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March 2, 2004 -- About Us | Advertise | Events | Publications | Subscribe

Main Stories
o New Owners to Cut 20% of Workforce at Warner Music Group
o Sony: U.S. PlayStation 2 Sales Top 25 Million; 2.6 Million Gaming Online
o HP, Philips Technology to Allow One-Time Copying of Digital TV Shows
o Report: Online Advertising Rebounds in 2003
o Sprint to Abandon Tracking Stock for Wireless Division
o Loudeye Acquires P2P Anti-Piracy Firm OverPeer for $4 Million
o Metallica Waffles on Digital Music, Will Sell MP3 Concert Downloads
o Gemstar-TV Guide Ends Patent Dispute With EchoStar, Sells Some Assets
o Report: 2.6 Million Europeans Will Get HDTV by 2008


 > DMW Announcements
 --DMW Events
   -Games & Mobile Forum - Early-Bird Registrations

 > Featured Advertisement:
 --Digital Media Law Report
 

o Briefly Noted: Yahoo - Content Acquisition Program, INgrooves - Video Without Boundaries, Infinium Labs - E3, Atari - "Dead Man's Hand," Square Enix U.S.A. - "Drakengard," THQ - "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem," Thomson/Fraunhofer - MP3 + DRM

 
> Job/Event/Marketplace Classifieds:
 --Product Management and Marketing Education Conference 2004
 --
HireStrategy - Financial Manager
 --Senior Manager, Corporate Public Affairs - Washington, DC
 --
Advertising Services CFO
 --Sr. Accountant
 --Director of Finance 
 --Product Manager
 --PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook
 --Reach Federal Contractors Selling Technologies for Homeland Security
 --IT Perm and Contract Placement Services
 --Participate in the NJTC - Rutgers Business Climate Survey 
 


o New Owners to Cut 20% of Workforce at Warner Music Group

New York -- Warner Music Group (WMG), purchased this week for $2.6 billion from Time Warner by a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., announced on Tuesday a restructuring that will see the company cut 20% of its global workforce of 5,300. The layoffs are expected to take place within the next 30 days. The company also announced the departure of several top executives, including Elektra chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone; Atlantic Group co-chairman and co-CEO Val Azzoli; and Ron Shapiro, co-president of Atlantic Records. The company said that former Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen -- recently named chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music at WMG -- will serve as interim chairman at both Elektra and Atlantic until a final management structure is announced in the near future. "While the restructuring necessitates some painful changes, they are vital to creating a more agile organization that will allow us to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving marketplace and to take full advantage of future opportunities," said WMG chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
http://www.wmg.com
_____________________________________________

o Sony: U.S. PlayStation 2 Sales Top 25 Million; 2.6 Million Gaming Online

Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on Tuesday that it has now sold over 25 million PlayStation 2 video game consoles in North America, and shipped a total of 70 million PlayStation 2 consoles worldwide. The company also announced that it has met its goal of connecting 5 to 10% of its North American installed base of PlayStation 2 consoles to the Internet during the device's life cycle, as 2.6 million U.S. consoles are now connected to the Internet for online gaming. "With more than a quarter of a billion gamers and 2.6 million connected consoles, we have yet again surpassed all expectations," said Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Kaz Hirai.
http://www.us.playstation.com
_____________________________________________

o HP, Philips Technology to Allow One-Time Copying of Digital TV Shows

Palo Alto, Calif. -- PC maker HP announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with consumer electronics firm Philips to develop a new copy-protection technology designed to allow recording of "copy-once" digital broadcasts to DVD recorder devices. The joint solution supports the "broadcast flag" -- an FCC-mandated security for new digital TV devices that will allow broadcasters to prevent their programs from being shared over the Internet -- while preserving viewers' traditional "fair use" rights to make personal copies. The new discs proposed by HP and Philips, and submitted to the FCC for approval, will support recording of copy-once TV shows in DVD+R and DVD+RW, formats supported by Philips' devices. The technology will not support the competing DVD-R/DVD-RW formats, backed by manufacturers including Samsung, JVC, Matsushita, Hitachi and Toshiba. HP also announced on Tuesday that it has licensed Intel's HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) technology, which protects video traveling via cable between two devices from unauthorized copying.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25247_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25240_1.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X14225797 
http://www.philips.com 
http://www.hp.com
____________________________________________

