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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 10, 2002
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o Napster Previews Service, Inks Deals with Counterpoint, Portal Software
o Norwegian Teen Indicted for Role in Creating DVD-Cracking Code
o TiVo Raises $14 Million Through Stock Sale, Debuts New Video Recorder
o Copyright Office Rejects Royalty Rate Deal for Radio Station Webcasts
o Forrester Research Lays Off 22% of Staff Amid Technology Downturn
o Distributed Computing File Delivery Firm EverNet Raises $2.35 Million
o Northern Light Ending Free Search Engine Service
o Briefly Noted: Blockbuster - Radio Shack, NBA - ACTV - Liberty Livewire,
Vitaminic - Comverse - Dutchtone Mobile Music Services, InterTrust -
Sanyo, Muze - Imerge, Orient Power - Sigma Designs, Screaming Media,
Sundance - digital filmmaking, The Recordable DVD Council vs. the DVD+RW
Alliance, The Future of Music
_____________________________________________

o Napster Previews Service, Inks Deals with Counterpoint, Portal Software

Redwood City, Calif. -- Napster on Thursday unveiled a private beta test
of its secure, peer-to-peer file-sharing service, offering a free sample
from a limited library of around 110,000 songs from independent label
artists. The company announced that it will use rights and royalty
administration software from London-based Counterpoint Systems to track
song trading on the new service so that royalties can be accurately
calculated and artists and record labels paid. Customer management and
billing software for the service will be provided by Cupertino,
Calif.-based Portal Software. No firm pricing has yet been set, but
Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers said that users will pay between $5 and $10 a
month for 50 song downloads. Users will then own the downloads, unlike
MusicNet or Pressplay, where songs become unavailable when a subscription
lapses -- although a new secure file format will prevent them from being
played on a PC outside of the Napster media player. There will also be a
degree of portability, with users able to burn CDs and transfer music to
portable devices. Napster will distribute songs from independent labels as
well as the MusicNet service, and is still negotiating with other record
labels to include their music on the new service, but the company still
faces copyright infringement lawsuits brought by the labels that could see
damages in the billions of dollars. Hilbers said he believes that the
suits will be settled by the end of the first quarter and the labels will
then license their songs to Napster.
http://www.counterp.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020110/100010_1.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8424479.html?tag=tp_pr
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,49624,00.html
http://www.portal.com
_____________________________________________

o Norwegian Teen Indicted for Role in Creating DVD-Cracking Code

London -- Norwegian authorities have indicted 18-year-old hacker Jon
Johansen for his role in creating DeCSS, a computer code that can crack
the security technology on DVD discs, Wired News reported on Thursday.
Johansen is charged with "violating a computer security system," and could
face up to two years in prison if he is convicted and found to have had
financial motivation for developing the code. The Norwegian teenager
testified in the Motion Picture Association of America's lawsuit against
hacker publication 2600, which distributed the code on its website and was
charged with circumventing copyright protection on digital media under the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In that New York trial, Johansen
testified that he along with two other programmers indeed created DeCSS.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,49638,00.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23633.html
_____________________________________________

o TiVo Raises $14 Million Through Stock Sale, Debuts New Video Recorder

San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a manufacturer of personal video recorder
devices, announced on Thursday that it has raised $14 million through the
sale of 2,147,239 shares of its stock to Acqua Wellington North American
Equities Fund. "The proceeds from this transaction further bolster our
capital resources and provide for additional flexibility in achieving our
goal of cash flow breakeven by the end of our next fiscal year," said TiVo
CFO David Courtney. The company also released a new 60-hour capacity, $399
personal video recorder that will be able to offer new services such as
digital music, video party games, video-on-demand and digital pictures
services by the end of the year. TiVo subscribers with the new device will
have access to digital music through RealNetworks' RealOne subscription
service. Chicago-based PC game developer Jellyvision will work with TiVo
to develop video party games, while Los Altos, Calif.-based Radiance
Technologies will integrate its content delivery management software into
the new TiVo and develop an Internet video-on-demand system. San
Jose-based TiVo also previewed a digital photo feature that will let users
upload their digital pictures to the device as well as order prints.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020110/sfth031_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020108/sftu098_1.html
http://www.jellyvision.com
http://www.radiance.com
_____________________________________________

o Copyright Office Rejects Royalty Rate Deal for Radio Station Webcasts

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Copyright Office has rejected a deal
submitted by radio broadcasting firms and record labels that would have
set royalty rates that radio stations would pay labels when they simulcast
their on-air signals over the Internet. The Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) and radio groups including Clear Channel signed the
agreement in December, requesting that the issue be removed from a
Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) and the terms of their private
agreement remain confidential. The current CARP is scheduled to set
royalty rates for webcasting by March. Radio stations are not required to
pay labels to play music over the airwaves, but it was determined that
they should be compelled to pay royalties alongside other non-radio
affiliated webcasters when they broadcast songs online.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright
_____________________________________________

o Forrester Research Lays Off 22% of Staff Amid Technology Downturn

Cambridge, Mass. -- Internet analyst firm Forrester Research announced on
Thursday that it will lay off 126 employees, or 22 percent of its staff,
citing the economic downturn and sustained weakness in the technology
sector it covers. Massachusetts-based Forrseter will take a charge of
between $4 million and $6 million to account for the reorganization, but
expects the move to bring annual savings of $18 million to $20 million.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020110/102132_1.html
http://www.forrester.com
_____________________________________________

o Distributed Computing File Delivery Firm EverNet Raises $2.35 Million

San Leandro, Calif. -- EverNet Systems, a provider of cost-effective
online delivery of bandwidth-intensive files, announced on Thursday that
it has raised $550,000 in the final stage of its seed financing round,
bringing the total amount raised by the company to $2.35 million.
Investors in the round included Individual Venture Fund, AlphaCap
Ventures, Charcoal Ventures and Orton Industries. EverNet uses the
processing power of distributed, networked desktop computers to deliver
portions of the requested file from multiple users on the network nearest whomever has requested the file. The company currently provides its services to companies including Filmspeed, a syndicator of downloadable Hollywood film content. San
Leandro-based EverNet will use the funds to accelerate customer
acquisition and product development efforts, and to expand its management
team.
http://www.evernet.com/abtPress.asp#main
http://www.evernet.com/abtPress.asp
_____________________________________________

o Northern Light Ending Free Search Engine Service

Cambrdige, Mass. -- Northern Light Technology, a provider of search engine
services, announced that on Jan. 16 it will end its free search engine
service for consumers in favor of developing its paid service for business
customers. The company will continue to offer its online business library
of 70 million pages from 7,100 sources, as well as customized search
engine services to corporate clients. "The business model for free,
advertising-supported, public Web search has not been developing for us,"
said Northern Light CEO David Seuss. "We made a strategic decision to
discontinue free public access to our Web search in order to focus
resources and investment on those parts of our business that are growing
rapidly."
http://www.northernlight.com/docs/busfoc_press.html
_____________________________________________

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Interactive TV Roadshow
Jan 22nd - 26th 2002 -- NYC, Calif.

Virtual Media Partners LLC has drawn on its extensive Interactive TV
experience in the USA and Europe to design this broad based introduction
to the amazing potential of Enhanced Interactive Television - "The 4th
Dimension". A unique concept held from coast to coast on five separate
days. Contact: yaqub@virtualmediapartners.com

Info/to register:
http://www.virtualmediapartners.com/trainingevent.htm

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_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Dallas) Video rental chain Blockbuster announced on Thursday that it has
ended its trial program with Radio Shack to sell the company's consumer
electronics products in its stores. Dallas-based Blockbuster said the
Radio Shack mini-stores carried more products than its customers wanted or
required. Blockbuster, which has also distributed products for companies
such as satellite TV firm DirecTV, will now develop its own home
entertainment device offering for its stores.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020109/daw024_1.html

(New York) NBA Entertainment has partnered with cable TV networks TNT and
TBS to offer a real-time interactive fantasy basketball game that will be
based on games through April 17. Produced by interactive TV developers
ACTV and Liberty Livewire, the online game will be a variation of the
typical fantasy basketball format, and will also ask contestants to make
game predictions based on the live game, like who will be the winning
team, what the final score will be and an additional "Stat Trak" question,
which will be announced on-air. Prizes include a trip to All-Star Weekend,
and a seat as an honorary judge for the Slam Dunk Contest.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020109/nyw083_1.html
http://www.nba.com

(Milan) Vitaminic, an international network of websites that offer music
from independent artists, announced that it will provide content for a
wireless streaming music service delivered by Massachusetts-based Comverse
to wireless network Orange's 1.2 million subscribers. Milan-based
Vitaminic will serve as exclusive content manager for Dutchtone Mobile
Music Services, the subsidiary of Orange that will offer the service,
which in addition to streaming whole songs will let users send song
snippets along with a personalized voice message to other Orange
subscribers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020109/sfw072_1.html
http://www.vitaminic.com
http://www.comverse.com

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Digital rights management technology provider
InterTrust announced that device maker Sanyo has licensed its RightsSystem
technology for use in Sanyo's Digital Memory portable digital audio
player. Santa Clara-based InterTrust also provides its technology, which
prevents unauthorized copying of music and other media, to similar
products developed by Compaq.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020109/sfw062_1.html
http://www.intertrust.com
http://store.sanyousa.com/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/27

(New York) Muze, a provider of informational databases on music, movies,
video games and books, announced that European consumer electronics
software provider Imerge will integrate Muze music content into its XiVA
media appliance software. Imerge will include Muze U.S. and Muze U.K.
music data on its XiVA-Net Web portal, as well as onto its S1000 digital
audio player. New York-based Muze's data will also be available to
manufacturers that license Imerge's XiVA software.
http://www.muze.com
http://www.xiva.com

(Las Vegas) Orient Power, a Hong Kong-based developer of consumer
electronics, previewed its new digital home entertainment device at the
Consumer Electronics Show. The Orbitron Bluebird will feature a TV, DVD
player, sound system and either dialup or broadband Internet connection
for Web browsing and email. The device will utilize Milpitas, Calif.-based
Sigma Designs' MPEG-4 decoder chip. Orient Power said the device will
begin shipments from its manufacturing partners in the second quarter, but
did not offer pricing information.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020109/92238_1.html
http://www.oritron.com
http://www.sigmadesigns.com

(New York) ScreamingMedia, a provider of content syndication services to
websites, announced on Thursday that it has appointed Kirk Loevner as
president and CEO. Formerly an executive at both Apple and Silicon
Graphics, Loevner replaces Kevin Clark, who will remain with the company
as its chairman.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020110/nyth021_1.html
http://www.screamingmedia.com

(San Francisco) Wired News featured an article on Thursday on how digital
filmmaking will not be as much of a hot topic at this year's Sundance Film
Festival, largely because it has already been embraced as a viable medium
by filmmakers. More than a third of the 200 films playing at the festival
this year were either shot on digital or will be digitally projected.
"When the digital filmmaking revolution reached its peak, we heard a lot
about the first digital film from Poland, or the first one transmitted by
satellite," Res Media Group editorial director Jonathan Wells told Wired
News. "It wasn't about quality, it was about being first. Luckily, we are
past that phase. The question now is, 'Is the film any good?'"
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,49572,00.htmlc
http://www.sundance.org/jsps/site.jsp?resource=pag_ff02_digitalcenter&sk=aivBPz2dKOGqfRhM

(San Francisco) CNET reported on Thursday on the two rival groups
competing to set the technology standard for recordable DVDs. The DVD+RW
Alliance endorses the DVD+RW format and is supported by manufacturers of
drives including Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony. The Recordable DVD
Council promotes the DVD-RW format endorsed by the DVD Forum, whose
members include Hitachi, Panasonic and Pioneer.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8433745.html?tag=mn_hd

(Washington, D.C.) A number of publications have run feature articles on
the Future of Music Policy Summit that took place this week in Washington,
D.C., focusing on issues that emerged from the conference that will shape
the future of music as digital distribution becomes more prevalent. They
are provided through the links below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22972-2002Jan9.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/10/arts/music/10CONF.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8410570.html?tag=ch_mh
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,49520,00.html
______________________

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Alliance, provides the entrepreneur with the "toolbox" you need to help
grow your company. Through a series of interactive workshops, our "guides"
help you turn your inspired ideas into sustainable advantage.

Attacking the Market: Marketing and Selling Your Product
Jan. 16 - Irvine | Jan. 17 - Santa Monica

For more information/to enroll:
http://www.larta.org/LartaU/Workshops.htm
______________________

> Digital Media Wire Directory Launched

Digital Media Wire just launched the Digital Media Directory, an online
directory and RFP engine that facilitates the search and negotiation
process between buyers and sellers.

Register as a provider in the Digital Media Directory at
http://digitalmediawire.newmediary.com/dmw111301nl
______________________

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http://www.digitalmediawire.com

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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire