archives

o Judge: Napster Can Investigate Labels' Collusion, Copyright Ownership
o Australian Govt. Group Warns Consumers, Labels On Copy-Protected CDs
o Supreme Court Refuses to Hear VoyeurDorm.com Case
o Sonicblue Pays $8.6 Million to Settle 1997 Class Action Suit
o Warner Becomes Fourth Major Label to License Songs to Listen.com
o IBM Releases Digital Media Factory; Liquid Audio Using IBM's EMMS
> Digital Media Wire Panel: Interactive Games -- L.A. | S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: MSN Music - free downloads, PTN Media - Nelly, Yahoo -
TheInsiders.com, OpenTV - UEC Technologies, "Jurassic Park: Project
Genesis," DVLabs - CinemaNow, MPAA's Jack Valenti, File-sharing - Zip
files
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o Judge: Napster Can Investigate Labels' Collusion, Copyright Ownership

San Francisco -- Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled on Friday to allow Napster
to investigate whether or not the record labels sought to create a
monopoly of the digital music market with their MusicNet and Pressplay
digital music joint ventures. "These ventures look bad, smell bad and
sound bad," Patel wrote in her ruling. "If Napster is correct, these
plaintiffs are attempting the near monopolization of the digital
distribution market." The judge said that the labels must prove ownership
of copyrights to the songs they claim Napster infringed upon with its
file-sharing service, and that they have not abused their ownership --
otherwise they are invalidated and Napster would not be held liable for
damages. The two sides will meet again in court on March 27 to set a date
for a hearing on the alleged misuse of copyrights by the record label
plaintiffs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/23/technology/23MUSI.html
http://latimes.com/business/la-000013751feb23.story
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50625,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-843521.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Australian Govt. Group Warns Consumers, Labels On Copy-Protected CDs

Dickson, Australia -- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC), a governmental consumer watchdog group, has issued a warning to
consumers about copy-protected CDs, calling for record companies to place
labels on the CDs alerting consumers that they may not work in all
players. The ACCC said it issued the warning after learning of Universal
Music Group's copy-protected releases in the U.S., and noted that
Australians would more likely be affected by CDs purchased online.
"Retailers should inform consumers if a CD is copy-protected and that it
will not play on the usual electronic equipment -- especially on computer
CDROMs. Also if a consumer believes that a CD will play, but it doesn't,
he or she can return it to the place of purchase," ACCC president Allan
Fels said, in a statement. The ACCC also warned manufacturers that failure
to label copy-protected CDs could result in penalties. "The Trade
Practices Act makes it clear that a party selling goods must provide
consumers with all information regarding the uses or benefits of a
product. Any failure to do so in the present case by those involved in
manufacturing and selling affected compact discs will be dealt with under
the Act," Fels added.
http://www.accc.gov.au/
http://www.accc.gov.au/docs/summary/httoc.htm
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o Supreme Court Refuses to Hear VoyeurDorm.com Case

Tampa, Fla. -- Entertainment Network Inc. (ENI), a provider of Web hosting
services and operator of adult websites including VoyeurDorm.com,
announced on Monday that the Supreme Court has refused the City of Tampa's
appeal to have VoyeurDorm.com shut down. The City of Tampa argued that the
website -- which webcasts video 24 hours a day of college-aged women
living in a Tampa house -- should be shut down because of city zoning
violations, claiming the house where the women reside is an adult business
in a residential area. A lower court ruling stated that the business
operated essentially in "cyberspace," and the house itself did not meet
Tampa's definition of an adult business. "This is a victory for anyone
operating a legitimate Internet site, whether or not it has adult
content," said ENI CEO David Marshlack. "It is obvious that the Internet
should not be regulated under zoning laws written long before the Web was
even dreamed of."
http://www.entertainmentnetwork.com
http://www.voyeurdorm.com
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o Sonicblue Pays $8.6 Million to Settle 1997 Class Action Suit

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Consumer electronics manufacturer Sonicblue has
settled a 1997 class action securities suit brought against current and
former officers and directors of the company and its former accounting
firm, Deloitte and Touche. Santa Clara-based Sonicblue will pay out
approximately $8.6 million in cash and stock to settle the suit, while
Deloitte and Touche will contribute $250,000 to the settlement, pending
the court's approval of the settlement. "Although we believe that the
plaintiffs' claims were without merit, we are pleased that we are now able
to put the lawsuit behind us," said Sonicblue CEO Ken Potashner.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020220/200654_1.html
http://www.sonicblue.com
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o Warner Becomes Fourth Major Label to License Songs to Listen.com

San Francisco -- Listen.com, provider of the Rhapsody digital music
subscription service, announced on Monday that Warner Music Group has
licensed select songs from its catalog for on-demand listening through the
service. Listen.com has already licensed songs from major record labels
BMG, EMI and Sony Music for the Rhapsody service. San Francisco-based
Listen.com's Rhapsody offers consumers unlimited streaming of songs from
the aforementioned major labels as well as independent labels including
Matador, Bar/None and KOCH for $9.95 per month.
http://rhapsody.listen.com/press/releases/warner_022502.html
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o IBM Releases Digital Media Factory; Liquid Audio Using IBM's EMMS

