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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 28, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Kazaa Sues Labels, Studios, Alleging Collusion and Copyright Misuse
o Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Hit Record $6.9 Billion in 2002
o Yahoo Settles Copyright Suit With Sony Music Over Launch.com Service
o EasyInternet Cafe Chain Guilty of Copyright Infringement
o National Recording Registry to Preserve Historical U.S. Sound Recordings
o Report: SuperBowl.com Drew Over 1 Million Surfers on Sunday
o Record Number of Britons Signing Up for Broadband
> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers
> Featured: I.D. Magazine, Game Developers Conference
o Briefly Noted: Lucasfilm, Gateway - digital video products, NDS -
Chinese digital TV, Agetec, Gigex - eBay, "AstroTurf" letters, Gibson Labs
- digital guitars, P2P users - individual copyright prosecutions?
_____________________________________________
> Events: Digital Music Forum: March 3 | NYC, Games & Mobile
Forum: April 28 | NYC, Global Media & Entertainment Summit
> Marketplace: UCLA Extension, 2000 Honda Accord, Entertainment &
Corporate Legal Services, Game Industry Report, iTV Chronicle,
Homeland Security Directory, Interest-Based Navigation
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o Kazaa Sues Labels, Studios, Alleging Collusion and Copyright Misuse
Los Angeles -- The owner of the Kazaa file-sharing service sued the
recording and motion picture industries in federal court on Monday,
accusing them of antitrust violations and colluding to deny licenses to
offer their popular songs and movies on its peer-to-peer network. Sharman
Networks, which recently lost a jurisdictional argument and will stand
trial in the U.S. on alleged copyright violations by its Kazaa service,
asked a judge to determine that the major record labels' and movie
studios' copyrights should be invalidated because of their misuse. The
accusations stem from meetings Sharman partner Brilliant Digital
Entertainment -- which runs the copyright-authorized Altnet file-sharing
service -- had with major record labels and movie studios in trying to
license content for its service. Napster also made similar arguments in
its legal wrangling with record labels, but the company declared Chapter
11 before the allegations of copyright misuse could ever be addressed in
court.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982344.html?tag=fd_top
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-kazaa28jan28001443,0,2705239.story?co
ll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology
http://story.news.yahoo.com/newstmpl=story&ncid=528&e=1&cid=528&u=/ap/2003
0128/ap_on_hi_te/internet_music_trial
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o Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Hit Record $6.9 Billion in 2002
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. video game sales grew 8 percent to a
record-breaking $6.9 billion in 2002, according to a report released on
Tuesday by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), a trade
group representing computer and video game software publishers. The
numbers, compiled by NPD Group, show that $5.5 billion was spent on
console games, while computer games accounted for $1.4 billion in sales.
Console games now account for 80 percent of the market, compared with 65
percent five years ago. A poll conducted by the IDSA and KRC Research
found that 41 percent of all Americans, and almost two-thirds of parents,
say they plan to purchase at least one game this year. "We believe that
2003 will be the peak year of the current hardware cycle, with software
sales surging at least 10 percent yet again, and perhaps considerably more
depending on other external factors," said IDSA president Douglas
Lowenstein.
http://www.idsa.com/1_27_2003.html
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o Yahoo Settles Copyright Suit With Sony Music Over Launch.com Service
Santa Monica, Calif. -- Yahoo announced that it has settled outstanding
copyright infringement litigation with Sony Music Entertainment, over the
use of Sony-owned songs on Yahoo subsidiary Launch.com's LAUNCHcast
service. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued Launch
in 2001, arguing that the LAUNCHcast streaming radio service offered
interactive features that required additional royalty payments to
copyright holders. Under the terms of the settlement, Yahoo will pay Sony
Music an undisclosed sum for prior use of the songs on the LAUNCHcast
service, and has also licensed Sony recordings for future use on the
service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030127/270605_1.html
http://launch.yahoo.com/launchcast/setup.asp
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o EasyInternet Cafe Chain Guilty of Copyright Infringement
London -- In another favorable ruling for the record industry, a British
judge on Tuesday found the popular EasyInternet Cafe chain guilty of
copyright violation for allowing its customers to download music from the
Internet and copy it onto CDs. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI),
which took the Internet chain to court last year, charging it with
copyright infringement, welcomed Tuesday's decision. Last week, a federal
court in the United States, in a closely watched case, required Verizon to
release the name of one of its customers who downloaded a large number of
copyrighted songs to the Recording Industry Association of America.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/introindex.html
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o National Recording Registry to Preserve Historical U.S. Sound Recordings
Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Library of Congress has announced the first
annual selection of recordings that will be placed in the newly created
National Recording Registry. Fifty recordings that are "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant" -- including Dr. Martin Luther
King's "I Have a Dream" speech, vintage music recordings of Louis
Armstrong, Woody Guthrie, George Gershwin and Bill Monroe, and Franklin D.
