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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 30, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o AOL Time Warner Sees $99 Billion Loss; Ted Turner Leaves as Vice Chairman
o Japanese Labels Win Copyright Judgment Against FileRogue P2P Service
o Electronic Arts Reports Record Earnings, Weak Sales for "The Sims Online"
o AOL Time Warner Sells Hughes Stake for $800 Million
o XM Satellite Radio Closes on $475 Million Financing Package
o Report: DVD Market Poised for Continued Strong Growth
o Taiwanese Broadband Entertainment Firm GigaMedia Gets Delisting Notice
> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers
> Featured: Game Developers Conference, Storage Services Summit
o Briefly Noted: TiVo - 20th Century Fox, Sega.com - Online Developer
Program, CinemaNow - Japanese distribution, TDK Mediactive - Ultimate
Fighting Championship, THQ - Sega - "Sonic Advance 2," Unemployed tech
journalists - eBay listing
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> 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
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
To post a Classified Ad:
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o AOL Time Warner Sees $99 Billion Loss; Ted Turner Leaves as Vice Chairman
Dulles, Va. -- Struggling media conglomerate AOL Time Warner reported on
Wednesday that, for the full year, the company posted a net loss of $98.7
billion -- reportedly the largest annual loss in U.S. corporate history.
The loss is attributed mainly to Internet service America Online, for
which the company posted a $45.5 billion writedown in the fourth quarter
alone. The news resulted in AOL Time Warner's stock plunging 13.9 percent
on Thursday. The company also announced that, following a rash of
management changes, CNN founder Ted Turner plans to step down as vice
chairman of the company in May. "It will allow him to devote more time to
his philanthropic and other interests," said AOL CEO Richard Parsons.
Turner merged his Atlanta-based media and sports company with Time Warner,
prior to the merger with AOL.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030129/292557_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030129/292513_1.html
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o Japanese Labels Win Copyright Judgment Against FileRogue P2P Service
Geneva -- The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
(IFPI), an international recording industry trade group, announced on
Thursday that The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) secured a
judgment against Japanese peer-to-peer service FileRogue. A Japanese court
ruled that FileRogue, operated by Japan MMO, violated RIAJ member label
copyrights and must pay damages, which will be determined at a later
hearing. The RIAJ and Japanese authors' society JASRAC initially sued
FileRogue in November 2001. "Today's ruling will significantly help in
preventing Japan from degenerating into a 'pirate paradise' in the
borderless world of the Internet," the RIAJ said in a statement. "Online
music piracy causes substantial damage to record companies, artists and
others in the music business," added IFPI general counsel Allen Dixon.
"The Japan MMO decision helps to get this point across, and is fully
consistent with the growing international consensus that putting other
people's music on the Internet is illegal."
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20030129a.html
http://www.riaj.or.jp/e
http://www.filerogue.net
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o Electronic Arts Reports Record Earnings, Weak Sales for "The Sims Online"
Redwood City, Calif. -- Video game developer Electronic Arts has reported
record earnings for its third quarter, which included the 2002 holiday
shopping season, posting net income of $250.22 million, or $1.69 a share,
compared with $132.29 million and 92 cents a share in its third quarter
last year. The company also revealed that it has signed up only 82,000
subscribers thus far for "The Sims Online," the online version of its
million-selling PC simulation game franchise, since its release on Dec.
17. EA had expected to sign up 200,000 for the $10 monthly game by the end
of March. "The level of content we'll have in this product by April, we'd
like to have had that at launch," Electronic Arts COO John Riccitiello
told analysts in a conference call. "We probably made an error in
expectations. We feel great about the intellectual property, and we
expected the transfer to an online model to be a quick hit in the
marketplace." Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts also announced
that versions of "The Sims" for Xbox and GameCube are currently in
development and will be released this spring.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030129/290352_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/030130/050698.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-982673.html?tag=fd_top
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o AOL Time Warner Sells Hughes Stake for $800 Million
Germantown, Md. -- AOL Time Warner has sold its stake in Hughes
Electronics, which operates the DirecTV satellite TV network, in an effort
to help pay down its massive debt, The Wall Street journal reported on
Wednesday. The company reportedly sold its 8.4 percent stake to Bank of
America for $800 million. AOL Time Warner has discussed selling some of
its non-core assets, such as its book publishing division and sports
franchises, to reduce its $26 billion debt. In December, EchoStar
Communications terminated its proposed $19 billion merger with Hughes
after facing government opposition. The deal would have created the
largest satellite television company in the world, combining Hughes'
DirecTV with EchoStar's Dish Network.
http://shorterlink.com/?45XUZ6
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o XM Satellite Radio Closes on $475 Million Financing Package
Washington, DC -- Days after completing a tender offer for its existing
notes, DC-based XM Satellite Radio, the operator of a nationwide
subscription satellite radio service, said that it has closed on its
previously announced $475 million funding package from General Motors and
a group of investors. The package consists of $225 million in new funds
from investors and $250 million in payment deferrals and related credit
facilities. Calling the deal "a critical milestone in XM's road to
becoming a major entertainment company," Hugh Panero, XM president and
CEO, said that the company is now on track to reach cashflow breakeven in
2004.