White Plains, N.Y. -- IBM on Monday announced its Digital Media Factory
(DMF), a set of hardware, software and services that companies can use to
manage, store, protect and distribute digital video, audio and images. The
DMF system includes servers, workstations, storage, middleware,
applications, and services that utilize technology from IBM and
third-party technology providers. IBM also said that Redwood City-based
digital music distributor Liquid Audio has licensed its Electronic Media
Management System (EMMS) for use in the company's music player software.
The EMMS includes audio delivery and digital rights management
technologies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/020222/038381.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/020225/038507.html
http://www.ibm.com/industries/digitalmedia
http://www.liquidaudio.com
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Adaptec has turned out an impressive array of connectivity products to
help users hook up with the newest technologies. USB 2.0 devices like MP3
players, CD-Rs and scanners move data, voice and video 40 times faster
than standard USB. And Adaptec has a full line of USB 2.0 cards and hubs
for desktops and notebooks to keep even the most gadget-hungry techies
fully satisfied. See the full family of Adaptec connectivity products:

http://www.digitalmediawire.com/adaptec.html

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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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o Briefly Noted:

(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft on Monday announced a new version of MSN Music
that includes free promotional downloads, music recommendation software,
local concert ticket information and links to the Pressplay digital music
subscription service from Sony and Universal. The MSN free downloads will
be accessible on users' computers only for as long as the particular
artist's promotion lasts.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020225/sfm053_1.html
http://music.msn.com

(Ann Arbor, Mich.) PTN Media, a developer of branded cell phones and
handheld devices, announced on Monday that it has partnered with Universal
Records hip-hop recording artist Nelly. The company will develop
Nelly-branded cell phones and premium content like games, ringtones,
merchandise and daily messages from Nelly. Michigan-based PTN Media has
also created branded Palm handheld computers in conjunction with
professional basketball player Michael Jordan and singer Christina
Aguilera.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020225/252287_1.html
http://www.ptnmediainc.com/

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo announced on Monday a partnership with
TheInsiders.com, a network of college, professional and high school
athletic Web sites. TheInsiders.com provides sports news about top-name
schools, as well as information on sought-after high school and junior
college recruits, and the universities these athletes visit or plan to
attend. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and Seattle-based TheInsiders.com will
promote, market and syndicate the free and subscription-based offerings on
TheInsiders.com and Yahoo Sports.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020225/250066_1.html
http://www.theinsiders.com

(Mountain View, Calif.) OpenTV, a provider of interactive TV software and
services, announced on Monday that set-top box manufacturer UEC
Technologies has integrated OpenTV's operating system software into its
box. South Africa-based UEC will begin deploying the advanced box to
Shanghai Cable Network, which serves 3.2 million subscribers, in July.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020225/250007_1.html
http://www.uec.co.za/
http://www.opentv.com

(Universal City, Calif.) Game developer Universal Games, a subsidiary of
Vivendi Universal, announced on Monday that it will release "Jurassic
Park: Project Genesis," a world-building game, in the fourth quarter of
2002. The PC and Microsoft Xbox game will allow users to create and manage
their own dinosaur theme park, emulating other games in the genre such as
"SimCity."
http://www.universalinteractive.com

(Reston, Va.) DVLabs, a content delivery network specializing in video
distribution, announced that it will provide its services to CinemaNow, an
Internet video-on-demand site. Marina del Rey-based CinemaNow, owned by
Lions Gate Films, last week announced an agreement to test its service
with film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
http://www.dvlabs.com/index.cfm?page=7#dvl_news_5
http://www.cinemanow.com

(Washington, D.C.) Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) CEO Jack
Valenti on Monday responded to allegations that the movie industry is
hoarding its copyrights and impeding the appeal of broadband in commentary
published in The Washington Post. Valenti was responding to a group of
professors including Stanford copyright expert Lawrence Lessig and argued
that adequate copyright protection is needed before studios release their
films on the Internet and video-on-demand systems because of the
"financial fragility of the film industry."
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174745.html

(New York) The New York Times on Monday reported on a growing number of
avid music file-sharers that are getting whole albums, complete with cover
art and liner notes attached, in the form of compressed Zip files
downloaded from file-sharing services. Some users are even packaging
several albums from a single artist together, in a kind of online box set.
"I don't even bother looking for songs anymore, because all you have to do
is type in 'zip,' and there are like 2,000 matches," said a sophomore at
the College of Charleston in South Carolina, who spoke with The Times on
condition of anonymity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/25/arts/25POPL.html
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USB connections with some get up and go.

With Adaptec's USB2Connect for Notebooks, you can take advantage of the
40x faster speeds of USB 2.0 peripherals anywhere your notebook computer
is -- home, office, or on the road.

http://www.digitalmediawire.com/adaptec.html

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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