archives

o AOL Time Warner Merger Approved by FCC
o DiamondBack Vision Raises $7.5 Million in Second Round
o EMusic.com Lays Off 36% of Staff, Closes a New York Office
o Sci-Fi Site Fandom Lays Off 20% of Employees
o Dave Matthews Band First Trial of Napster-Bertelsmann Partnership
o eMotion Lays Off 50 Employees As Merger Spree Completed
o NBCi, iClips Partner to Offer Users Personal Video Streaming
> Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observance: Next Edition -- Tuesday, Jan. 16
o Briefly Noted: Uproar, PacketVideo - Bell Mobility, Elmore Leonard -
Contentville, "Toon In, Turn On"
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> Job Postings: Account Executive, Sr. Copywriter, Account Executive/Sr.
Account Executive, SW & FPGA Engineers, Market Technology Manager, Account Manager

> Events: iHollywood Forum

Full Job/Event descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section or at
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html 

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html 
To Post an Event: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html 
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o AOL Time Warner Merger Approved by FCC

Washington -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the
$103 billion merger of America Online and Time Warner Thursday night,
effectively creating the new company AOL Time Warner. The deal, the
largest merger in U.S. history, closed one day after the one-year
anniversary of its first announcement. America Online's shareholders own
approximately 55% of the new company and Time Warner's shareholders own
approximately 45%. The merged company began trading on the New York Stock
Exchange on Friday under the ticker symbol AOL. The FCC's conditional
approval put stipulations on instant messaging that included prohibiting
the company from offering video messaging unless it opens up the service
to at least one rival company. No stipulations were put on interactive
television, although the FCC said it will conduct an inquiry to look into
ways to ensure competition. The deal merges AOL's 26 million Internet
subscribers with Time Warner's vast media holdings that include Time,
Warner Brothers, CNN, Home Box Office, Warner Films and Turner
Broadcasting.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010111/ny_aol_tim.html 
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o DiamondBack Vision Raises $7.5 Million in Second Round

Reston, Va. -- DiamondBack Vision, a developer of streaming media
technology for dial-up Internet users, announced on Friday the closing of
$7.5 million in its second round of funding. Updata Venture Partners led
the investment round; Draper Richards, the e-Media Club, and the
Washington Dinner Club also contributed. DiamondBack has developed
technology that improves the quality of streaming video for individuals
using dial-up Internet connections. "DiamondBack is breaking down the
technical barriers to quality streaming video to those with less than
broadband connections," said Bob Douglass, CEO of DiamondBack Vision. The
company raised $5 million in its first round, which was led by Novak
Biddle Venture Partners.
http://www.objectvideo.com/ 
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o EMusic.com Lays Off 36% of Staff, Closes a New York Office

Redwood City, Calif. -- EMusic.com, an online retailer of downloadable
music, announced on Friday that it will lay off 66 employees -- or 36
percent of its staff -- across all departments. The layoffs come as part
of a restructuring effort that the company says will cut expenses by over
$16 million in 2001. The company will also close one of its two New York
offices. "We have taken today's actions in order to withstand the combined
effect of widespread illegal distribution of digital music and the
significant market decline for Internet advertising," said Gene Hoffman,
EMusic's president and CEO. Redwood City-based EMusic.com sells music
downloads from a large number of independent labels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010112/ca_emusic_.html 
http://www.emusic.com 
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o Sci-Fi Site Fandom Lays Off 20% of Employees

Santa Monica -- Fandom.com, a science fiction and fantasy genre
entertainment site, announced on Friday that it will lay off 20 percent of
its staff. The company cited redundancies created as a result of recent
acquisitions as reason for the layoffs. In November, Santa Monica-based
Fandom acquired Cinescape, which publishes a magazine about science
fiction in film, television and new media. The company also recently
acquired Creation Entertainment, which produces sci-fi conventions and
associated merchandise. "An unfortunate but necessary consequence of our
growth model is the streamlining and consolidation of our business units
across the Fandom network of businesses," said CEO Mark Young.
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o Dave Matthews Band First Evidence of Napster-Bertelsmann Partnership

