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March 2, 2004 --
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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
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
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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
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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
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Order
Available Now - Volume 1 - 2004 Report - 30 pages
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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
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read by over 30,000 executives and professionals. To
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Digital Media Wire, Inc. is part of the Tech Wire Media Group, an
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Law Report, Potomac Tech Wire, New England Tech Wire, Southeast Tech
Wire, Bay Area Tech Wire, Tri-state Tech Wire and European Tech
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Publications, Events & Information
Executive & Editorial Team
Chief Executive Officer: Ned Sherman
VP, Marketing & Events: Tinzar Than
Editor: Mark Hefflinger
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Copyright 2004 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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