archives

o Report: Video Game Sales Soar to $9.4 Billion in 2001
o Liquid Audio Settles Patent Suit Brought by Intouch Group
o Non-Profit Web Lab Hosts "Crossover" New Media Creation Retreat
o InterTrust Files Second Patent Suit Against Microsoft
o Interactive TV Developer Liberate to Close Facilities, Cut Jobs
o Taiwanese Website Offering Streaming Hollywood Films for $1
o Hollywood Media Merges Baseline Unit with FilmTracker
o Interactive TV Firm OpenTV Files Patent Suit Against Rival Liberate
o Sonic Foundry Buys Asset Management System from Digital Savant
> Digital Media Wire Panel: Interactive Games | Los Angeles | Feb. 27
o Briefly Noted: Verizon Wireless - Qualcomm's BREW, Walt Disney Internet
Group - BellSouth, Macrovision - Twentieth Century Fox, Tickets.com -
Olympics, Motorola - Macromedia, MusicNet, "Time Machine"
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o Report: Video Game Sales Soar to $9.4 Billion in 2001

Port Washington, N.Y. -- Unhampered by an overall economic decline and the
events of Sep. 11, sales of video game hardware, software and accessories
in the U.S. grew 43 percent to $9.4 billion in 2001, up from $6.6 billion
in 2000, according to a report released on Thursday by New York-based
market information provider NPD Group. The release of three new video game
consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, along with a slew of new games
and accessories made 2001 the industry's biggest year ever, easily
eclipsing 1999's $6.9 billion record sales figure. NPD rated Rockstar
Games' "Grand Theft Auto 3" as the top-selling console game, while "The
Sims" by Electronic Arts was the top-selling PC game. "As for 2002 and
beyond, we look forward to seeing the industry move towards connectivity
via the Internet and a new level of superior quality games that can
harness the power of these technologically-advanced machines," said NPD's
Ilene Haase.
http://www.npd.com/corp/content/news/releases/press_020207.htm
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o Liquid Audio Settles Patent Suit Brought by Intouch Group

Redwood City, Calif. -- Liquid Audio, a provider of digital music
distribution technology, announced on Thursday that it has settled patent
litigation brought against the company by Intouch Group. Terms of the
settlement were not disclosed. The Intouch patent in question covered
systems that allow retailers to provide music sampling and determine
visitors' music preferences. San Francisco-based Intouch filed its claim
in March 2000 against Liquid Audio as well as Amazon.com, DiscoverMusic,
the now-defunct Entertaindom, Listen.com and Muze. Intouch said that
Amazon.com and Muze have also recently settled their patent disputes with
the company. Redwood City-based Liquid Audio also faces a separate patent
suit filed by Network Commerce, which claims the company is infringing on
its patent covering e-commerce transactions via a digital download.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020206/sfw108_1.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
http://www.intouch.com
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o Non-Profit Web Lab Hosts "Crossover" New Media Creation Retreat

New York -- Web Lab, a non-profit new media think tank, announced on
Thursday that it will host a creative retreat bringing independent film
and videomakers together with new media producers. The goal of the
"Crossover" project is "to develop ideas for projects that combine the
story telling skills of independent filmmaking with new kinds of
interactivity made possible by emerging technology." Participants in
"Studio A" -- the first retreat held February 20-25 at White Oak
Plantation in Yulee, Florida -- include "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
director John Cameron Mitchell, DJ Spooky and independent filmmaker Alan
Berliner. Ideas hatched during the retreat will be considered for
production during a later Crossover retreat, and Web Lab said it is also
talking with finance and co-production partners for possible production
and marketing outside of the project. New York-based Web Lab is producing
Crossover in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, the Directors Guild
of America and the Banff New Media Institute. The Crossover Advisory
Committee includes directors Allison Anders, David Lynch and John Cameron
Mitchell and GameLab founder and CEO Eric Zimmerman.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220382340&ticker=
http://www.weblab.org/crossover
_____________________________________________

o InterTrust Files Second Patent Suit Against Microsoft

Santa Clara, Calif. -- InterTrust Technologies, a developer of digital
rights management software that manages copyrights and protects against
the unauthorized copying of digital media, announced on Thursday that it
has filed an additional patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft.
This second suit covers patents held by Santa Clara-based InterTrust that
it claims Microsoft is infringing with its Driver Certification Program,
an integral part of the Windows XP operating system and Microsoft's
"trustworthy computing" initiative. The technology relates to the ability
to use "plug and play" devices, or to connect game consoles, audio and
video players and other devices to a computer and have them automatically
configure themselves so that they work with the PC without a user having
to locate and install a driver. Last week, InterTrust filed an
"interference" claim with the U.S. Patent Office, a provision under U.S.
patent law that would determine which company is the true inventor of the
technology. In the new suit, InterTrust seeks "unspecified damages and an
injunction prohibiting Microsoft's unlawful use of InterTrust's patented
technology."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020207/70083_1.html
http://www.intertrust.com
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o Interactive TV Developer Liberate to Close Facilities, Cut Jobs

San Carlos, Calif. -- Liberate Technologies, a developer of operating
system software for set-top boxes used to deliver interactive television
services, announced that it will close two of its research and development
facilities and cut between 25 and 45 positions in an effort to consolidate
its operations. San Carlos-based Liberate said it will close its Horsham,
Penn. and Salt Lake City, Utah facilities, and will take a charge of $3.9
million in its fiscal third quarter to account for the layoffs and
closings.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020205/sftu098_1.html
http://www.liberate.com
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o Taiwanese Website Offering Streaming Hollywood Films for $1

San Francisco -- A number of news outlets have recently reported on
Movie88.com, a Taiwanese website that offers current Hollywood movies
streamed to users' computers for $1 each. The site doesn't offer first-run
titles still in theaters, but does offer movies currently available on
video. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Legally Blonde" are
among the titles available on Movie88.com for streaming in RealVideo
format. "There's no question this is illegal," International Intellectual
Property Association president Eric Smith told Wired News. "The website
should be taken down and the operators prosecuted. They are clearly, no
question, violating Taiwan's copyright law." A representative from the
Motion Picture Association of America told CNET that it is "looking into
the site so we can take appropriate steps to deal with it."
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,50225,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-831383.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.movie88.com
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o Hollywood Media Merges Baseline Unit with FilmTracker

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Hollywood Media, operator of online ticketing sites
Hollywood.com and Broadway.com, announced on Thursday that it has merged
the operations of its Baseline film and TV industry database with
Fountainhead Media Services' FilmTracker, a site that fosters the
promotion, creation and distribution of creative content in the
entertainment industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Fountainhead
Media acquired a 20 percent equity interest in Baseline for $4 million.
The resulting database, valued at $20 million, is targeted at studios,
production companies, distributors, agents, managers, producers, news
organizations, and analysts. It will contain 1.5 million records,
including 7,000 entertainment personality biographies, credits for over
45,000 released feature films dating back 50 years and nearly 35,000 TV
series-related credits.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020207/hsth013_1.html
http://www.filmtracker.com
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o Interactive TV Firm OpenTV Files Patent Suit Against Rival Liberate

Mountain View, Calif. -- OpenTV, a developer of interactive television
software, announced on Thursday that it has filed patent infringement
litigation against rival developer Liberate Technologies, seeking an
injunction on the distribution of Liberate's products and unspecified
monetary damages. Mountain View-based OpenTV said that patents in question
relate to "the repetitive distribution of interactive TV programs in a way
that is described in the industry as 'carouseling,'" and "the 'life cycle'
of an interactive TV application -- how it is loaded, how it executes and
how it is then minimized or deleted." Both companies' software is used as
an operating system to power the set-top boxes that are used to deliver
interactive television services to viewers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020207/70342_1.html
http://www.opentv.com
_____________________________________________

o Sonic Foundry Buys Asset Management System from Digital Savant

Madison, Wisc. -- Sonic Foundry, a developer of software for the creation,
editing and publishing of digital multimedia, announced on Thursday that
its Media Services subsidiary has acquired the Media Taxi asset management
system created by Los Angeles-based Digital Savant. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed. Wisconsin-based Sonic Foundry's Media
Services unit provides conversion, reformatting, and encoding services for
television, film, and audio content. Companies including Warner Bros., Fox
Domestic TV and USA Films currently use the Media Taxi system, which Sonic
Foundry will integrate into its MediaWorks application.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020207/70023_1.html
http://www.sonicfoundry.com
http://www.digitalsavant.com
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Make better games.

