archives

o FTC, Justice Dept. to Change Roles for Review of Media Mergers
o KaZaa Stops Distributing File-Sharing Software Pending Dutch Court Ruling
o Midbar Claims Solution to Playability Problems with CD Copy-Protection
o Texan Accused in DeCSS Case Argues Against California Trial
o AT&T Distributing OpenTV Interactive TV to Cable TV Affiliates
o NewspaperDirect Raises $5 Million in Third Round
o C-3D Digital Gets Commitment for $12 Million in Financing
o Briefly Noted: Pace Micro Technology, Vitaminic - ICrunch, RichFX,
File-sharing services - pirated TV shows, Copy Protection Working Group -
TV anti-piracy
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o FTC, Justice Dept. to Change Roles for Review of Media Mergers

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department
of Justice were expected to announce on Thursday changes to their
traditionally shared role of reviewing mergers between entertainment,
media and telecommunications companies. The two departments cancelled a
planned press conference to discuss the changes, although several outlets
published reports detailing the proposed announcement. Under the new plan,
the FTC will relinquish its role of overseeing antitrust matters relating
to these mergers to the Justice Department, in exchange for gaining
oversight of mergers relating to computer hardware, biotechnology,
healthcare, energy and electricity. An FTC spokeswoman told the Wall
Street Journal that the new structure "is going to increase the
effectiveness, efficiency and cooperation of the nation's two antitrust
enforcement agencies." Some consumer advocates argued that the changes
will have negative results for consumers. "This smells of a political move
to reduce antitrust scrutiny of media and content industries at the same
time the Bush administration is moving to relax media ownership
requirements," Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union told the Journal.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/01/ftcdojma.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59389-2002Jan17.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/689456.asp?cp1=1
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173727.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8515159.html?tag=mn_hd
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o KaZaa Stops Distributing File-Sharing Software Pending Dutch Court Ruling

Amsterdam -- KaZaa, a company that provides a popular file-sharing
software program of the same name, has voluntarily suspended distribution
of its file-sharing software until a Dutch judge rules in a copyright
infringement case involving the company on Jan. 31. Netherlands-based
KaZaa was sued for copyright infringement by Dutch performing rights
organization Buma/Sterma, and was ordered by a court to stop the
unauthorized trading of copyrighted files on its service. The company also
faces a lawsuit filed by U.S. movie studios. However, since the KaZaa
software can work independently of the company, those who have already
downloaded the file-sharing software will continue to be able to use it
normally. Additionally, since KaZaa users can trade any form of file, the
KaZaa file-sharing software installer itself can be traded among users on
the KaZaa network, or other services like Morpheus, BearShare or LimeWire.
The KaZaa company website reports that over 1 million people downloaded
the software last week alone.
http://www.kazaa.com/en/download.htm
_____________________________________________

o Midbar Claims Solution to Playability Problems with CD Copy-Protection

Tel Aviv, Israel -- Midbar Tech, a developer of CD copy-protection
software, announced on Thursday that it has updated its product to resolve
"all known issues of playability encountered to date." Nearly 8 million
CDs using Tel Aviv-based Midbar's technology have been released
commercially in the U.S. and Europe, but many consumers have complained
that the CDs will not play on devices such as Mac computers, car stereo CD
players, DVD players and game consoles. Midbar says that after conducting
tests in conjunction with the major recording companies, its CDs will now
play in "nearly 100 percent" of all CD players, portable car stereos,
portable CD devices, DVDs, PCs and professional audio systems. Midbar also
announced plans for a version of its copy-protection software that will
allow for "the download of content to a hard drive and portable devices
and subsequent playback in a secure environment."
http://www.midbartech.com/pr/20012002.html
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o Texan Accused in DeCSS Case Argues Against California Trial

San Francisco -- A Texas resident charged with disclosing trade secrets of
the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) on Thursday filed a formal
petition with the California Supreme Court, asking for a ruling saying
that he should not have to stand trial in the state of California. Matthew
Pavlovich is being charged with distributing DeCSS, a computer code that
can break the DVD CCA's security technology that prevents DVDs from being
copied onto a computer. Pavlovich published the code on the Internet in a
discussion forum from his Texas residence, and was subsequently sued in
the state of California by the DVD CCA. Lower courts have ruled that
Pavlovich must travel to California to defend himself. "The lower court's
ruling means that a person would be subject to jurisdiction everywhere the
Internet reaches," said Allonn Levy, who represents Pavlovich. "It means
that movie industry moguls can drag web publishers from anywhere in the
world to defend themselves here in California." "Courts have uniformly
held that simply publishing something on the Internet is not sufficient to
hold jurisdiction worldwide," said attorney Robin Gross of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, which is defending Pavlovich. "Without the proper
application of constitutional safeguards, the Internet will become a
liability minefield for users."
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20020115_eff_pr.html
http://www.dvdcca.org
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o AT&T Distributing OpenTV Interactive TV to Cable TV Affiliates

