archives

o Microsoft Launches Xbox Video Game Console in Japan
o Calif. Native Wins Settlement Against Copy-Protected CD Providers
o R&B Artists' Digital Copyright Case Against Labels Granted New Life
o Radio Trade Publication Gavin to Shut Down
o Princeton Video Image, Fox, Sportvision Settle Patent Litigation
o Calif. Supreme Court to Hear DVD-Cracking Case Appeal
o Online Film, TV Music Licensing Provider LicenseMusic Shuts Down
> Digital Media Wire Panel: Interactive Games -- L.A. | S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: Microsoft Media Player - privacy issues, Vitaminic - U.K.
collecting societies, MediaBus Networks, Wippit - U.K. collecting
societies, Ireland Live Television News, "State of Emergency"
_____________________________________________

o Microsoft Launches Xbox Video Game Console in Japan

Tokyo -- Microsoft began selling its Xbox video game console in Japan on
Friday, three months after the console was launched in the U.S. The
company says it has already shipped 250,000 Xbox units to retail stores
throughout the country, including 50,000 "Special Edition" consoles made
available only in Japan. The Xbox will cost about $260 in Japan, which is
$70 more than what Nintendo's GameCube is sold for in the country and $40
more than Sony's PlayStation 2. The console launched with a total of 12
games available, with Microsoft promising another 10 by the end of March.
The company also designed a special controller for the Japanese market
that is smaller than the version available in North America. "Japanese
gamers are among the most sophisticated in the world, and Xbox is the
future-generation game system that matches their sophistication, fires
their imagination and tests their skills," Microsoft chairman Bill Gates
said in a statement. Gates was in Japan handing out the first Xbox
consoles purchased by Japanese consumers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020221/sfth076_1.html
http://xbox.jp/
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-842975.html
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o Calif. Native Wins Settlement Against Copy-Protected CD Providers

San Rafael, Calif. -- SunnComm, a provider of CD copy-protection
technology, and record label Music City Records announced on Friday that
they have settled a lawsuit brought by a California woman who sued them
over labeling and privacy concerns arising from copy-protected CDs. The
discs were not labeled to notify consumers that they wouldn't play in some
CD players and PC disc drives, and some personally identifiable
information was collected on users who downloaded digital music files made
available through the CDs. According to the settlement, the companies have
agreed to make anonymous any information collected in conjunction with
downloadable encrypted digital music it offers. The companies will also
purge all personally identifiable information collected from consumers up
to this point. Additionally, labels alerting consumers of the technical
limitations of the copy-protected CDs will be added to their packaging and
consumers unhappy with their copy-protected CD purchases will be given
full refunds.
http://www.techfirm.com/sunnsett.pdf
http://www.techfirm.com/sunnk.pdf
http://www.suncomm.com
_____________________________________________

o R&B Artists' Digital Copyright Case Against Labels Granted New Life

New York -- Recording artists including The Chambers Bros. and The
Coasters, who sued AOL Time Warner, Sony, BMG, Universal Music Group and
MP3.com over the right to distribute their works digitally, won an appeal
that will result in a review of their claims, Reuters reported on Friday.
The artists claim their contracts didn't give labels the right to sell
digitized versions of their pre-1996 performances on the Internet, and
that these unauthorized versions of their recordings are hampering sales
of vinyl, cassettes and CDs, from which they receive royalty payments. The
Second Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded the case to the original
lower court judge for further consideration.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-842715.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.lesterchambers.com/
_____________________________________________

o Radio Trade Publication Gavin to Shut Down

San Francisco -- Gavin, a radio trade publication founded in 1958 in San
Francisco that is currently owned by U.K.-based United Business Media,
will shut down at the end of the month, The San Francisco Chronicle
reported on Friday. The company failed to sell the publication to several
prospective buyers, and the publication has lost several executives in the
past months, according to The Chronicle. The publication's annual Gavin
Seminar conference, which once attracted as many as 2800 attendees, will
likely see only around 800 at this year's event, taking place this week in
San Francisco.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/22/DD122956.DTL
http://www.gavin.com
_____________________________________________