Game Developers Conference 2002
March 19-23
San Jose, California
Learn about successful game creation from the world's leading developers.
At the Game Developers Conference, industry experts lead more than 300
lectures, tutorials and roundtables. Visual Arts track sessions cover
non-linear animation, blended animations, modeling, texturing and
lighting. Those interested in interactivity or in broadening their skill
set are encouraged to attend.

http://www.gdconf.com

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> 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.

Sponsored by LARTA

For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAgames2.html

Sponsorships: Ned Sherman at 323/464.0793
or esherman@digitalmediawire.com

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o Briefly Noted:

(Bedminster, N.J.) Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday that it will
become the first U.S. wireless operator to adopt and commercially offer
Qualcomm's BREW platform for downloading entertainment content and other
applications to cell phones and other wireless devices. Services based on
San Diego-based Qualcomm's BREW platform are scheduled to launch in a
portion of Verizon's service area "as early as this spring," according to
Verizon.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020207/nyth033_1.html
http://www.qualcomm.com/brew/about/aboutbrew.html

(North Hollywood, Calif.) Walt Disney Internet Group said on Thursday that
it has licensed select text, video and audio from ABC.com, ABCNews.com,
Disney.com, and FamilyFun.com to Internet service provider BellSouth. The
content will be featured on BellSouth's Web portal, along with links to
Disney-related e-commerce sites. BellSouth's DSL and dial-up services
claim 1 million subscribers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020207/lath052_1.html
http://disney.go.com/corporate/press/wdig/releases.html
http://www.home.bellsouth.net

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Macrovision, a developer of media copy-protection
technologies, announced on Thursday that it has signed a multi-year
agreement with film studio Twentieth Century Fox to provide
copy-protection technologies for all of its DVD and videocassette
releases. Sunnyvale-based Macrovision's technology is used on 75 percent
of all video DVDs distributed by most Motion Picture Association of
America studios.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020207/70241_1.html
http://www.macrovision.com

(Costa Mesa, Calif.) Online entertainment and sports ticket retailer
Tickets.com said on Thursday that it has sold over 1.4 million tickets to
the 2002 Olympic Winter Games on the Internet, generating $64 million in
sales through online transactions. Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com is
providing all ticketing distribution services for the Olympics, including
Internet, mail and telephone orders.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020207/lath061_1.html
http://www.tickets.com

(Horsham, Pa.) Motorola's Broadband Communications Sector announced on
Thursday that it will partner with Web publishing software firm Macromedia
to integrate Flash into Motorola's EVr-8401 Enhanced TV Viewer. The
touch-screen, hand-held device offers interactive television viewers a
second screen for accessing Internet content relating to the TV
programming they are watching. The device connects wirelessly either to a
Motorola set-top box or a standard cable modem.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020207/hsth001_1.html

(New York) MusicNet, the online digital music subscription service joint
venture between RealNetworks, AOL and major record labels BMG, EMI and
Warner Bros., announced on Thursday a number of new management hires.
Ganapathy "Krish" Krishnan, Ph.D., former CTO and EVP of Network Commerce, was named senior vice president products/technology and chief technology officer for MusicNet. Shashi Karan, previously senior director of
PathoGenesis Corp., was named vice president of finance and David Halprin,
formerly with RealNetworks, was named director of product management. The
company also announced that EMI executive vice president John Rose has
joined its board of directors.
http://www.musicnet.com

(New York) The Associated Press reported on Thursday on a new device that
can compress TV programs so that stations can insert more commercials into
them and generate additional revenue. The Time Machine, developed by San
Jose-based engineer Bill Hendershot, compares frames in a TV program and
deletes identical frames that appear side-by-side, effectively shortening
a 22-minute program by about 30 seconds. "It is so good, that you can take
the original artists and directors who made the piece and they cannot tell
the difference," Hendershot told AP. About 100 Time Machines have been
sold to U.S. TV stations, at a cost of $93,000 each.
http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,50274,00.html
http://www.primeimageinc.com/Time_Machine_Spec.htm
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire