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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 8, 2003
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o Lawmakers Re-Introduce Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act
o Report: Home Video Revenues for 2002 Top $20.6 Billion; DVD Share Up
o Interactive TV Firm Liberate Lays Off 180 Amid Accounting Probe
o Canadian Blank CD Levy Increase Coming Under Fire
o Apple to Offer iLife Digital Media Software Bundle
o Wireless Multimedia Developer Comverse To Invest $4 Million In Israel
o Streaming Media Software Firm Starbak Buys Video Server Firm Vividon
> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers
o Briefly Noted: Sprint PCS - Warner Music Group, Major League Baseball -
Tickets.com - Ticketmaster, American Music Awards - interactive TV
broadcast, Sorrent - Yao Ming, Overdrive - Yahoo e-book store, IBiquity
Digital - YES Networks, Fictionwise, On Command - 2002 top-VOD, E.Digital
- 20GB MP3 player, Sigma Designs, Macrovision, Intl. sound recording
copyright terms
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o Lawmakers Re-Introduce Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act
Washington -- Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) John Doolittle (R-Ca.), Spencer
Bachus (R-AL) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) on Tuesday re-introduced the
Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, which aims to amend the controversial
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with the goal of "protecting the
Fair Use rights of the users of copyrighted material and, thereby enabling
the consumers of digital media to make use of it in ways that enhance
their personal convenience." The legislation is identical to the bill that
Boucher and Doolitte introduced last fall. The bill address the ability of
consumers to make digital copies of CDs they already own, as well as the
anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA, and would also require record
labels to post warnings on copy-protected CDs that they will not function
in some CD players. "The re-introduced legislation will assure that
consumers who purchase digital media can enjoy a broad range of uses of
the media for their own convenience in a way which does not infringe the
copyright in the work," said Boucher, in a statement.
http://www.house.gov/boucher/docs/dmca108.htm
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o Report: Home Video Revenues for 2002 Top $20.6 Billion; DVD Share Up
Encino, Calif. -- The home video industry enjoyed a record-breaking year
with combined rental and sell-through revenues of $20.6 billion for 2002,
according to figures released on Wednesday by industry trade group the
Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA). The DVD format's share of the
total rental market increased from 17 percent in 2001 to 35 percent in
2002, accounting for $2.9 billion in rentals -- a 106 percent increase
over 2001's $1.4 billion figure. Sales of DVDs accounted for $8 billion,
or 65 percent, of total 2002 home video sales of $12.4 billion -- a 51
percent increase from the $5.3 billion in sales revenues enjoyed by DVD in
2001. The report also noted that VHS format market share shrank 18
percentage points -- from 83 percent of rental revenues in 2001 to 65
percent for the year 2002 -- but still remains the dominant format.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230080132&ticker=
http://www.vsda.org
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o Interactive TV Firm Liberate Lays Off 180 Amid Accounting Probe
San Carlos -- Liberate Technologies, a provider of interactive TV software
and services, announced on Wednesday that it will lay off 30 percent of
its staff, or about 180 employees, to cut costs in the midst of an
internal accounting investigation. The company said it will cut an
additional 60 employees over the next three months. In December, San
Carlos, Calif.-based Liberate fired its chief operating officer, and
continues its investigation into accounting irregularities that have
forced it to delay stating its earnings for 2002 and first quarter 2003.
http://www.liberate.com
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o Canadian Blank CD Levy Increase Coming Under Fire
San Francisco -- Wired News on Wednesday reported on a dispute currently
before the Copyright Board of Canada regarding levies placed on recordable
media -- such as blank CDs -- that Canadian residents pay as a "royalty"
for the ability to make copies of music CDs for personal use. The Canadian
Private Copying Collective (CPCC), which collects the royalties, charged
5.2 cents CDN per blank CD in 2000, but is proposing to raise the levy to
59 cents per CD in 2003. The CPCC has collected $28 million since 1999 and
expects to collect $100 million in 2003, but since it started collecting
royalties has yet to distribute any monies to musicians or copyright
holders. The Canadian Coalition for Fair Digital Access, a group whose
members include H-P, Sony, Wal-Mart Canada, Costco and Staples, has argued
against the existence of any levy on recordable media.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,57114,00.html
http://www.cpcc.ca/english
http://www.ccfda.ca/index_eng.html
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o Apple to Offer iLife Digital Media Software Bundle
San Francisco -- Apple has introduced a new digital media software bundle,
iLife, that features new versions of its iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, as well
as the recently released iTunes 3 application. The $49 software bundle
will go on sale online starting Jan. 25. "iLife does for our digital
lifestyle what Microsoft Office did for office productivity -- all the
applications you need are in one box, and they all work together," said
Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030107/sftu102_2.html
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o Wireless Multimedia Developer Comverse To Invest $4 Million In Israel
Tel Aviv -- Comverse Technology, a provider of systems and software
enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communications services, will
invest $4 million to expand its operations at Ramat Hahayal, according to
a report in Wednesday's Globes business newspaper. The paper said Comverse
plans to hire 300 new workers to produce software and equipment for
advanced multimedia services for communications networks. Separately,
Comverse announced on Wednesday a deal with Portuguese wireless network
operator TMN, to distribute its VoiCD music and entertainment cell phone
content to TMN subscribers.
http://www.globes.co.il
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030108/82071_1.html
http://www.comverse.com
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o Streaming Media Software Firm Starbak Buys Video Server Firm Vividon
Columbus, Ohio -- Starbak Communications, a provider of streaming media
delivery software, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Vividon, a
developer of video-on-demand servers and other digital video hardware and
software. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal
will combine Vividon's technology for delivery high volume streaming
media, with Ohio-based Starbak's server-focused products and roster of
enterprise market customers.
http://www.starbak.com/news_events/pr_jan08_03.html
http://www.vividon.com
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Briefly Noted:
(Las Vegas) Wireless network operator Sprint announced on Wednesday it has
partnered with major record label Warner Music Group to offer its PCS
Vision subscribers a wireless streaming music clip subscription service,
as well as ringtones and other music-themed features. For $3.99 for a
90-day subscription, cell phone users may stream samples of new and
pre-released Warner music on-demand to their phones. In addition to the
streaming service and ringtones, the offering includes "celebrity voice
ringers," which let users have their favorite artist announce their
incoming calls.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/cgw005_1.html
http://www.pcsvision.com
(New York) Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) on Wednesday
announced new online ticket sales agreements with Tickets.com and
Ticketmaster, after reporting online sales of 4 million tickets in 2002.
MLBAM signed a five-year extension with Costa Mesa, Calif.-based
Tickets.com, and also announced it will also offer online ticket sales
through a multi-year agreement Ticketmaster Online that begins in 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/law062_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/law044_1.html
http://www.mlb.com
(San Francisco) OpenTV, a provider of interactive TV software and
services, announced on Wednesday that its Wink enhanced TV division will
produce an interactive element for the upcoming 30th Annual American Music
Awards telecast on January 13. The on-screen offering will include
real-time factoids, information, and polls for the Coca-Cola New Music
Award. ABC will also offer an enhanced TV version of the program on
ABC.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030108/80099_1.html
http://abc.abcnews.go.com/primetime/specials/ama
(Shanghai) Sorrent, a developer and publisher of wireless games, announced
that it has partnered with seven-foot-five Chinese NBA basketball player
Yao Ming to develop a wireless basketball game for the Chinese market.
China has the world's largest wireless subscriber base with 200 million
users. San Mateo, Calif.-based Sorrent said the game, featuring Yao Ming's
likeness, will be available in Greater China including Mainland China,
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in the first half of 2003.
http://sorrent.com/company/press/pr_030107.jsp
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming
(Cleveland, Ohio) Overdrive, a provider of e-book delivery services,
announced that it will manage and provide new content to the Yahoo
Shopping Digital Book store. Cleveland-based Overdrive will initially
provide 40,000 digital products from 300 publishers -- including e-books,
digital magazines and audiobooks -- in formats including Microsoft Reader,
Adobe Acrobat, Palm Digital Media and Windows Media Player.
http://www.overdrive.com
http://shopping.yahoo.com/Books/Ebooks
(Columbia, Md.) IBiquity Digital, developer of the HD Radio digital AM/FM
radio broadcast technology, announced on Wednesday it has partnered with
YES Networks to develop interactive services for HD Radio broadcasts.
Philadelphia-based YES Networks aggregates data from its retail partners, such as Amazon.com and eBay, to
show price, name of seller, description, picture, seller logo and other
information that will be offered to broadcasters for inclusion in their HD
Radio broadcasts.
http://www.yes.net
http://www.ibiquity.com
(Chatham, N.J.) Fictionwise, a large independent online e-book retailer,
announced on Wednesday that it sold 165,000 units in 2002, more than
doubling its revenue from 2001. The site also said its Fictionwise 2002
eBook Author of the Year was Lois McMaster Bujold, whose science fiction
novel "The Vor Game" won the title eBook of the Year.
http://www.fictionwise.com/2002.htm
(Denver) On Command, a provider of video-on-demand systems to hoteliers,
announced on Wednesday the top performing films in its 890,000 equipped
guest rooms for 2002. The top five On Command video-on-demand titles in
2002 were: "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Ocean's
Eleven," "Shallow Hal," "Spider-Man" and "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030107/latu086_1.html
http://www.oncommand.com
(San Diego) Consumer electronics firm E.Digital on Wednesday announced a
new 20 GB, USB 2.0 portable digital music player, the Odyssey 1000. The
$349 device, which also features an FM radio, voice recorder and voice
recognition navigation, is scheduled to begin shipping to consumers on
Feb. 15.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030108/80117_1.html
http://www.edigital-store.com/odyssey1000.html
(Milpitas, Calif.) Semiconductor firm Sigma Designs announced on Wednesday
its first MPEG-4, high-definition television (HDTV) chips, the company's
first entry into the digital TV and media gateway markets. The chips may
be utilized by manufacturers of devices such as digital TVs, DVD players,
and set-top boxes used to deliver video-on-demand and personal video
recording features.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030108/80129_1.html
http://www.sigmadesigns.com
(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a developer of audio and video copy
protection and rights management technologies, announced on Wednesday that
it appointed Steven Weinstein as chief technology officer. Weinstein was
most recently CTO at Vicinity, a provider of location-based services; he
was also a founder of Backstage Pass, a business focused on digital
identities and online communities for major music talent.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030108/80192_1.html
http://www.macrovision.com
(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Wednesday reported on how differing
copyright terms in Europe and Canada could provide a haven for
peer-to-peer music file-sharing services, where songs whose copyrights
have expired in the regions are traded. Both Europe and Canada feature
50-year protections for sound recordings, while the U.S. has over the
years increased that length to 95 years. "There are some implications for
enforcement, creating an additional wrinkle," Neil Turkewitz, the
Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) executive vice
president for international affairs, told News.com. "But it doesn't affect
the legality of a U.S. user accessing a foreign hard drive and downloading
a file."
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-979532.html?tag=cd_mh
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