http://www.xmradio.com/newsroom/screen/pr_2003_01_28.html
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o Report: DVD Market Poised for Continued Strong Growth
Tiburon, Calif. -- Despite a downturn in the technology sector the DVD
market is poised for continued strong growth, a new report by Tiburon,
Calif.-based Jon Peddie Research concludes. The report projects that the
total number of DVD systems in 2006 will be over 420 million units, with
the market growing at a 31.4 percent compound annual growth rate. The firm
said the numbers should be good news for the computer, consumer
electronics, automotive and semiconductor industries. Since DVDs players
started shipping in Japan in 1996, the medium has enjoyed meteoric growth.
Prices of players have fallen from $504 in July 1998 to $129 in December
2002, with some units going for as low as $59.
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpJDF0bKbytaYmZC
http://www.jonpeddie.com
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o Taiwanese Broadband Entertainment Firm GigaMedia Gets Delisting Notice
Taipei, Taiwan -- GigaMedia, a provider of online and off-line
entertainment services in Taiwan, announced on Thursday that it has
received notice from the Nasdaq that its shares are in danger of being
delisted from the exchange. The company's shares have hovered near the
Nasdaq's $1 minimum for nearly a year. GigaMedia requested a hearing
before the Nasdaq, but said its shares may move to the SmallCap Market. In
addition to operating a broadband ISP and entertainment portal, GigaMedia
also operates two of the largest record store chains in Taiwan.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030130/nyth104_1.html
http://www.giga.net.tw
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DMW Publications: Available for DMW Subscribers NOW!
December Law & Policy Report
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report (December)
A new report every month - must-read publication on legal and policy
matters related to digital media. 38 pages of case summaries, news and
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legal counsel and business leaders.
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
Make Better Games
Game Developers Conference
March 4-8, 2003, San Jose, CA
Join the world's leading developers to create the next generation of
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Briefly Noted:
(San Jose, Calif.) Digital video recorder manufacturer TiVo announced on
Thursday a content promotion agreement with film studio 20th Century Fox.
Under the terms, Fox Studios will promote five films on TiVo in 2003 --
beginning with "Daredevil" -- offering TiVo owners full-length theatrical
trailers, exclusive interviews or behind the scenes footage, and other
elements like music video performances associated with the film or film
soundtrack saved to their device's hard drive.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030130/sfth003_1.html
http://www.tivo.com
(San Francisco) Sega.com on Thursday announced the launch of an Online
Developer Program for developers of online PC games. The company will
publish multiple online PC titles to help game developers successfully
launch their online games. The first title to be published under the
program is Ottawa-based Oceanus Communications' "Legacy Online," to be
released in early March.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230300034&ticker=
http://www.oceanus.ca/home.htm
http://www.legacyonline.net
(Marina del Rey, Calif.) CinemaNow, a provider of video-on-demand
programming and delivery technologies, announced on Thursday a licensing
agreement with Japanese-American multimedia firm Media Design Institute,
to distribute the CinemaNow film library in Japan through NTT-DATA,
Japan's largest systems-integrator, and its affiliate Solid Exchange, a
digital content business enterprise. Films will be translated with
Japanese subtitles and delivered using Marina del Rey, Calif.-based
CinemaNow's video-on-demand system via ADSL, FTTH (Fiber To The Home),
broadband network PCs and set-top boxes.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230300020&ticker=lgf|lgf.to
http://www.cinemanow.com
(Westlake Village, Calif.) Game publisher TDK Mediactive announced on
Thursday a long-term, worldwide license to produce games based upon
Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Mixed Martial Arts sports association.
Game developer Dream Factory is currently working on "UFC: Tapout 2" for
the Xbox, due for release in March. Westlake Village, Calif.-based TDK
Mediactive acquired the rights for UFC from Crave Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030130/300028_1.html
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/380/380592p1.html
(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Video game publisher THQ said on Thursday that
it will publish game developer Sega's "Sonic Advance 2" for Game Boy
Advance in the spring of 2003. The title is a sequel to "Sonic Advance,"
featuring Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, which sold over a half million units
in North America in 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030130/300063_1.html
http://www.thq.com/sonic
(San Francisco) Wired News reported on Thursday that a group of eleven
laid-off technology journalists from ZDNet's Tech Update have posted a
listing on eBay for their services as a "turnkey editorial/production
staff." The poster, former ZDNet Tech Update senior technology editor Lee
Schlesinger, said he isn't optimistic a serious bidder will emerge, but
hopes the stunt will somehow help he and his colleagues land new jobs.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57472,00.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2909389388
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
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====================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm
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
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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
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Digital Media Wire Presents...Games & Mobile Forum
April 2003, New York City
Focusing on games and mobile entertainment opportunities and business
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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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CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================
To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
UCLA Extension Course: Digital Entertainment
The definitive course on the intersection of entertainment and technology
is returning to UCLA Extension this January. Digital & Hollywood: How Do
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Copyright 2003 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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