digital media wire

archives

events

about us

resources

privacy

news tips

contact us

home

===================================================
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- February 5, 2002
===================================================
To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o TiVo Files Suit Against Rival Digital Video Recorder Maker Sonicblue
o Super Bowl Ads With Web Tie-Ins See Varied Increases in Web Traffic
o Elcomsoft Gets Support of EFF, Others in Case Against U.S. Government
o Retailer Electronics Boutique to Focus Exclusively on Video Games
> Digital Media Wire Panel: Interactive Games | Los Angeles | Feb. 27
o Briefly Noted: DVD - studios - retailers - rental chains, Vivendi
Universal Net USA Music Group, Macromedia - Microsoft TV, StarTrek.net,
LodgeNet, Digital Club Network - indie labels, Digimarc - DigiTreal,
Mythic Entertainment - Korea, Knight Ridder Digital - Uclick, DivXNetworks
- Sigma Designs, AOL Interactive Services, Barnes&Noble.com
_____________________________________________

o TiVo Files Suit Against Rival Digital Video Recorder Maker Sonicblue

San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a manufacturer of digital video recorders, has
filed a patent infringement suit against rival Sonicblue, claiming the
company's ReplayTV device infringes on its own, CNET reported. The suit
seeks an injunction to stop Sonicblue from making the devices and
unspecified damages. "We think TiVo's suit against Sonicblue was filed in
an effort to respond to the patent infringement suit we filed against them
over a month ago," said Sonicblue CEO Ken Potashner. "We believe that we
do not infringe on the patent named in TiVo's suit." Sonicblue filed a
similar suit on Dec. 3 of last year, claiming that TiVo is infringing on
patents it owns.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-829169.html
http://www.tivo.com
http://www.sonicblue.com
_____________________________________________

o Super Bowl Ads With Web Tie-Ins See Varied Increases in Web Traffic

New York -- Traffic to websites of companies that bought advertisements
with specific Web tie-ins during the Super Bowl was varied, with several
companies seeing spikes in traffic while others remained flat or decreased
slightly, according to figures released on Tuesday by Internet analyst
firm Jupiter Media Metrix. AT&T's Mlife.com site and Pepsi.yahoo.com both
saw significant increases in traffic, while other companies that
advertised their websites -- including Monster.com, HotJobs.com,
Schwab.com and Etrade.com -- saw no increase or a slight decline in
traffic. AT&T's Mlife.com, which only went live on Saturday, saw 34,000
unique visitors that day, with traffic spiking to 681,000 unique visitors
on Super Bowl Sunday. "While most of this year's Super Bowl ads
represented familiar brands that will likely enjoy longer-term results,
Mlife's immediate online success was likely driven by the novelty of the
television campaign as well as the brand itself, " said Charles
Buchwalter, vice president of media research for Jupiter Media Metrix.
Pepsi.yahoo.com, which offered a contest where visitors were asked to
choose their favorite commercial featuring pop singer Britney Spears, had
no reportable traffic on the Saturday before the Super Bowl and then
appeared in the ratings on Super Bowl Sunday with 135,000 unique visitors.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020205/nytu142_1.html
_____________________________________________

o Elcomsoft Gets Support of EFF, Others in Case Against U.S. Government

San Jose, Calif. -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital
civil liberties group, has filed a "friend of the court" brief in support
of Elcomsoft, the Russian software developer sued by the U.S. government
for breaching the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with its program
that can crack the security on Adobe's eBook Reader. In its brief, the EFF
asks the court to declare the DMCA unconstitutional because it impinges on
protected speech and stifles technological innovation. The government has
suspended its prosecution of Russian programmer and Elcomsoft employee
Dmitry Sklyarov, originally arrested and jailed for his role in developing
the software, but is going ahead with its prosecution of Elcomsoft. A
number of groups -- including The Computing Law and Technology and U.S.
Public Policy Committees of the Association for Computing Machinery, the
American Association of Law Libraries, and the Electronic Privacy
Information Center -- also signed the brief filed by the EFF.
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Elcomsoft/20020204_eff_elcom_pr.html
_____________________________________________

o Retailer Electronics Boutique to Focus Exclusively on Video Games

West Chester, Pa. -- Retail store chain Electronics Boutique announced
that it will close 29 kids toy stores and look to sell 22 sports
collectibles stores in order to focus exclusively on the sale of video
games and accessories. The company plans to convert 12 of its children's
toy stores into conventional Electronics Boutique locations, in addition
to opening 200 new retail stores in the next year to sell video games.
Employees displaced by the closings will be offered alternative jobs
within the company. Pennsylvania-based Electronics Boutique will take a
charge of $16 million in its fiscal fourth quarter to account for the
restructuring. "These strategic measures reflect management's desire to
focus its energy and resources exclusively on the significant growth
opportunities in the video game industry, especially in light of the
results we achieved in our core business in a challenging retail
environment this past year," said Electronics Boutique CEO Jeffrey W.
Griffiths. Electronics Boutique operates 936 retail locations worldwide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020204/lam037_1.html
http://www.ebholdings.com
_____________________________________________

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Lots of companies have announced subscription models, but only a few have
delivered. Would you like to know why?

Deciding to sell by subscription is the easy part, making it happen is a
different story. The complexities of subscription management are putting
development projects behind schedule. Some companies have even scrapped
their subscription plans altogether. Don't fall into the same trap trying
to build a system in-house.

Sandlot Corporation and its partners have the subscription solutions you
need to succeed in the e-content marketplace. We have been doing it for
over a decade. Call Sandlot today or visit our Web site and start selling
by subscription sooner.

Contact: (801) 373-2246
http://www.sandlot.com

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Executive Management for Media Processor Startup

SkyMoon Ventures just seeded a company that is pioneering technology for
the emerging HDTV delivery and display industries. We are looking for
Executives who have been involved in the development of compression tools,
DSP, or video editing and DVD post-production software and have excellent
business relationships in the Hollywood studios.

Contact: kbretz@skymoonventures.com
URL: http://www.skymoonventures.com

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(New York) The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday on an emerging
market battle between film studios, movie rental chains and retail stores
like Wal-Mart and Best Buy over the DVD format. One studio, Warner Bros.,
is aggressively moving to lower the cost consumers pay to buy DVDs, at the
expense of rental chains like Blockbuster, which make their money when
consumers pay to view a movie overnight and return it the next day. Warner
Bros.' stance is also in opposition to the other studios, which see
lowering sale prices on DVDs as cutting into rental revenue as well as
their overall revenues. Retail stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, which
bring in a fair amount of revenue to the studios, have voiced their
opposition to any change to the current price-gouging of DVDs, which have
become big sellers at their stores.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/699928.asp?0dm=C13OT

(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal announced on Tuesday that it has appointed
MP3.com president Derrick R. Oien to the position of president of Vivendi
Universal Net USA Music Group. In addition to his responsibilities with
online music distributor MP3.com, Oien will now also oversee all
initiatives at Vivendi subsidiaries RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and
EMusic.com. The creation of Vivendi Universal Net USA in October was meant
to create more efficient business strategies through the consolidation of
entertainment and education properties under one management team.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220362600&ticker=
http://www.mp3.com

(Cannes, France) Microsoft announced on Tuesday a partnership with Web
publishing software developer Macromedia, whereby the two companies will
provide support to developers wishing to create content in Macromedia's
Flash for Microsoft's interactive TV platform. The deal includes the
creation of a Flash developer's kit for creating content on the Microsoft
TV platform, as well as Flash online training and a 15 percent discount on
the software for all Microsoft TV developers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020205/sftu039_1.html
http://www.microsoft.com/tv/

(Hollywood) Paramount Digital Entertainment, a division of the Hollywood
film studio, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Internet
access provider EarthLink to launch a "Star Trek"-themed Internet access
service, StarTrek.net. The broadband and dial-up service will offer users
an @StarTrek.net email address, customized browser and start page, and
exclusive Star Trek-related content such as sneak peeks at upcoming
productions. StarTrek.net will be offered at no additional cost over
Atlanta-based EarthLink's normal Internet access charges.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020205/50034_2.html
http://www.paramount.com/homepde.html
http://www.startrek.com

