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Main Stories
o RIAA Files "John Doe" Suits Against Another 531 Music File-Swappers
o Canadian Labels Ask Court to Make ISPs Reveal Song-Swappers' Identities
o Disney Rejects Comcast's $49 Billion Merger Proposal
o Microsoft Seeks to Settle with EU Over Media Player
o Apple Reports 100,000 Pre-Orders for iPod Mini Music Player
o Court Upholds $20 Million Copyright Suit Against Legg Mason
o RealNetworks Signs Deals with European Wireless Network Operators
o Streaming Song Samples Provider Loudeye Raises $20 Million in Placement
o Microsoft to Ban Pop-Up Ads on Global Websites by Summer

o Briefly Noted: Zingy - BMG Entertainment, Macrovision - Columbia House, Cornice, Molino Networks, Akimbo, BitPass - Mperia, Chilmark Entertainment, Radica Games - Sega - Taito, Jakks Pacific - Midway Games, Microsoft Game Studios - "Zoo Tycoon 2," Electronic Arts - "James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing"

Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Tuesday filed a new round of copyright infringement lawsuits, this time targeting 531 individuals who allegedly used file-sharing services to offer copyrighted music for download. This latest wave of lawsuits were filed against "John Doe" defendants in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Orlando, Fla. and Trenton, N.J., identified for now only by the Internet Protocol address assigned to the computer they were using at the time of the alleged infringement. The added anonymity for defendants is the result of a federal appeals court ruling that outlawed a streamlined subpoena process previously used by the RIAA to obtain file-swappers' identities from their Internet service providers. Last month, the RIAA sued 532 file-swappers for copyright infringement and has to date filed charges against nearly 1,500 U.S. computer users. The group said it will offer all defendants a chance to settle the claims against them, usually for sums in the neighborhood of $3,000 each.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q32B12077 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O23B32077 
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5160262.html 
http://www.riaa.com
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o Canadian Labels Ask Court to Make ISPs Reveal Song-Swappers' Identities

Toronto -- The Canadian record industry has made good on its promise to target individual file-swappers with copyright infringement claims, asking a federal court to compel a number of Internet service providers to turn over the identities of 29 subscribers it believes are large-scale music pirates. The Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA), which represents labels including the Canadian units of EMI and Universal, asked the court to compel Internet service providers Bell/Sympatico, Telus, Videotron, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications to reveal specific subscribers' identities. "We see this as progress in due legal process that will in the end, allow us to file suits against flagrant copyright infringers," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. At least one Canadian ISP said it will challenge the CRIA's actions. "We intend to ask the court to preserve the privacy of our customers ... (and) we believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant," Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw told Reuters.
http://www.cria.ca/news/cria_16feb04.htm 
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5159126.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C3F012177
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o Disney Rejects Comcast's $49 Billion Merger Proposal

Burbank, Calif. -- The Walt Disney Company announced on Monday that its board of directors has unanimously rejected a $49 billion unsolicited merger proposal from Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider. In a statement announcing its rejection of Comcast's offer, Disney's board said that it "has confidence in the business, financial and creative direction of Disney under the leadership of Michael Eisner." The board also noted that Comcast's valuation of Disney was 15% lower than its current share price. "We are committed to creating shareholder value now and in the future and will carefully consider any legitimate proposal that would accomplish that objective," the Disney board said in its statement. "The interests of Disney shareholders, which represent the fundamental priority of the board, would not be served by accepting any acquisition proposal that does not reflect fully Disney's intrinsic value and earnings prospects."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040216/165474_1.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2C152177 
http://www.comcast.com
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o Microsoft Seeks to Settle with EU Over Media Player

Brussels -- According to news media reports, U.S. software giant Microsoft has capitulated over an investigation into allegedly anti-competitive practices in Europe and asked to settle with the European Commission (EC). Microsoft has reportedly offered to include rivals' products on the CD-ROMs that come with PCs. Most of Microsoft's competitors, however, claim the pick-up rate on such CDs is extremely low, and the EC would appear to agree with them insofar as it has rejected Microsoft's offer as insufficient. The Commission has already reached a preliminary decision that Microsoft muscled out competitors by unfairly bundling its media player with the Windows operating system.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T29C62F67
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39146607,00.htm
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o Apple Reports 100,000 Pre-Orders for iPod Mini Music Player

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple Computer announced on Tuesday that it has begun shipping its iPod mini digital music player to retailers, and will officially begin selling the $249 devices on Friday. Additionally, Apple said it has received over 100,000 pre-orders for the device, a smaller 4GB version of its iPod player that was introduced last month. "iPod mini broadens the market for iPod by competing head-on with flash-based players," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. "iPod mini costs only about $50 more than a 256MB flash-based player, yet it holds 16 times the music, is smaller, is easier to use and provides superior audio."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/sftu087_1.html
http://www.apple.com/ipodmini
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o Court Upholds $20 Million Copyright Suit Against Legg Mason

Baltimore -- A federal district judge in Baltimore has upheld one of the highest copyright infringement verdicts in history, awarding nearly $20 million to Lowry's Reports Inc., the publisher of a newsletter covering stock market conditions. A jury last October found that Baltimore-based financial services firm Legg Mason infringed upon 240 copyrights by posting the newsletter on its intranet, making it available to its brokers nationwide. The award includes $18.9 million in statutory damages plus $825,000 for breach of contract. In its Feb.11 decision, the court rejected Legg Mason's claim that the damages were "grossly excessive," calling them "a deterrent."
http://www.wrf.com/publications/news.asp?id=1623372132004 ____________________________________________

o RealNetworks Signs Deals with European Wireless Network Operators

Amsterdam -- RealNetworks announced on Tuesday that it has signed up five European telecommunications companies to its mobile media software platform. The new agreements with Spain's Telefonica Moviles, Italy's Wind and TIM, Britain's 02 and Sweden's TeliaSonera gives RealNetworks -- which already boasts similar deals with Vodafone, AT&T Wireless and Sprint -- access to another 180 million subscribers. Industry experts say the announcement means RealNetworks may now be the leading media delivery system in the mobile telecommunications industry, much to the dismay of archrival Microsoft.
http://www.realnetworks.com/index_rn.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V22B21F67 ____________________________________________

o Streaming Song Samples Provider Loudeye Raises $20 Million in Placement

Seattle -- Loudeye Technologies, a provider of streaming song samples and other digital media services, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $20 million through a private placement of 10.8 million shares of its stock with investors. Seattle-based Loudeye has licenses from all five major labels and many independents to provide 30-second streaming audio samples of 4 million tracks from over 400,000 CDs, to CD and download retailers including Amazon.com, Sony Music and Warner Music. It also provides media encoding and hosting services for customers including HBO, NBC News and the Library of Congress. The company will use the new funds for working capital and general corporate purposes, including expansion of its business-to-business digital music solutions in the U.S. and internationally.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/sftu045_1.html 
http://www.loudeye.com
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o Microsoft to Ban Pop-Up Ads on Global Websites by Summer

Brussels -- According to news media, U.S. software giant Microsoft has decided to phase out pop-up ads on most of its MSN websites worldwide by this summer. The decision follows a survey conducted by Microsoft that found that most consumers dislike pop-up ads. Microsoft said the ban would first go into effect for the Nordic region, Belgium and the U.K. and then extend to other European countries soon thereafter. A company spokesman said local countries would "make the change at the best time to suit their local market needs and to meet pre-existing arrangements with MSN customers".
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39146220,00.htm

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(New York) Mobile entertainment content publisher Zingy announced on Tuesday that it has signed a licensing agreement with major record label BMG Entertainment that will allow it to distribute master recording ringtones for cell phones. The master recording ringtones will consist of real clips from BMG artists' recordings, instead of the synthesizer-generated monophonic and polyphonic ringtones that currently dominate the market. New York-based Zingy said it will develop a series of mobile promotions in support of BMG artist releases and initiatives.
http://www.zingy.com

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a provider of CD and DVD copy-protection and other digital rights management technologies, announced on Tuesday that The Columbia House Company has renewed its agreement to use Macrovision copy-protection on its DVD and VHS releases. The direct marketing company will use the technology to prevent unauthorized copying of the movies it distributes to its 10 million club members in the United States and Canada.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040217/175379_1.html 
http://www.columbiahouse.com 
http://www.macrovision.com

(Longmont, Colo.) Cornice, a developer of microdrives for consumer electronics devices, announced on Tuesday that three new companies have said they will use the company's 1.5GB and 2GB hard drives in their respective digital music players. Petters Group/Soniqcast, Digitalway and Nextway plan to introduce devices that utilize Colorado-based Cornice's technology, joining existing manufacturing partners including Texas Instruments, PortalPlayer and SigmaTel.
http://www.soniqcast.com 
http://www.digitalway.co.kr/english/main.phtml 
http://www.nextway.jp 
http://www.corniceco.com

(Santa Cruz, Calif.) Consumer electronics developer Molino Networks on Tuesday introduced its Molino Media Mogul digital entertainment center, a $995 device that can store up to 300 GB of uncompressed movies, music, photos and other content. Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Molino said its device stores media "without using digital compression technologies that can distort and degrade audio and video quality." The company's 300GB model stores 50 DVDs, 500 CDs or 10,000s of digital photos, while a $2,995 Media Mogul TB will offer storage capacity for up to 200 DVDs or 2,000 CDs in addition to 100,000s of photos.
http://www.molino.com

(Scottsdale, Ariz.) Akimbo, developer of an Internet-based video-on-demand service that delivers video content to viewers' televisions, on Tuesday announced it plans to release its first product in stores in late 2004. The $9.99 monthly service will deliver 20,000 hours of content -- including independent films, foreign language, news, health and fitness, sports, children's programs and education -- over the Internet to an Akimbo Player device expected to cost $199. Los Angeles-based Akimbo is funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sprout Group and Zone Ventures.
http://www.akimbo.com

(Palo Alto, Calif.) BitPass, a provider of micropayment e-commerce technology, on Tuesday launched a public beta test of its new service that combines an online social network with the ability to post and download independent music. The Mperia service offers unsigned acts the ability provide fans with information, tour details, and a way to meet one another, as well as a place to upload, preview and sell individual songs and entire albums with no setup or monthly fees -- while earning 70% of gross sales.
http://www.bitpass.com 
http://www.mperia.com

(Memphis, Tenn.) Chilmark Entertainment said on Tuesday that it intends to file for a patent on technology it says can prevent potential movie pirates from capturing a movie via digital camcorders snuck into theaters. The company said its "Piracy Blocker," which has a range of 250-500 feet, is "uniquely capable of stopping digital piracy without violating film stock or the theatergoer's experience and instantly notifying authorities when an active camcorder or recording device is detected in the theater."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/nytu040_1.html

(Hong Kong) Electronic toymaker Radica Games on Tuesday announced deals with Japanese video game developers Sega and Taito, to create branded versions of its all-in-one video game console featuring classic titles from each developer. Hong Kong-based Radica's Arcade Legends Sega Genesis will come with an original Genesis console controller and feature games including "Sonic the Hedgehog." The Arcade Legends Space Invaders edition will feature a two-handed joystick and offer a compilation of Taito games including the original "Space Invaders," in addition to "Phoenix," "Lunar Rescue," "Qix" and "Colony 7." Both products will be released in the fall of 2004 and will retail for under $30.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/latu077_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/latu078_1.html 
http://www.sega.com 
http://www.taito.co.jp 
http://www.radicagames.com

(Malibu, Calif.) Toymaker Jakks Pacific announced on Tuesday a license from video game developer Midway Games, to create a TV Games all-in-one game console featuring Midway titles. The $20 device plugs directly into any television and will allow users to play a number of embedded Midway titles, including "Mortal Kombat," "Spy Hunter," "Rampage," "Joust," "Defender," "Robotron:2084" and "Paperboy."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040217/latu093a_2.html 
http://www.midway.com 
http://www.jakkstvgames.com

(New York) Microsoft Game Studios, the video game publishing unit within the software giant, said on Tuesday that it will release "Zoo Tycoon 2" for PC this fall. The sequel will be developed by Waltham, Mass.-based Blue Fang Games, creators of the original "Zoo Tycoon" title.
http://www.microsoft.com/games 
http://www.bluefang.com 
http://www.zootycoon.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Video game developer Electronic Arts on Tuesday shipped its "James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing" title for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube to retailers. Developed by the company's EA Redwood Shores and EA Canada studios, the game features voice talent from actors including Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, John Cleese and Heidi Klum. Separately, Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts announced that it has licensed Salt Lake City-based Fonix Corp.'s speech recognition and voice command technology for use within EA game development. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040217/175414_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040217/175953_1.html 
http://www.007.ea.com 
http://www.fonix.com

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