o Princeton Video Image, Fox, Sportvision Settle Patent Litigation

New York -- Princeton Video Image (PVI), a provider of virtual advertising
and graphical elements such as the "virtual 1st down line" to TV
broadcasters, announced that it has settled its patent litigation with Fox
Sports Productions and Sportvision. Sportvision and Fox Sports Productions
initially sued PVI in October 1999, alleging that the company's virtual
signage, first down line, and other products infringed Fox and Sportvision
patents. PVI filed counterclaims in August 2001, alleging that
Sportvision's virtual strike zone for baseball and virtual signage
products infringed a PVI patent. The companies have agreed to
cross-license each other's patents that cover the use of camera
instrumentation and image processing for virtual insertion into live
video.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020221/212398_1.html
http://www.pvi-inc.com
http://www.sportvision.com
_____________________________________________

o Calif. Supreme Court to Hear DVD-Cracking Case Appeal

San Francisco -- The California Supreme Court this week agreed to hear an
appeal of a case involving a man who published computer code that can
break the security technology on DVD discs. The DVD Copy Control
Association (DVDCCA) sued Andrew Bunner for publishing DeCSS, a code that
can break its DVD encryption technology. The DVDCCA claimed Bunner was
leaking trade secrets and not simply informing Linux users how they could
play DVDs on their computers, another function of the code. An earlier
ruling found that an injunction against Bunner's publishing of the code
violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20020110_eff_pr.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174688.html
http://www.dvdcca.org
_____________________________________________

o Online Film, TV Music Licensing Provider LicenseMusic Shuts Down

San Francisco -- LicenseMusic, a provider of online licensing services for
music used in film, television, advertising and other projects, announced
that it has ceased operations, effective immediately. "I deeply regret
having to announce that LicenseMusic will cease all operations effective
immediately," company founder, president and CEO Gerd Leonhard wrote in an
email. "Many efforts to secure the future of our company were undertaken
in the past 12 months, but due to the current economic climate and the
situation in the venture capital markets we have not been able to close a
deal."
http://www.licensemusic.com
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Jupiter's 9th Annual Media Forum: The Death of Free Content?
March 18 - 19, 2002: New York, New York

Strategies for Exploiting Media Assets Online

Join Jupiter Analysts and speakers from The New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Cahners, Cox Interactive, ESPN.com, ABCNews.com, People.com, E!
Online, BBC World Service and over 20 other companies for 2 days of data,
discussion and debate on how media companies should work around the
downy-soft ad market through new revenue streams and cost-saving
strategies.

To register: http://www.jmm.com/mediaforum
Customer Service: eventsreg@jmm.com

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STREAMING MEDIA WEST 2002 - April 23 - 26, Los Angeles Convention Center

Streaming Media West 2002 is the World's Largest Digital Media Technology
Event, featuring an extensive exhibition floor and an intensive four-day
Conference program.

Co-located with Internet World Spring, Streaming Media West is the premier
event for business and technology professionals to conduct business,
discover the latest advancements in streaming and digital media and forge
valuable relationships. Join us in Los Angeles and discover for yourself
the business and technology of streaming and digital media!

For your FREE Exhibition pass or to save $200 on your full Conference pass
visit www.streamingmedia.com/west
Or contact register@streamingmedia.com or 888 301-8890

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_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft has changed the privacy policy associated with
its Windows XP, after it was reported by the Associated Press that the
Media Player software bundled with the system records which DVDs and CDs
each user plays. The software downloads information on media played
through a PC from Microsoft and then generates a unique identifier that
could possibly be used as a marketing tool Microsoft could sell to
companies wishing to target specific movies and CDs to XP users. Microsoft
countered by saying that the information collected is neither shared with
nor sold to outside parties, and none of the information is personally
identifiable.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/02/21/microsoft.privacy.ap/index.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-841766.html?tag=cd_mh