(Sioux Falls, S.D.) LodgeNet, a provider of broadband and interactive
television services to hoteliers, said on Tuesday that it is releasing
enhancements to its system that will give guests more control over their
on-demand purchases. The company is adding on-screen controls, similar to
those available on a digital video recorder, that will allow guests to
pause, fast-forward and rewind movies, CDs or music videos they order
through the television in their rooms. Additionally, a "bookmark" feature
will allow guests to save their place in a movie and return to finish it
at their convenience. South Dakota-based LodgeNet provides its services to
more than 890,000 rooms in over 5,400 hotels worldwide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020205/mntu016_1.html
http://www.lodgenet.com

(New York) Digital Club Network, a provider of video webcasts of live
concert performances, announced on Tuesday that it has reached agreements
with a number of independent record labels that will allow it to webcast
performances from their artists on its website. Under the agreements, New
York-based Digital Club Network can now record and broadcast concerts from
acts on Wind-up, TVT, Rykodisc, and 75ARK Records -- which collectively
represent artists including Richard Thompson, Willard Grant Conspiracy,
Drowning Pool and Guided by Voices.
http://www.dcn.com

(Tualatin, Ore.) Digital watermarking technology developer Digimarc said
on Tuesday that it has made an undisclosed equity investment in and has
licensed its technology to South Korea-based DigiTreal. The license gives
DigiTreal the rights to re-sell Digimarc's technology in Korea to
designers and publishers of print advertising, marketing collateral,
highway cards, gift cards, and other printed marketing materials. The
technology links print advertisements to online information such as
special offers or purchasing opportunities when held in front of a Web
camera or other image-capture device equipped with Digimarc software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020204/40015_1.html
http://www.digitreal.com/
http://www.digimarc.com

(Fairfax, Va.) Game developer Mythic Entertainment said on Tuesday that it
will create a Korean version of its massively multiplayer online
roleplaying game "Dark Age of Camelot." South Korea-based Buff
Entertainment will distribute the game and establish localized servers
that will host the game in Korea. Buff will also handle community
management when the game launches commercially sometime in the fall.
http://www.mythicentertainment.com
http://www.buffgame.com

(Kansas City, Mo.) Newspaper publisher Knight Ridder's online division
Knight Ridder Digital announced on Tuesday a partnership with Uclick, a
packager and distributor of branded comics, word games and other content
on the Web. Under the agreement, Kansas City-based Uclick will provide
comics and word games to San Jose-based Knight Ridder Digital's Real
Cities local media network of websites. The deal includes comics such as
"Doonesbury," "Garfield" and "Dilbert," as well as a premium puzzle
subscription service.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220360129&ticker=
http://www.uclick.com
http://www.realcities.com

(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression technology,
announced on Tuesday that PC chipmaker Sigma Designs has included the DivX
codec on its X-Card Home Theater card, designed to let users watch movie
clips from the Internet on TVs. The two companies will jointly market the
X-Card, which in addition to playing DivX movies, also enables DVD-Video,
Video CD (VCD) and Super VideoCD (SVCD) playback and includes home audio system compatibility.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020205/52073_1.html
http://www.sigmadesigns.com
http://www.divxnetworks.com

(New York) America Online said on Tuesday that its head of Interactive
Services, Jonathan Sacks, will retire "to pursue other interests." Sacks
will continue in his position until a replacement can be found. Prior to
his current role, Sacks served as president of the Hub, a joint venture
between AOL and New Line Cinema, and was also a publisher and journalist.
http://www.aoltimewarner.com

(New York) Barnes&Noble.com, an online retailer of books, music, movies
and other items, announced that it has named company president and chief
operating officer Marie J. Toulantis to the position of chief executive
officer. Toulantis replaces vice chairman and interim CEO Steve Riggio,
who had been filling the spot since former CEO Jonathan Bulkeley's
resignation in January 2000. Toulantis oversaw the company's IPO in May
1999, and previously was a senior vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ir/press/archive/2002/020402.asp?userid=6AY6ITC26I
______________________

> Digital Media Wire Panel Discussion: Interactive Games on the Internet
Recent Developments and New Business Opportunities

Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Location: Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills

MODERATOR:
- Victor Hwang, COO of LARTA (the regional technology alliance for
Southern California)

PANELISTS:
- Tracy Fullerton, President of Spiderdance
- Chris Kantrowitz, Co-Founder of The Groove Alliance and
President of 7ate9 Productions
- Mark Kapczynski, Principal Consultant, Microsoft
*Other panelists to be announced.