Redwood City, Calif. -- Napster Inc. announced on Friday that it will
promote its first major label artist -- the Dave Matthews Band -- on its
music file-sharing service. The band's label is RCA Music Group, a part of
Bertelsmann-owned BMG Entertainment. "I Did It," a song from the band's
new album scheduled for release February 27, will be posted on Napster by
the label and promoted on the first screen a user sees when launching
Napster's file-sharing software. A spokesman for the band told Inside.com
that the song has already appeared on Napster, a result of someone
recording it off of terrestrial radio and uploading a poor-quality version
of the song in MP3 format. The promotion hopes to spread news of the
album's release to Napster's 40 million users.
http://artist.napster.com/ 
http://www.inside.com/matthews.html 
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o eMotion Lays Off 50 Employees As Merger Spree Completed

Vienna, Va. -- eMotion Inc., a developer of digital media management
software, said on Friday that it is cutting "redundant general and
administrative personnel" in several locations, including 21 positions in
its Vienna headquarters. Cynthia Francis, chief marketing officer at
eMotion, said the company cut 50 of 225 positions within the company -- or
about 22 percent of the workforce. eMotion said the cuts were part of the
company's integration of the four companies it acquired or merged with in
2000. eMotion was created last January with the merger of Cinebase
Software and PNI Ltd., a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak. The company went on
to buy Footage.net, a network of stock video footage sites. The company,
which also has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Silicon Valley and
Chicago, also owns PictureQuest, a collection of royalty-free stock
photography. The company plans to relaunch its website next week. In 2000,
eMotion raised more than $39 million from financial and strategic
investors.
http://www.emotion.com/news/index.htm 
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o NBCi, iClips Partner to Offer Users Personal Video Streaming

New York -- NBC's new media unit NBCi announced that it has partnered with
iClips, a provider of streaming video instant messaging services, to
enable NBCi members to send personal streaming video content to one
another through email as well as post them on a website. The service will
be free to registered members at the NBCi website. Users will be able to
upload home videos to their computer, and then use software developed by
New York-based iClips to automatically encode the video and format it for
streaming. The company said that its technology even works for users with
dial-up Internet connections, because the video is streamed, and does not
require a great amount of bandwidth. Users with high-speed access will
simply receive higher-quality video feeds.
http://www.iclipsinc.com/press/01112001_pressrelease.html 
http://www.nbci.com 
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> Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observance: Next Edition -- Tuesday, Jan. 16

Digital Media Wire will not publish on Monday, January 15 in observance of
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The next edition will be published on
Tuesday, January 16.
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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Uproar, an online games site, announced that it has closed its
prediction games site Ibetcha.com. New York-based Uproar's CEO Kenneth D.
Cron said that the site was "not growing top line revenues in a manner
consistent with our current business plans." Uproar operates advertising
supported entertainment sites including Uproar.com, Internet lottery site
Iwin.com and humor site Amused.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010111/ny_uproar_.html 
http://www.uproar.com 

(San Diego) PacketVideo, a developer of wireless streaming video
technology, announced that it has partnered with wireless provider Bell
Mobility to launch a market trial of its service in Canada. The trial will
occur in the first half of 2001. On Monday, San Diego-based PacketVideo
received a multi-million dollar investment from Motorola to fund the
development of its wireless streaming video technology.
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/010111/bell_mobil.html 
http://www.packetvideo.com/press/pr01082001.htm 
http://www.bellmobility.ca 

(New York) Suspense writer Elmore Leonard announced that his next title
will be published as an e-book on media site Contentville, the Associated
Press reported. The author of "Get Shorty" will release his new work "Fire
in the Hole" on Jan. 17 for $7 on the site. "I don't feel that writing an
e-book is at all different than writing a story for publication, apart
from the fact that I won't be able to read it -- at least not in my home
-- since I don't own a computer," Leonard said in a statement.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-4450612.html 
http://www.contentville.com 

