network reaches more than 62,000 individuals from
over 70 countries worldwide each business day.

Upcoming publications, events & information at:
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Questions, Comments & Suggestions to:
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News Tips, Scoops & Press Releases to:
editorial@digitalmediawire.com 
_____________________________________________

Editor: Mark Hefflinger
Chief Executive Officer: Ned Sherman
Marketing Director: Tinzar Than

Copyright 2003 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.