o Report: Online Advertising Rebounds in 2003

New York, N.Y. -- Online advertising rebounded strongly in 2003, according to a new report by online marketing firm DoubleClick and Nielsen//NetRatings, a provider of Internet audience measurement services. "Last year marked the first time that large traditional advertisers began to spend more online," said Charles Buchwalter, the vice president of client analytics for Nielsen//NetRatings. According to the report, the online medium outpaced several categories of traditional media in terms of spending growth. For the report, DoubleClick augmented its own ad serving data with data from Nielsen's measurements of offline and online media spending. "All indicators support that 2003 was the year online advertising rebounded," said Doug Knopper, a senior vice president for DoubleClick.
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com ____________________________________________

o Sprint to Abandon Tracking Stock for Wireless Division

Overland Park, Kan. -- Telecommunications firm Sprint announced that it will eliminate the separate tracking stock it launched in 1998 for its wireless division (PCS), opting to fold the shares into its main offering as the company begins offering combined fixed-line and wireless telephone services. Under the terms of the transaction, Sprint PCS shareholders will receive one share of Sprint stock for every two shares of Sprint PCS they hold. The PCS tracking stock was initially spun-off so that investors could buy into the wireless division of Sprint without connections to the parent company's other activities. "The industry has changed pretty radically since we created [the tracking stocks] in 1998… [they] "served their purpose at the time, and now that time has gone," Sprint spokesman Bill White told The Washington Post.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040229/nysu001a_1.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H2B353797 ____________________________________________

o Loudeye Acquires P2P Anti-Piracy Firm OverPeer for $4 Million

Seattle -- Loudeye Technologies, a provider of streaming song samples and other digital media services, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired OverPeer, a music anti-piracy technology firm, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4 million. New York-based OverPeer works with major record labels, film studios, television networks, game publishers and software companies, offering monitoring of peer-to-peer file-sharing services on their behalf, as well as "spoofing" of files on the networks to deter potential copyright infringement. The company said that its spoof files were downloaded 25 million times on file-sharing services during last month alone. "Overpeer's strong technology and products are a natural fit with our digital music and media solutions and we share a common goal of driving legitimate digital media revenue and monetizing content across all digital distribution channels," said Loudeye chairman Anthony Bay.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040302/sftu062_1.html 
http://www.overpeer.com 
http://www.loudeye.com
____________________________________________

o Metallica Waffles on Digital Music, Will Sell MP3 Concert Downloads

Marina del Rey, Calif. -- Metal band Metallica, an ardent opponent of digital music distribution through file-sharing services, announced on Tuesday an agreement with technology firms CinemaNow and its affiliated Nugs.net music distribution service, to offer fans the ability to purchase digital downloads of their live shows days after they are performed. LiveMetallica.com will offer downloads of shows from the band's current tour in the unprotected MP3 format for $9.95 each and in the higher audio fidelity FLAC file format (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for $12.95 each. Marina del Rey, Calif.-based CinemanNow and Nugs.net also power the online concert download store for the jam band Phish.
http://www.cinemanow.com 
http://www.nugs.net  
http://www.livemetallica.com ____________________________________________

o Gemstar-TV Guide Ends Patent Dispute With EchoStar, Sells Some Assets

Los Angeles -- Building on its recent string of licensing agreements, Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of electronic program guides for digital TV services, announced on Tuesday that it has licensed its program guide to satellite TV broadcaster EchoStar, and settled its four-year patent dispute with the company. The agreement includes a one-time payment by EchoStar of $140 million to license Gemstar's guide for use on its DISH Network service. Separately, the companies said that EchoStar has acquired Gemstar's Superstar/Netlink Group (SNG), UVTV distribution, and SpaceCom businesses and related assets for $48 million in cash. Los Angeles-based Gemstar's deal with EchoStar follows a similar deal last week in which the company ended litigation and licensed its technology to consumer electronics firm Pioneer, and recent licensing agreements with firms including Mitsubishi, LG and Comcast.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25432_1.html 
http://www.echostar.com 
http://www.gemstartvguide.com ____________________________________________

o Report: 2.6 Million Europeans Will Get HDTV by 2008

London -- An estimated 2.6 million European homes will be receiving high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts by 2008, according to a report from London-based Strategy Analytics. Europeans bought 70,000 HDTV-capable displays in 2003, a number predicted to grow to 17.4 million in 2008. Still, only 2.6 million of these are expected to also own the set-top boxes necessary to receive high-definition broadcasts. To date, only one European broadcaster, Euro1080, has launched a satellite HDTV service, currently offering a slate of four hours of HDTV programming each day. Strategy Analytics expects European HDTV programming to become mainstream in 2006, and recommends that "manufacturers, programmers and broadcasters establish a European HDTV forum to coordinate standards and avoid unnecessary market fragmentation."
http://www.strategyanalytics.com

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 > DMW Events:



2nd
Annual
GAMES & MOBILE FORUM

April 15
, 2004  |  New York City
www.gamesandmobile.com

Overview
Games & Mobile Forum is 1-day executive forum focused on business and technology developments impacting games and mobile entertainment.  In 2003, leading executives from entertainment and technology companies including, Yahoo! Games, AOL Games, Atari,  Acclaim, Warner Bros. Online, AtomShockwave, CNET, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), The Endeavor Agency, Mythic Entertainment and Digital Bridges participated in a series of panels on topics, including "Mobile Games: The Coming Wireless Revolution", "Developing Games Based on Film, Television & Music Properties and Visa-Versa"", and "Advergames: Recent Developments & Opportunities".

REGISTRATION
Early Bird Special: $ 195 (until March 12)
Pre-Registration: $ 295 (until April 9)
Registration: $ 395 (after April 9)

Online :  http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1060 
Phone: 323-464-0793

To submit speakers for the 2004 conference, please send a bio and photo (optional) to Tinzar Than, VP, Marketing & Events, Digital Media Wire, Inc. at tinzar@digitalmediawire.com.


Past Events | Sponsorship Materials | Partners & Clients
 

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> Featured Advertisement: 

Digital Media Law Report
New Featured Section - Volume 1 - 2004

We are pleased to announce that we have added a "Featured Section" to Digital Media Law & Policy Report. This month's featured coverage includes reports on the oral arguments held before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in MGM v. Grokster and a "Post-Conference Report" from MidemNet 2004. We will use this section to provide in depth coverage of certain cases, events and policy developments each month. Subscriptions - Order

Available Now - Volume 1 - 2004 Report - 30 pages - Order
 

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o Briefly Noted:

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo on Tuesday announced a Content Acquisition Program for its newly independent search engine, intended to increase the amount of Web pages indexed when users search on Yahoo. The company, which recently dropped search results from Google in favor of its own, said that its index will now be updated with content from noncommercial providers including the Library of Congress, UCLA, National Public Radio, Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia. The commercial component of Yahoo's drive to grow its search index will be its Overture Services unit's paid inclusion program, which allows advertisers to pay a fee to have their websites added to the index more quickly and with more frequent updates.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25391_1.html 
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5167931.html

(Miami) INgrooves, a provider of online dance and electronic music licensing services, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with home entertainment device maker Video Without Boundaries (VWB) to promote a service that will deliver dance and electronic music to bars, restaurants and hotels. San Francisco-based INgrooves will distribute VWB's MediaREADY 4000 convergent Internet DVD/CD player along with its Music Delivery Service, enabling updating of songs via an Internet connection. The companies expect the product to become widely available by mid-year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040302/phtu019_1.html 
http://www.ingrooves.com 
http://www.vwbinc.com

(Sarasota, Fla.) Infinium Labs, a company developing a PC-based gaming console for on-demand games, announced on Tuesday that it will demonstrate its Phantom Gaming System to the public for first time at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game convention in May.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040302/phtu017_1.html 
http://www.phantom.net

(Beverly, Mass.) Video game publisher Atari on Tuesday shipped its "Dead Man's Hand" title for Microsoft Xbox to retailers. Developed by Madison, Wisc.-based Human Head Studios, the title utilizes Epic Games' Unreal game engine and features multiplayer online elements enabled through Xbox Live. Atari said a PC version of the title will ship later this month.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25624_1.html 
http://www.humanhead.com 
http://www.deadmanshandgame.com

(Los Angeles) Square Enix U.S.A., the U.S. distribution arm of the Japanese game developer, announced on Tuesday the release of "Drakengard" for PlayStation 2 in North America. The company is best known for its "Final Fantasy" game franchise, which was adapted for a feature-length, digitally animated film.
http://www.square-enix-usa.com/games/drakengard

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ announced on Tuesday the release of its "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem" title for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The game was created by Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based THQ based on a license of the property from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040302/25367_1.html 
http://www.thq.com

(Los Angeles) The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that Thomson and Fraunhofer, the company and research institute responsible for licensing the ubiquitous MP3 digital audio codec, are currently developing a digital rights management scheme for a new MP3 format. Unlike current MP3s, which may be freely copied and distributed at will, the new format would offer content providers protection against unauthorized copying -- and compete with existing protected audio formats like WMA, AAC and ATRAC3. Thomson director of technology marketing Rocky Caldwell told CNET News.com that devices and services supporting the new format are expected to reach the market by the end of this year.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-music1mar01,1,2661693.story
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5167841.html 
http://www.thomson.com 
http://www.fraunhofer.de/english

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> Classifieds:

> Product Management and Marketing Education Conference 2004

The Association of International Product Marketing and Management presents a remarkable opportunity on March 21-23 to expand your skills and knowledge plus receive career enhancing certification. This show-how event will cover value proposition creation, best practices, launch, product life-cycle strategies, market and competitive assessment, financial acumen, product positioning, cross-functional teams and features Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures as keynote speaker. Info: conference2004@aipmm.com  http://www.aipmm.com/html/pmec/conf_home.php
___________________ 

> HireStrategy - Financial Manager

Join a progressive health care firm seeking an analyst to assist with valuation and due diligence of health care clinics to assist with corporate growth initiatives. The right candidate must have four plus years of experience with a Big-4 background and exposure to modeling in Excel, or a Wall Street background with exposure to generating discounted cash flows. The manager will oversee a team of five analysts, while providing hands-on deal support. If interested please email resume to mmolinas@hirestrategy.com  or visit http://www.hirestrategy.com/quicklinks/hire170.asp
___________________ 

> Senior Manager, Corporate Public Affairs - Washington, DC

Come work with a dynamic and talented team committed to providing the industry's best online grassroots and constituent management applications. Applicant will be responsible for managing the entire sales cycle from lead generation, to account strategy, to closing; should have demonstrated experience and success selling software or services to government relations, public affairs and/or public relations professionals; or have significant agency experience working with Fortune 1000 companies. Send resumes to salesjob@getactive.com
___________________ 

> Advertising Services CFO

Our client, a leading New England based Advertising Agency, is seeking a CFO. All candidates must have Financial Services experience working within a creative driven marketing services firm. Also, all candidates require a CPA and at least 10 plus years of professional experience. This marketing services firm has roughly 200 people and three, multi-state satellite offices. The CFO will have financial responsibilities for all and a small team of reports. This position is located in New England, not Boston, and will require 100% company paid relocation. Send resumes to info@market-search.net
___________________ 

> Sr. Accountant

Support the CFO of fast-growing, Information Technology firm in Silver Spring. Responsibilities: A/R and A/P; monthly financial forecasts and cash flow statements; bank reconciliations; benchmarking and other financial analysis; financial presentations; and administrative accounting support. Required: B.S. in Accounting or Finance, demonstrated exp. in Excel. Knowledge of QuickBooks, past exp. in government accounting environments a plus; CPA preferred. Starts PT March 1, transitions to FT April 1. Competitive compensation pkg. w/ great benefits. Send resume to info@e-mcinc.com
___________________ 

> Director of Finance

Supervise an effective system of internal accounting controls and safeguarding of assets. Establish/Understand company-wide budgets and forecasts and oversee implementation among departments. Prepare and oversee Irides accounting and financial reporting including: gl, accounts payable, accounts receivable, credit and collections, payroll, fixed assets, budgeting, bank account and balance sheet account reconciliation. Provide accounting and analytical support to the COO and other members. Comply with corporate policies and procedures. Send resumes to jobs@irides.com  No calls please.
___________________ 

> Product Manager

Top Tier Software Manufacturer, based in New York looking for experienced Product Manager for the Princeton, NJ, Manhattan or Lisle, IL locations. Define and manage product strategy and requirements for mainframe Performance Management solutions. Perform market research, competitive intelligence and analysis. Work with Development to plan product release deliverables. 4+ years Mainframe Performance Management experience. Strong mainframe(z/OS) configuration and performance tuning skills. Experience with product life cycle. Send resumes to fgreene@lloydit.com
___________________

> PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook

Purchase the book every entertainment and media executive must have. The PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2003-2007 analyzes key trends and forecasts spending in the U.S. and Canada across 14 industry segments, including a Global Overview that forecasts spending and analyzes trends worldwide (also sold separately). More Information
___________________

> Reach Federal Contractors Selling Technologies for Homeland Security

The 2003-2004 Directory of Homeland Security has complete listings for 532 companies selling technologies and services devoted to homeland defense. Nearly all major federal contractors are included in the section, which includes company names, key personnel, addresses, phone and fax numbers, urls, annual revenues, number of employees, business sector, general descriptions and homeland security relevance. To order the 2003-2004 edition, click here.
___________________

> IT Perm and Contract Placement Services

Technical Staffing Solutions specializes in recruiting the hard to find candidates with or with high level DoD security clearances. We can provide your firm with solutions ranging from 1 permanent employee to a team of consultants for the duration of your short/long term engagement. Send inquiries to skearnes@techstaffsolutions.com or call 703-451-3882 for more information.
___________________ 

> Participate in the NJTC - Rutgers Business Climate Survey

The New Jersey Technology Council and Rutgers University School of Business at Camden are conducting their fourth semi-annual survey to measure the economic health of the technology industry in the region. Please take a few moments to complete the brief questions at the below link. Survey closes 2/29. Send inquiries to pfrank@njtc.org  Visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=70772368163

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About Us
Digital Media Wire, Inc. is a news organization, publisher and events company serving the digital media industry since May 2000. Our daily newsletter delivers original briefings on business, legal and financial developments shaping digital media and read by over 30,000 executives and professionals. To subscribe for free, please click here.

Digital Media Wire, Inc. is part of the Tech Wire Media Group, an international network of publications that includes Digital Media Law Report, Potomac Tech Wire, New England Tech Wire, Southeast Tech Wire, Bay Area Tech Wire, Tri-state Tech Wire and European Tech Wire. The network reaches more than 70,000 individuals from over 70 countries each business day.

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VP, Marketing & Events: Tinzar Than
Editor: Mark Hefflinger

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