Mountain View, Calif. -- OpenTV, a developer of operating system software
for interactive TV set-top boxes, said on Thursday that AT&T will
distribute OpenTV's software that enables interactive TV along with games
and other content from Static 2358 to its cable TV operator affiliates.
AT&T's Headend In The Sky (HITS) subsidiary delivers digitally compressed
TV programming signals to cable operators around the United States, to
over 275 affiliated cable operators. The service, which includes TV games
developed by London-based PlayJam, will be available for cable TV
providers to offer their customers with Motorola DCT-2000 set-top boxes
once testing has been completed.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020117/170101_1.html
http://www.opentv.com
http://www.hits.com
http://www.playjam.co.uk
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o NewspaperDirect Raises $5 Million in Third Round

New York -- NewspaperDirect, an international service that provides
print-on-demand local newspapers for travelers, announced that it has
raised $5 million in its third round of venture capital financing. New
investor United Venture Capital, Ltd. led the investment round; previous
investors including Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings, also
participated. New York-based NewspaperDirect provides current editions of
more than 90 newspapers for business travelers and those out of their home
market. The company will publish out-of-market newspapers for travelers to
the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, as well as in Japan and Korea
for the 2002 World Cup. NewspaperDirect will use the funds to continue
expansion of its network around the world.
http://www.newspaperdirect.com/view_pr.asp
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o C-3D Digital Gets Commitment for $12 Million in Financing

Universal City, Calif. -- C-3D Digital, a holding company that has
interests in cable TV, lodging entertainment, virtual reality
entertainment and broadband services, announced on Thursday that it has
reached an agreement with a private investment fund for an equity
financing facility of up to $12 million over the next 36 months. C-3D
Digital develops 3D virtual reality entertainment products for TV, using a
process that converts 2D images to 3D in real-time, without the need for
special glasses for viewing. The company will use the funds for sales and
marketing efforts, as well as for working capital and other general
corporate purposes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020117/170088_1.html
http://www.c3ddigital.com
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Larta Panel Session -- Jan. 24 @ USC
"Digital Cinema: Hollywood's Emerging Challenge"

Speakers for this discussion at The Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital
Arts at USC will include Dean Elizabeth Daley of the USC School of Cinema
and Television, Bob Dowling, Publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, Ken
Williams, President, Technicolor Digital Cinema, Michael Karagosian,
Digital Cinema Consultant and other leading executives.

For more information:
http://www.larta.org/Research/HollywoodUnstrung.asp

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o Briefly Noted:

(West Yorkshire, England) Pace Micro Technology, a developer of digital
television and set-top box technologies, announced on Thursday the release
of a self-installed digital TV adapter that will allow analog TV owners to
receive digital TV signals. In the U.K., broadcasters such as the BBC have
launched digital TV channels that are available for free, without having
to subscribe to a satellite TV or digital cable service. Pace's $142
digital TV adapter will become available on March 30th.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220172289&ticker=pic.l
http://www.pace.co.uk/

(Milan, Italy) Vitaminic, an international network of sites that sell
digital music, announced that it has signed a distribution deal with Music
Choice, owner of U.K.-based authorized MP3 download site ICrunch. Under
the terms of the deal, ICrunch will provide 8,000 tracks from its catalog
of over 30 independent dance and indie U.K. labels to Vitaminic, which
will in turn promote the tracks both as individual paid downloads and in
conjunction with its subscription service. ICrunch's library includes
tracks from artists such as Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Howie B and Groove
Armada.
http://www.vitaminic.com
http://www.icrunch.com

(New York) RichFX, a developer of 3D video graphics technology, announced
that Johann Butting has been named as its new CEO. Butting recently
stepped down from his position as CEO of Bertelsmann subsidiary Digital
World Services, a provider of digital rights management services, to join
New York-based RichFX. Butting replaces company co-founder Tal Kerret in
the role; Kerret will now head business development.
http://www.richfx.com

(New York) The New York Times on Thursday reported on the availability of
pirated video on the Internet, and how advances such as more widely
available TV tuner cards for PCs are contributing to the amount of
copyrighted material available on file-sharing services like Morpheus and
LimeWire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/17/technology/circuits/17VIDE.html

(San Francisco) CNET reported on Friday on Hollywood's steps to develop
anti-copying technology for television broadcasts, which are being
overseen by an inter-industry group known as the Copy Protection Working
Group. The group's latest effort is to create digital tags that would be
inserted into broadcasted TV programs to prevent them from being
distributed online.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8516912.html?tag=cd_pr
http://www.cptwg.org
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