(San Francisco) Streamingmedia.com is currently running a feature entitled
"Toon In, Turn On" about the growth of animation on the Internet. The
release of Macromedia's Flash software -- which allows cartoons to move at
more natural speed and in smaller file sizes than can currently be
supported for live-action video online -- is seen as instrumental in the
medium's evolution. The article mentions current web animators including
John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren and Stimpy; poster artist Frank Kozik and
George Evelyn of online studio WildBrain.
http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=6720 

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Job Postings:
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html 

> Directrix, Account Executive - Los Angeles

Identify and acquire new customers in the Content Provider and .com space.
Digital asset service provider seeks aggressive sales person with content
distribution network knowledge to expand new area of business: primarily
the Adult web site area. Must work independently to exceed revenue
targets. Identify opps., cold call and close target prospects. BA/BS
preferred with 5+ years successful, quota carrying, direct high-tech sales
experience. Solution and/or Value Selling training preferred.
Send resumes to
lmoutal@directrix.com
http://www.directrix.com
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> FCB Interactive, Sr. Copywriter - Web - New York City

Understand business needs and translate them into artistic solutions,
which are consistent with the brand goals and deliver superior value to
the customer. Work with Art Director to develop concepts and then execute
all copy treatments. Oversee all copy of freelance writers. Present the
work to the client along with the Creative Director. Must be able to
think visually as well as verbally and work with little supervision. Send
resumes to KPicariello@fcb.com (attn: KP-Sr. Copy).
http://www.fcb.com
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> GCI Group, Account Executive/Senior Account Executive - Los Angeles

GCI Group, a leading, global public relations firm, has a great
opportunity to work in our Los Angeles office as a member of the Consumer
Technology team. We are currently seeking an Account Executive and Senior
Account Executive with 2 to 3 years experience in public relations.
Excellent written and communication skills a must. Send resume, cover
letter and salary requirements to Jeri Gardner: jgardner@gcigroup.com
http://www.gcigroup.com
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> Convergent Companies, Inc., SW & FPGA Engineers - Greenbelt, MD

We are developing break-through video compression technologies for the
Internet and are looking for FPGA and Software engineers with 1-8 yrs
experience. BSEE/CS familiarity with C++, image processing, object
programming. FPGA position, exp FPGA programming, DSP architectures esp
w/Xilinx. Check out Employment section of our website for details.
Send resumes to jobs@convergentcompanies.com
http://www.convergentcompanies.com
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> Cambridge Technology Partners, Market Technology Manager - Los Angeles

If you're an experienced, team-oriented technical architect who has a
passion for providing leadership and mentorship to a talented technical
community, ensuring high quality project delivery and supporting business
development efforts, please send us your resume. Broad technical delivery
experience including client/server and Web architectures is required.
Send resumes to Joe Young: jyoung03@ctp.com
http://www.ctp.com
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> pogo.com, Account Manager - Internet Sales - San Francisco

You will be selling Internet advertising and sponsorships on the company's
network of 13 family entertainment websites. Must be creative, motivated
and organized individual who loves to prospect and build long-lasting
business relationships. This position will be responsible for agency and
direct advertiser accounts. Must have 1 to 3 years interactive
advertising sales experience, with 1 to 5 years of other media sales
experience a plus. Send resume and cover letter to resumes@pogo.com
http://www.pogo.com

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Event Postings:
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To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> iHollywood Forum: How Adult Entertainment Profits From the Internet

Whatever one's attitude toward adult entertainment, one fact is
undeniable: it's the only segment of the entertainment industry that
consistently makes money on the Internet. Panelists include: Larry Flynt,
Publisher of Hustler Magazine; Gail Harris, CEO and President of Falcon
Foto; David Schlesinger, Vice President of Internet Marketing at Vivid
Video; Fred Lane, Author of "Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of
Pornography in the Cyber Age" (Routledge 2000); Mike Rick, Co-founder of
Cybersynergism (Webmaster Superstore for Online Adult Entertainment) and
kSEXRadio.com. When: Wednesday January 17, 6:00 pm-10pm; Where: Santa
Monica Doubletree.
To Register: http://www.ihollywoodforum.com/new/events/jan17_2001.htm
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