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March 4, 2004 -- About Us | Advertise | Events | Publications | Subscribe

Main Stories
o Disney Board Votes to Strip CEO Eisner of Chairman Role
o Aussie Judge Denies Kazaa Motion to Exclude Evidence Seized by Labels
o Survey: 39% of Employees Still Using Office Networks for File-Sharing
o House Passes Copyright Royalty Determination Process Reform Act
o Eidos Acquires Danish "Hitman 2" Developer IO Interactive for $42 Million
o Scientific-Atlanta Developing Hybrid Cable TV Set-top/Video Game Console
o SBC to Add EchoStar Satellite TV to Roster of Telephone, DSL Services
o Satellite Radio Broadcaster XM Eliminates $135 Million in Debt


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

 > Featured Advertisement:
 --Digital Media Law Report
 

o Briefly Noted: Avril Lavigne - "flash mob" concerts, Atari - "Unreal Tournament 2004," Activision - "MTX: Mototrax," Quiet Tiger, Voom - NBC Cable Networks, RealNetworks - company woes

 
> Job/Event/Marketplace Classifieds:
 --Product Management and Marketing Education Conference 2004
 --New Business Analyst

 --HireStrategy - Financial Manager
 --Senior Manager, Corporate Public Affairs - Washington, DC
 --
Advertising Services CFO
 --PricewaterhouseCoopers' Entertainment and Media Outlook
 --Reach Federal Contractors Selling Technologies for Homeland Security
 --IT Perm and Contract Placement Services
 


o Disney Board Votes to Strip CEO Eisner of Chairman Role

Los Angeles -- Following a vote of no confidence from 43% of the company's shareholders, the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company voted yesterday to strip CEO Michael Eisner of his additional role as chairman of the company. The company named board member and former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell as chairman in his stead. Wednesday's vote of no confidence from shareholders came as Disney has seen sagging profits in recent years, as well as the loss of a lucrative partnership with digital animation studio Pixar and Eisner's rebuffing of a takeover offer from cable TV operator Comcast. "Today's unprecedented withhold vote by Disney's shareholders sends a powerful message that Disney's board and management need to focus more on shareholder interests," a Comcast spokeswoman told CNN. "Consistent with this focus, Disney's independent directors should immediately meet with Comcast so we can directly present our full and generous proposal and the benefits of the merger." Some of the shareholder groups are still hoping to see Eisner's full departure from the company; his current contract is set to expire in 2006.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-030404disney_lat,1,5870609.story
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/03/03/disney.eisner
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o Aussie Judge Denies Kazaa Motion to Exclude Evidence Seized by Labels

Sydney -- Australia's Sharman Networks, distributors of the Kazaa file-sharing software, have lost a legal motion to have evidence seized by the Australian record industry in February raids on its offices and executives' homes declared off-limits. Justice Murray Wilcox ruled that, despite similar legal actions taken against Kazaa in other jurisdictions -- in which the company complied with subpoenas during copyright infringement investigations -- the Anton Piller orders he issued to the record industry to conduct its searches without prior warning were justified. The judge ordered the two sides to meet and discuss the handing over of evidence seized in the raids. "We remain outraged at the heavy-handed tactics that have been used by the record industry to obtain information that we would have provided through the normal, appropriate court process," said Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming. In his ruling, Justice Wilcox noted that the Anton Piller orders were necessary in order to provide a "snapshot" of the inner workings of Kazaa while in progress. The Australian recording industry's case against Sharman Networks is now set to begin in earnest on March 23.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2004/183.html
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39116440,00.htm
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62532,00.html
http://www.sharmannetworks.com
_____________________________________________

o Survey: 39% of Employees Still Using Office Networks for File-Sharing

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- A survey of office workers has found that, despite the threat of potential legal action from the recording industry against their employers and themselves, 42% said they still use file-sharing software like Kazaa and Gnutella, and 39% said they do their trading on company networks. The survey was conducted in late 2003 and early 2004 by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Blue Coat Systems, which markets software that can monitor employees' Internet surfing habits. Nearly 60% of those surveyed said that they were unconcerned about a potential lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America.
http://www.bluecoat.com/news/releases/2004/030304_study.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L21932D97
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o House Passes Copyright Royalty Determination Process Reform Act

Washington -- The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a bill that would reform the current process used to determine the royalties that webcasters must pay to stream music online, abandoning the current governing body from an arbitration panel of several experts in favor of a single copyright judge. If passed in the Senate, the bill would replace the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), which was hotly contested for years as the recording industry and webcasters battled over royalty rates. "We have found it very difficult to find arbitrators who have sufficient familiarity with copyright law, let alone the complex statutory licenses in the law and the unique procedures for royalty distributions and rate adjustments," Marybeth Peters, the Copyright Office's Register of Copyrights, told Radio and Internet Newsletter.
http://www.theorator.com/bills108/hr1417.html
http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030404/index.asp
____________________________________________

o Eidos Acquires Danish "Hitman 2" Developer IO Interactive for $42 Million

London -- U.K.-based video game developer Eidos announced on Thursday that it will acquire Denmark-based developer IO Interactive, creators of titles like "Hitman 2" and "Freedom Fighters," for $42 million. The purchase price could increase to $51 million, based on a four year, performance based earn-out. Eidos, known for its "Tomb Raider" game franchise, said the acquisition of IO increases its internally owned intellectual property and strengthens its European creative base and resources for development.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040304/45179_1.html 
http://www.eidos.com 
http://www2.ioi.dk/Frontpage/Welcome.shtml ____________________________________________

o
Scientific-Atlanta Developing Hybrid Cable TV Set-top/Video Game Console

New York -- Scientific-Atlanta, a manufacturer of set-top boxes for digital TV services, has announced that it is developing a new set-top that will offer high-performance video gaming of the same quality of a PlayStation or Xbox, Reuters reported. "We have a partner we are working with who has 250 engineers in Europe writing software for the Explorer platform for games," said Scientific-Atlanta CEO James McDonald, adding, "I can give (game players) the same performance you get out of those game boxes …There is no question that games is one ... market we will be in." The company did not offer further details on the device or a proposed release date. The set-top box game console would likely not be sold separately in stores, but rather distributed into homes already subscribing to digital cable that are also interested in gaming.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2D715D97 
http://www.sciatl.com
____________________________________________

o
SBC to Add EchoStar Satellite TV to Roster of Telephone, DSL Services

San Antonio, Texas -- Telecommunications giant SBC announced that it has partnered with satellite TV operator EchoStar to offer its telephone and Internet subscribers the additional option to purchase DISH Network satellite TV service. SBC will offer a promotional bundle of services that includes local and long-distance telephone service, as well as a wireless plan from Cingular, broadband Internet access and 120 satellite TV channels for $125 per month -- which SBC says will give annual savings of $380 per customer over a la carte rates. SBC and EchoStar also said they plan to develop set-top boxes that combine the features of satellite TV, digital video recording, broadband, home networking and telecommunications services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040303/25981_1.html 
http://www.dishnetwork.com 
http://www.sbc.com
____________________________________________

o
Satellite Radio Broadcaster XM Eliminates $135 Million in Debt

Washington, D.C. -- XM Satellite Radio, the D.C.-based provider of nationwide satellite radio service, said on Thursday that it has eliminated $135 million of its debt. The company said that it repaid $81.2 million using the proceeds of an offering completed in January, and converted another $45.7 million into stock. In addition, XM said that General Motors has converted $7.8 million of senior notes into stock.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040304/nyth067_1.html 
http://www.xmradio.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:

(Baltimore) Arista Records recording artist Avril Lavigne will play shopping mall concerts in 21 U.S. cities that will be organized via "flash mobs," or brief, impromptu gatherings organized via email, message boards and blogs. Fans in the cities Lavigne will visit can sign up on her website to participate in the flash mobs, but will not be informed of the time or location of the performances until 48 hours prior. However, the Baltimore Sun noted, the concerts will also be announced on radio stations and on AOL's Digital City websites.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W21752D97 
http://www.avrillavigne.net

(Los Angeles) Atari announced on Thursday that North Carolina-based developer Epic Games' PC title "Unreal Tournament 2004" has gone gold, and will go on sale March 15. Developed in conjunction with Canada-based Digital Extremes, the game's free demo was downloaded over 1.5 million times in a single week.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040304/45484_1.html 
http://www.epicgames.com 
http://www.digitalextremes.com 
http://www.unrealtournament.com

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Video game publisher Activision on Thursday released its "MTX: Mototrax" title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The title features top riders including Travis Pastrana, and online multiplayer gaming elements. Westlake Village, Calif.-based Left Field Productions, creators of "Excitebike 64," developed the title for Activision.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040304/lath042_1.html 
http://www.activision.com 
http://www.left.com

(Phoenix, Ariz.) Quiet Tiger, a marketer of digital content security products, announced on Thursday that it has been approved for trading on the Berlin Stock Exchange. Quiet Tiger's main product is Phoenix-bases SunnComm's CD copy-protection technology, used by labels including BMG. "The Berlin Exchange should make obtaining shares less problematic for our German and European shareholders and should provide substantially improved liquidity in our common stock overall," said Quiet Tiger CEO William Whitmore.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040304/45218_1.html 
http://www.sunncomm.com 
http://www.quiettiger.com

(Jericho, N.Y.) Voom, the HDTV network created by cable TV operator Cablevision, announced on Thursday the addition of programming from a number of NBC Cable Networks properties. The nationwide service will now include high-definition programming from Bravo HD, in addition to standard definition broadcasts from Bravo, MSNBC and CNBC. The service now offers over 30 HD channels and over 75 standard definition channels.
http://www.voom.com

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Thursday profiled RealNetworks, the provider of media delivery technology that recently filed a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against rival Microsoft. However, News.com writes, "Microsoft's opposition is only one of a remarkable string of hardships faced by RealNetworks. The Seattle-based Internet pioneer has endured years of internal and external challenges, including new technologies, strategic mistakes and old-fashioned bad luck, that weren't caused by its crosstown rival."
http://news.com.com/2009-1023_3-5168648.html

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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
___________________

> New Business Analyst

John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. requires a self motivated individual that has an eye for detail. The primary responsibility include, processing of all new business for LTC, working with vendors to request underwriting requirements, supporting case management, registering applicants into our administrative system and being able to meet department standards for quality and quantity of work. Other responsibilities include: issuing business on administrative platform, producing, binding, and mailing policies; verifying quality of data entry and issuance. Apply online at http://www.jhancock.com/jobs  Click on Search for Open Positions at JH. Enter Job Code: 2299 in the Job I.D. Field
___________________

> 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
___________________ 

> 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.
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> 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.

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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.

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