Roosevelt's "fireside chats" -- will be earmarked each year so that the
original recordings on their original media are preserved for future
generations. Digital versions of each recording will also be made
available on the Library's website. The effort stems from the fact that
many of the wax cylinders and other media on which these recordings were
made are physically deteriorating and will be ruined if not properly
preserved. "Much of CBS radio network is gone... Duke Ellington from
Cotton Club... clarinetist Artie Shaw with Billie Holiday -- it's a very
long and tragic list," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington told NPR.
NPR also reported on the often complex and contentious copyright issues
with music recordings that have prevented the Library of Congress from
releasing many of the works in its archive of 2.6 million sound recordings
to the public.
http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2003/03-014.html
http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_941847.html
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20030127.atc.16.ram
http://www.loc.gov/rr/record
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o Report: SuperBowl.com Drew Over 1 Million Surfers on Sunday
New York -- More than one million Web surfers visited SuperBowl.com on
Sunday, compared to a total of 900,000 visitors during last year's game
and 359,000 in 2001, according to digital media measurement firm
Nielsen//NetRatings. Traffic spiked during the fourth quarter of the game,
as fans were invited to vote on the game's Most Valuable Player. ESPN.com
-- the online partner of the game's broadcast network, ABC -- drew more
than 1.4 million visitors on Sunday. Additionally, Nielsen Media Research
reports that ABC's broadcast of the championship game scored a 40.7
rating, as 43.4 million households tuned in to make it the highest rated
Super Bowl telecast since 1999.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030128/sftu056_1.html
http://www.superbowl.com
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o Record Number of Britons Signing Up for Broadband
London -- Record numbers of British households and businesses are signing
up for broadband Internet services, according to Oftel, the country's
telecommunications regulator. Almost 30,000 subscribers a week are
switching to broadband, increasing the total number in the U.K. to more
than 1.4 million. About 42 percent of U.K. households are connected to the
Internet, either with a standard or broadband connection.
http://www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2003/pr03_03.htm
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December Law & Policy Report
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report (December)
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
CALL FOR ENTRIES!
I.D. MAGAZINE'S INTERACTIVE MEDIA DESIGN REVIEW
I.D. is accepting entries into the 2003 Interactive Media Design Review.
This competition spotlights the year's most innovative interactive designs
in 7 categories -- from CD-ROMs, DVDs, games and kiosks to software
installations, Web sites and experimental work. Send in your best work --
all winning projects will be featured in the November 2003 issue of I.D.
and posted on our Web site at the same time.
CONTACT: IDcompetitions@fwpubs.com
http://www.idonline.com/specialoffers.asp?DMWA
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March 4-8, 2003, San Jose, CA
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Briefly Noted:
(San Rafael, Calif.) Director George Lucas announced on Tuesday that he
will combine the diverse elements of his film, digital media production
and interactive games companies under one organization. The previously
autonomous Lucas Digital, LucasArts Entertainment, Lucas Licensing and
Lucasfilm Ltd. will now operate as divisions of Lucasfilm. While Lucas
will remain chairman and CEO of the company, Lucasfilm president Gordon
Radley will step down; chief financial officer Micheline Chau has been
named the company's new chief operating officer.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230280289&ticker=
http://www.lucasfilm.com
(Poway, Calif.) PC maker Gateway on Tuesday announced a new line of
products targeting amateur digital filmmakers, including new software
bundles from digital video editing software firm Pinnacle Systems. Gateway
will now include free basic video editing software with all
FireWire-equipped PCs and offer more advanced editing and visual effects
software packages; the company said it will also expand the line of
digital camcorders it offers in stores and offer free seminars on digital
filmmaking in its retail stores.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030128/latu037_1.html
http://www.gateway.com/digitalzone/video
http://gateway.com/home/deals/offers/video/freetour.shtml
(London) NDS, a provider of digital pay-TV and interactive services,
announced on Tuesday two new deals to provide digital TV services in
China. London-based NDS partnered with Guizhou Tianguang Cable Network Co.
Ltd. to provide digital TV in China's Guizhou Province, and with Chongqing
Broadcast and TV Network Transmission Co Ltd. to provide services in
Chongqing, China's fourth-largest city. NDS said its engineers in Beijing
are currently working on a Chinese-language electronic program guide for
the services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030128/282027_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030128/282032_1.html
http://www.nds.com
(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Game developer Agetec on Tuesday announced that its
"Color Quest" title for PlayStation 2 will be available in May 2003. The
title is part of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Agetec's Designer Series, and
gives players the ability to fully render and animate their own cast of
characters in the game, and then do battle with their creations.
http://www.agetec.com
(San Francisco) Gigex, a provider of streaming video game demos and other
marketing services, announced on Tuesday a partnership with online
auctioneer eBay. San Francisco-based Gigex's top 20 Xbox, PC, PlayStation
2 and other free game previews may now be accessed from Ebay's video game
category page.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030128/nytu076_1.html
http://pages.ebay.com/catindex/catvideogames.html
(New York) The New York Times recently reported on the growing use of
websites and e-mail lists by political action groups, and how some of the
"AstroTurf" online form letters they offer constituents wishing to write
to lawmakers or newspaper editors as part of "grass roots" campaigns are
being mistaken for personal correspondence. Some editors have printed such
form letters, not knowing that they aren't the genuine original words of a
concerned voter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/27/technology/27LETT.html
(Manhasset, N.Y.) EE Times recently reported on a new breed of digital
guitars that will soon be released by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Gibson Labs,
whose parent company makes the popular "Les Paul" line of guitars. Gibson
Labs' Magic digital network technology will let guitar players apply
unique digital effects to each string of the guitar and control remote
amps or other devices from the guitar's knobs. "A [musician like
progressive rock guitarist] Steve Vai may be interested, but someone like
[Rolling Stones lead guitarist] Keith Richards who has played the same
guitar for 20 years may not," said Gibson Labs' Andreas Schmidt.
http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20030124S0035
(San Francisco) CNET News.com recently reported on the growing likelihood
that individual file-swappers on peer-to-peer networks will be prosecuted
for copyright infringement, under the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act of
1997. The law provides penalties of up to $250,000 in fines and prison
terms of up to three years for uploading or downloading unauthorized
copyrighted files from such services. A group of lawmakers wrote Attorney
General John Ashcroft last July, asking him "to prosecute individuals who
intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer
neworks." Meanwhile, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who drafted the NET Act,
told News.com that he has "helped secure additional funding for the
Department of Justice to enforce the NET Act."
http://news.com.com/2010-1071-982121.html?tag=fd_nc_1
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CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
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Digital Media Wire Presents...
DIGITAL MUSIC FORUM
March 3, 2003 | New York City | 9:00AM - 7:00 PM
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events/MusicForum_030303.htm
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Audible.com (http://www.audible.com)
Digital Media Law Report (http://www.digitalmedialawreport.com)
Global Entertainment and Media Summit
(http://www.globalentertainmentnetwork.com)
Early bird registrations: $150 until January 31
February registrations: $200 until February 28
At the door: $250.
Pre-Register at: http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1024
_____________________________________________
Digital Media Wire Presents...Games & Mobile Forum
April 2003, New York City
Focusing on games and mobile entertainment opportunities and business
models. Panel topics will include "The Battle to Control the Living Room:
Is the Game Industry Winning?", "Mobile Games: Business Models & New
Opportunities", "Legal & Policy Issues Impacting the Game Industry &
Mobile Entertainment", and "Home Networking: Technology for Modern Living
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Door Tickets Price: $250. For Early Bird Specials, pre-register at:
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_____________________________________________
Global Entertainment & Media Summit, February 28 - March 2, New York City
The Global Entertainment and Media Summit returns to New York City for a
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Keynotes include Danny Goldberg, Dave Marsh, Lee Abrams of XM Satellite
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Details: http://www.globalentertainmentnetwork.com
Schedule: http://www.globalentertainmentnetwork.com/schedule.htm
Tickets: http://www.globalentertainmentnetwork.com/tickets.htm
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The definitive course on the intersection of entertainment and technology
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