archives

o Senate Hearing to Discuss Copyright Controls In Consumer Electronics
o Survey: Nine Million Online Radio Listeners Willing to Pay for Streams
o Morpheus File-Sharing Network Goes Down Due to Kazaa, Grokster Upgrades
o U.S. Military Using Video Game Technology for Anti-Terrorism Training
o Member of DrinkorDie Piracy Ring Raided By U.S. Customs Pleads Guilty
o Digital Media Data Compression Firm Compressus Raised $3.25 Million
o Sony to Offer Half-Priced Line of "Greatest Hits" Games for PlayStation 2
o World Wrestling Federation Appeals "WWF" Dispute With World Wildlife Fund
> Digital Media Wire Panel Discussion: Interactive Games -- S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: Thomson's Mithic - NEC, Two Way TV (U.S.) - Wink
Communications, Philips - STMicroelectronics, Sprint PCS - ActivePhoto,
WLAN vs. 3G
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o Senate Hearing to Discuss Copyright Controls In Consumer Electronics

Washington -- The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on
Thursday that will discuss Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings' (D-S.C.) proposal
to mandate copyright controls be placed in most PCs, televisions, DVD
players, MP3 players and other consumer electronics devices. Witnesses
including Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, News Corp. president Peter
Chernin and Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti,
who support Hollings' proposal, will argue that such controls are
necessary in order to protect their movies and other content from piracy,
and will spur the rollout of broadband and digital television once in
place. Many technology firms oppose government intervention into the
design of consumer electronics. "We don't think government-mandated
technology solutions are in the best interests of consumers or anyone
else," Intel spokeswoman Sue Richard told Wired News. Intel executive vice
president Leslie Vadasz will also testify at Thursday's hearing.
http://commerce.senate.gov/press/107-159.html
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50702,00.html
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o Survey: Nine Million Online Radio Listeners Willing to Pay for Streams

New York -- Approximately nine million online radio listeners would be
willing to pay a small fee to listen to the one audio channel they listen
to most online, according to a new survey conducted by Arbitron Inc. and
Edison Media Research. The survey also found that four in ten online radio
listeners would pay a fee for commercial-free content, high-quality audio
or content they can't find on traditional radio or elsewhere. Forty-five
percent of online radio listeners surveyed said they listen to online
radio to hear content not available on traditional radio. The Web radio
audience was also shown to be growing, with 17 percent or 40 million
Americans reporting that they had listened to Web radio in a typical
month, compared with 13 percent last year. The Arbitron/Edison Media
Research survey results were derived from 2,508 telephone interviews
conducted in January 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020226/262352_1.html
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o Morpheus File-Sharing Network Goes Down Due to Kazaa, Grokster Upgrades

Nashville, Tenn. -- The Morpheus file-sharing service, operated by
Nashville-based StreamCast Networks, was down briefly on Tuesday when
upgrades to the Kazaa and Grokster applications, which share the same
network, made Morpheus incompatible and unable to connect to the network.
Users who attempted to log on to Morpheus were met with a message that
told them to upgrade to a newer version of the software, although none was
available. A message on the site Wednesday read, "Unexpectedly, one of our
software providers made a significant upgrade to their technology that is
currently incompatible with Morpheus. As a result, we are accelerating the
release of our new Morpheus software and within days expect Morpheus users
to enjoy the Morpheus Preview Edition." Although users were able to log
onto Morpheus Wednesday, it is unclear whether or not they had access to
the files of Kazaa and Grokster users or only those of other Morpheus
users.
http://www.musiccity.com
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o U.S. Military Using Video Game Technology for Anti-Terrorism Training

Washington, D.C. -- WILL Interactive, a developer of interactive movie
training solutions, announced that the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
will use its technology to begin anti-terrorism/force protection training
of U.S. installation, ground and sea commanders. The video game and
movie-like simulations make officers respond to critical decision points
occurring approximately every 30 seconds -- each branching to different
potential outcomes based on trainees' actual, real-time interactions.
Maryland-based WILL's software has already been deployed in all four
branches of the military and has trained more than 350,000 troops for
other purposes, and has now been adapted specifically for terrorist
scenarios.
http://www.xpresspress.com/news/willinteractive_022602.html
http://www.thewillway.com/
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o Member of DrinkorDie Piracy Ring Raided By U.S. Customs Pleads Guilty

Washington, D.C. -- A member of the DrinkorDie group, which traded
versions of movies, software, games and music on the Internet from which
copyright protection had been removed, has pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, Reuters reported on
Wednesday. The DrinkorDie group, which reportedly included executives at
software firms and university network administrators, was raided during
December 2001 by the U.S. Customs Service and similar agencies in
Australia, England, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, which seized computers
and questioned suspected members. The DrinkorDie member who pleaded guilty
-- John Sankus, 28, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- could face up to five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced on May 17. Prosecutors
told Reuters that additional cases will likely be brought against other
members of the group.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50715,00.html
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/custoday/jan2002/buccaneer.htm
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o Digital Media Data Compression Firm Compressus Raised $3.25 Million

Washington, D.C. -- Compressus, a developer of data-compression technology
for digital media, announced on Wednesday that last year it has raised
$3.25 million in its initial round of funding. D.C.-based Compressus'
first round of investors includes the Banque Edouard Constant of the
Sandoz Foundation, BNP Paribas, Banca della Svizzera Italiana, Banca del
Gottardo, and a group of individual investors. "Our advanced data
optimization products do just that by enabling customers to store,
transmit and analyze high resolution digital images -- without the usual
loss of clarity or detail," said John Falk, president of Compressus. The
company said that it will target the medical imaging, satellite imaging,
media storage, and law enforcement markets.
http://www.compressus.com/release_financing.html
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o Sony to Offer Half-Priced Line of "Greatest Hits" Games for PlayStation 2

Bal Harbour, Fla. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that it
will offer a line of half-priced video games for its PlayStation 2 game
console. The "Greatest Hits" line will be composed of both in-house and
third-party developed titles discounted to $24.99; to qualify, the games
must have been on the market for more than nine months and have sales in
excess of 400,000 units. The first games to meet Sony's qualifications are
"ATV Offroad Fury," "Gran Turismo 3 A-spec," "Twisted Metal:Black" and
"Dark Cloud."
http://www.scea.com/news/press_example.asp?ReleaseID=9689
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o World Wrestling Federation Appeals "WWF" Dispute With World Wildlife Fund

Stamford, Conn. -- World Wrestling Federation Entertainment announced on
Wednesday that it will appeal a U.K. Court of Appeals decision that said
it breached an agreement with World Wildlife Fund over the use of the WWF
acronym and the WWF.com Web address. The Court of Appeals ruling in
October stated that World Wrestling Federation Entertainment could not
promote itself using the WWF acronym and must relinquish its WWF.com
address. World Wrestling Federation Entertainment was granted a stay of
the Court of Appeal's ruling while it appeals to the U.K.'s House of
Lords.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020227/272044_1.html
http://wwfecorpbiz.com
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Adaptec has turned out an impressive array of connectivity products to
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http://www.digitalmediawire.com/adaptec.html

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

Join us in LA for the World's Largest Digital Media Technology Event
featuring keynotes from Rob Koenen, President, M4IF, Mark Jarvis, SVP,
Oracle Corporation, Shelby Bonnie, Chairman/CEO, CNET Networks, Inc. and
Jonathan Taplin, CEO, Intertainer.

All Streaming Media West attendees are invited to attend these dynamic
keynote addresses, which will showcase how streaming and digital media are
successfully being utilized across a multitude of business and media
platforms.

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

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o Briefly Noted:

(Paris) Consumer electronics firm Thomson Multimedia has announced the
launch of Mithic, new software for cell phones that will let users compose
and create their own ringtones using the phone itself. Tokyo-based NEC
will be the first mobile services provider to offer Mithic to all of the
Japanese wireless network operators. The Mithic software allows users to
dial the feel, tempo and genre of the tune on their phones, creating an
original ringtone for which no royalties need be paid.
http://www.thomson-multimedia.com/gb/06/c02/020225.htm

(Los Angeles) Interactive TV developer Two Way TV (U.S.) said on Wednesday
that it has partnered with Wink Communications, a provider of interactive
TV delivery technology, to develop and deliver interactive games for TV.
Los Angeles-based Two Way TV (U.S.) will distribute games to Wink-enabled
set-top boxes provided by cable and satellite TV operators. Initially,
content will include trivia, casino, arcade and word games. The companies
will also collaborate to utilize Wink's Prosync technology, which will
allow viewers to play along and participate in real time with game shows,
sporting events and other programming using their TV remote control.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020227/law035_1.html
http://www.twowaytvus.com
http://www.wink.com

(Eindhoven, Netherlands) Consumer electronics firm Philips and
semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics announced that they will support the
Multimedia Home Platform (MHP), one of several competing operating systems
for set-top boxes used to deliver digital and interactive television. The
two companies will jointly develop chips used in the devices. The MHP
standard is backed by almost 300 technology and broadcasting firms, and
competes with similar technologies developed by Microsoft and OpenTV.
STMicroelectronics stated that it may also support standards other than
MHP.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020226/260047_1.html
http://www.st.com
http://www.broadcast.philips.com

(Kansas City, Mo.) Wireless network operator Sprint PCS on Wednesday
announced an agreement with wireless imaging firm ActivePhoto to support
sending digital pictures over Sprint's 3G network. The service will let
users take a picture with a wireless-enabled digital camera, label it with
voice or text data, and send it to a website hosted by Sunnyvale,
Calif.-based ActivePhoto. Sprint's 3G network services are expected to be
available in mid-2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020227/cgw009_1.html
http://www.activephoto.com

(San Francisco) Wired News on Wednesday reported on the potential of WLAN
(wireless local area network) technology to steal revenue from the 3G
wireless networks currently being launched worldwide. Both technologies
offer high-speed Internet access over wireless connections, but a recent
report from research firm ARCchart said that WLAN technology could steal
as much as 64 percent of 3G revenues in the next four years. Companies
including WiFi Metro and Aerie Networks offer wireless networks that are
available in public places such as coffee shops and restaurants.
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,50689,00.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"

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

Confirmed panelists include Mark Blecher, Vice President, Electronic Arts;
Alec Hogg, VP of Sales & Strategic Relationships, WildTangent; 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; Doug Wallace,
VP of Business Development, WildTangent; 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