(Milan, Italy) Vitaminic, a network of international digital music
websites offering subscription services, announced on Friday that it has
been granted licenses from two U.K. collecting societies that will
establish payment to artists and copyright holders. The dual license,
granted by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the
Performing Right Society (PRS), clears both the mechanical and performing
right in the U.K. through a single royalty payment. The dual license was
negotiated through talks between the MCPS, PRS and European Digital Media
Association, which represents webcasters and digital music distributors.
http://www.vitaminic.co.uk
http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk

(Atlanta) MediaBus Networks, an interactive media broadcasting and
engineering company, announced on Friday that it has received $10.4
million in purchase orders for its i2DVD interactive DVD player and
set-top box. Atlanta-based MediaBus developed the device through alliances
with Liberate Technologies, National Semiconductor, NCube and Sigma
Designs. The i2DVD offers MP3, CD and DVD playback, broadband and dialup
Internet access and interactive TV technologies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020222/222159_1.html
http://www.mediabusnetworks.com

(London) Wippit, a peer-to-peer file-sharing based music subscription
service, announced on Friday that it has been granted licenses from two
U.K. collecting societies that will establish payment to artists and
copyright holders for music traded on the service. The dual license,
granted by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the
Performing Right Society (PRS), clears both the mechanical and performing
right in the U.K. through a single royalty payment. London-based Wippit
said that after its first quarter of operations, it is set to offer record
companies, publishers, artists and writers around $2 per download.
http://www.wippit.com
http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk

(Dublin) Ireland Live Television News, a 24-hour broadband news channel,
announced its launch on Friday. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern provided
the first live broadcast for the channel, which is aimed at the global
Irish community based mainly in the United States, Britain, Europe, and
Australia. The channel will offer 15-minute bulletins covering Irish
business news, Irish sports news and results, international news
headlines, review of Irish newspapers and weather. Additional channels
will also be added to the service. Irish Live Television News is available
online and will also be marketed to cable TV providers.
http://www.irelandlivetelevision.tv

(San Francisco) Online magazine Salon.com featured a story on Friday on
"State of Emergency," a new PlayStation 2 game developed by Scotland-based
Rockstar Games and VIS Entertainment. The game has been noted for its
somewhat radical politics, inviting players to run amok and start riots in
an anti-globalization protest against an entity known as "The
Corporation."
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/02/22/state_of_emergency/index.html
http://www.rockstargames.com/stateofemergency/
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USB connections with some get up and go.

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> DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PANEL DISCUSSION SERIES:
"Interactive Games on the Internet: Recent Developments and New Business
Opportunities"

LOS ANGELES: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002, Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills

Confirmed panelists include Tracy Fullerton, President, Spiderdance; Seth
Gerson, Co-Founder, YaYa; Victor Hwang, COO, LARTA; Chris Kantrowitz,
Co-Founder, The Groove Alliance and President, 7ate9 Productions; Mark
Kapczynski, Principal Consultant, Microsoft; and Mark Surfas, Founder,
Chairman and CEO, GameSpy.

For more information and to register for the Los Angeles event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAgames2.html

SAN FRANCISCO: Tuesday, March 12, 2002, The City Club of San Francisco

Confirmed panelists include Mark Blecher, Vice President, Electronic Arts;
Greg Kasavin, Executive Editor, GameSpot; Chad Richard, CEO, NoizePlay;
Mark Surfas, Founder, Chairman and CEO, GameSpy; and John Welch, VP of
Games and Product Development, AtomShockwave.

For more information and to register for the San Francisco event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFgames2.html

NEW YORK: Thursday, March 14, 2002, The Cornell Club of New York City

Confirmed panelists include Greg Costikyan, Founder and Chief Design
Officer, Unplugged Games; Cort Fritz, Senior Consultant, Microsoft Media
and Entertainment Group; Doug Lowenstein, President, Interactive Digital
Software Association; Billy Pidgeon, Digital Media Analyst; and Joseph
Varet, VP of Business Development and Strategy, The Groove Alliance.

For more information and to register for the New York event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames2.html

Sponsorships and Inquiries: Ned Sherman at 323/464.0793
Or esherman@digitalmediawire.com
______________________

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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire