archives

o Senate Copyright Control Hearing Shows Partisanship On Issue
o Bankrupt Broadband Provider Excite@Home Closes Its Doors
o Report: Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to Generate $26.9B by 2006
o Japanese Wireless Network Operator NTT DoCoMo Debuts on NYSE
o Federal Court Slaps Media 100 Inc. With $2.5 Million Judgment
> Digital Media Wire Panel Discussion: Interactive Games -- S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: MLB Advanced Media - WhatIfSports, Video game physics
engines, Moxi Digital, Copy-protected CDs, Grammy Awards - anti-piracy
speech
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o Senate Copyright Control Hearing Shows Partisanship On Issue

Washington, D.C. -- Wired News reported on Friday that the issue of
government-mandated copyright control technology being placed in consumer
electronics devices began to take shape as a partisan battle during a
Thursday Senate Commerce Committee. "When Congress sits idly by in the
face of these activities, we essentially sanction the Internet as a haven
for thievery," Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) told those in attendance at
the hearing. Other Democrats echoed Hollings' view that legislation may be
necessary to protect Hollywood content from piracy, such as Sen. Barbara
Boxer (D-Calif.), while Republicans were more hesitant to endorse
government intervention into the technology industry. "While I do believe
government has a role to play in the development of a converged digital
environment, I would be extremely hesitant regarding any proposal for
government to mandate copy-protection technology," said Sen. Sam Brownback
(R-Kansas). Wired News also pointed out that according to figures
published by OpenSecrets.org, during the election of 2000 the
entertainment industry gave Democrats $24.2 million in contributions
compared to $13.3 million given to Republicans.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50754,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-847229.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Bankrupt Broadband Provider Excite@Home Closes Its Doors

Redwood City, Calif. -- Excite@Home, the bankrupt provider of broadband
Internet access, ceased operations at midnight on Thursday. The company's
customers included many who signed on through their cable TV providers.
Those who were not switched over to their cable provider's network as of
Friday were without service. Companies including Cox, Comcast and AT&T
allocated funds to Redwood City-based Excite@Home to continue operations
while they transitioned customers to their own rapidly built high-speed
networks. Although the company's last remaining employees didn't return to
work on Friday, Excite@Home's creditors -- which include phone companies,
landlords, lawyers, property-tax collectors, accounting firms and janitors
-- are still dealing with the company's lawyers during the ongoing
bankruptcy proceeding.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-848197.html
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o Report: Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to Generate $26.9B by 2006

San Jose, Calif. -- One in four messages sent over wireless networks will
be in the MMS (multimedia messaging service) format by the year 2006, when
the market will generate $26.9 billion, according to a research report
published Friday by market consultancy Frost and Sullivan. The MMS format
works in much the same way as does SMS, the text-messaging format used by
two-way pagers and many cell phones, but allows for the inclusion of
graphics, video, sound and other multimedia elements. Frost and Sullivan
forecasts that only 6 percent of cell phones shipped in 2002 will be
MMS-enabled, but expects mass-market penetration levels to be reached in
2005. "The burgeoning growth of MMS will offset the SMS decline in the
future. We expect MMS to account for 66.3 per cent of all mobile messaging
revenue (excluding e-mail) in 2006," said Frost and Sullivan research
analyst Eduardo Gonzalez.
http://www1.frost.com
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o Japanese Wireless Network Operator NTT DoCoMo Debuts on NYSE

Tokyo -- NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese wireless network operator responsible
for the I-mode phone and for aggressively launching 3G services in Asia,
on Friday announced its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. "Access to
greater liquidity will help us accelerate efforts to expand our business
and broaden the use of our industry-setting wireless technologies in
critical international markets like the United States," said NTT DoCoMo
CEO Keiji Tachikawa. The company already holds a 16 percent equity stake
in AT&T Wireless, and plans to expand on other existing alliances with
U.S. firms including Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, AOL Time Warner and
Hewlett-Packard.
http://investor.nttdocomo.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=73322&page=article&type=Press
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o Federal Court Slaps Media 100 Inc. With $2.5 Million Judgment

Marlboro, Mass. -- A federal jury trial between McRoberts Software and
Media 100 Inc., a developer of video editing and content creation software
and equipment, has resulted in a $2.5 million judgment against Media 100.
The dispute is related to a 1995 contract that called for Media 100 to
integrate McRoberts' character-generation software with its own editing
systems. The lawsuit contained allegations of copyright infringement,
trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract by
Massachusetts-based Media 100. The company said it plans to appeal the
decision.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020227/272563_1.html
http://www.media100.com
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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
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platforms.

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

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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Major League Baseball Advanced Media has partnered with
WhatIfSports to launch a new fantasy baseball game subscription service,
SimLeagues, on MLB.com. The game allows players to become both a general
manager and a manager as they choose among actual major league ball
players from the 1893-2001 seasons to create their own fantasy team and
watch game simulations. A full 162-game season is offered for $9.95 on the
site.
http://www.whatifsports.com
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/subscriptions/simleagues/mlb_simleagues_main.jsp

(London) BBC Online recently featured an article on the improvements in
physics engines that are implemented in video games to ensure that objects
interact properly, according somewhat to the laws of physics, so that
characters are not able to walk through walls. Companies including Surrey,
England-based Havok and Oxford-based Math Engine are creating specialized
physics engines to replace the custom-built engines that most developers
come up with on their own. "All games designers know enough basic physics
to keep the car on the track," Havok spokesman Paul Hayes told the BBC,
"but it's time-consuming and they are re-inventing the wheel every time."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1840000/1840796.stm
http://www.havok.com
http://www.mathengine.com/

(San Francisco) CNET on Friday reported on the state of home entertainment
server company Moxi Digital, whose founder and CEO Steve Perlman last week
stepped down to pursue his Rearden Steel Studios. Several board members
from outside the company have also relinquished their seats in recent
weeks. A source close to the company told CNET that Palo Alto-based Moxi
has asked employees to resubmit resumes, "possibly indicating that
management is looking to fit people into new roles in a merged company."
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-848492.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.moxi.com

(New York) The New York Times on Friday reported on the growing number of
copy-protected CDs being released in the U.S., and the problems with
limited playback capabilities that the discs have been causing for
consumers. The article includes a quote from a spokesman for Sony
Electronics, one of the companies that invented CD technology, on the new
copy-protected discs. "We do not approve the use of the CD logo on such
products," Sony spokesman Rick Clancy told The New York Times. "It puts us
in a position where we can't guarantee the playability or sound quality of
discs that may be used with our devices.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/01/technology/01PROT.html

(Los Angeles) Newsbytes recently featured an article that took reactions
to Recording Academy president Michael Greene's speech against the
Internet piracy of music during Wednesday's Grammy Awards broadcast. "No
question the most insidious virus in our midst is the illegal downloading
of music on the Net," Greene told the musicians in attendance and
television viewing audience. "It goes by many names and its apologists
offer a myriad of excuses. This illegal file-sharing and ripping of music
files is pervasive, out of control and oh, so criminal." Reactions from
ASCAP board member Dean Kay, Cherry Lane Digital CEO Jim Griffin and
recording artist Lester Chambers were among those gauged in the article.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174868.html
______________________

> 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
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFgames2.html

MODERATOR:
Greg Kasavin, Executive Editor, GameSpot

PANELISTS:
Mark Blecher, Vice President, Electronic Arts
Alec Hogg, VP of Sales & Strategic Relationships, WildTangent
Chad Richard, CEO, NoizePlay
Mark Surfas, Founder, Chairman and CEO, GameSpy
John Welch, VP of Games and Product Development, Shockwave.com

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
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames2.html

MODERATOR:
Billy Pidgeon, Digital Media Analyst

PANELISTS:
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
Doug Wallace, VP of Business Development, WildTangent
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