archives

o Judge Sets Trial Date for Labels, Studios Case Vs. File-Sharing Services
o Despite Critics, DOJ Takes Over Review of Internet, Entertainment Mergers
o Report: Broadband Users Eclipse Dialup Users for Most Time Spent Online
o Russian Software Firm Digital Copyright Act Case Back In Court
> Digital Media Wire Panel Discussion: Interactive Games -- S.F. | NYC
o Briefly Noted: DivXNetworks - AMD, Liberate Technologies - Two Way TV,
RealNetworks, MLB "Condensed Games," NGame - Viacom's "Crossroads," TiVo - Best Buy, Vitaminic - TIM, Agent Arts - Rainbow Partners, .DJ domains, THQ - "Monsters, Inc."
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o Judge Sets Trial Date for Labels, Studios Case Vs. File-Sharing Services

Los Angeles -- Denying a request for summary judgment from file-sharing
service defendants Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster, U.S. District Court Judge
Stephen Wilson has set the date for Oct. 1 to begin a jury trial that will
examine copyright infringement claims filed by 28 entertainment industry
companies. Most movie studios and record labels represented by the Motion
Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of
America sued the operators of the three file-sharing services as their
popularity and traffic increased after Napster was taken offline during
their legal battle with that company. "There is an important principle at
stake here," said Fred von Lohmann, senior intellectual property attorney
for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is among the parties
representing Morpheus distributor StreamCast Networks. "Morpheus, as a
technology that has numerous noninfringing uses, should be legal for the
same reasons that VCRs, photocopiers, mp3 players, and CD burners are
legal."
http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/20020304_eff_pr.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-851332.html
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50836,00.html
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o Despite Critics, DOJ Takes Over Review of Internet, Entertainment Mergers

Washington -- Despite vocal criticism from Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.),
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
have gone ahead with their plans to exchange roles and turn over review of
Internet, telecommunications, software and entertainment company mergers
to the DOJ. "There had been an ongoing dialogue between our staffs on
this, but they have apparently just decided to go ahead against his
objections," Hollings spokesman Andy Davis told Newsbytes. "He is still
strongly opposed to this approach." The Justice Dept. hailed the agreement
in a statement. "This agreement will improve our law enforcement efforts,"
said Charles A. James, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's
Antitrust Division. "Allocating industry sectors in a more rational manner
will enable the Department to investigate more efficiently possible
anticompetitive conduct affecting consumers and will provide greater
certainty to the business community, all of which is good for consumers."
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/03/clearance.htm
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174971.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-851790.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Report: Broadband Users Eclipse Dialup Users for Most Time Spent Online

New York -- The number of hours spent online by all U.S. broadband users
eclipsed the total time spent online for dialup users for the first time
in January, according to a report released on Tuesday by Internet audience
measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings. Broadband surfers logged 1.19 billion
hours online in January, accounting for 51 percent of the total time spent
online, compared with 1.14 billion hours logged by dialup modem users. The
numbers represent a 64 percent increase for broadband and 3 percent
decrease for dialup in total time spent online compared with the figures
from the same period last year. "Broadband surfers spend as much time
online as narrowband surfers and also comprise a growing proportion of the
overall online population," said NetRatings analyst Jarvis Mak.
"Increasingly, online business models will be built and marketed with the
broadband surfer in mind."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020305/50168_1.html
http://www.netratings.com
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o Russian Software Firm Digital Copyright Act Case Back In Court

San Jose, Calif. -- In a case between the U.S. government and a Russian
software firm, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte will seek to
determine whether or not the Internet should be considered a physical
space, subject to different jurisdictional laws, or if it is beyond the
scope of any one country's laws, Wired News reported on Tuesday. Lawyers
for Elcomsoft, a Russian firm that sold software capable of circumventing
security on Adobe's eBook Reader, argued in court on Monday that the U.S.'
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) should not apply because the
company does not operate in the U.S. In a hearing set for April 1, the
judge will examine Elcomsoft's argument that the DMCA is "overly broad and
vague in violation of the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution."
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50832,00.html
http://www.elcomsoft.com
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WITH ALL THE MEDIA ATTENTION THAT VOD SERVICES ARE GETTING THESE DAYS, WHY NOT FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN PROFIT?

THE CARMEL GROUP will host CONVERGENCE 2002: VOD - WHERE IS THE DEMAND? A video-on-demand dinner panel and networking session on Wednesday, March 13, from 6-10 pm at the Marina Beach Marriott in Marina del Rey, CA.

Participating companies include Canal+ Technologies, DirecTV, DIVA, Keen
Personal Media, Liberate and Starz Encore Group. Register online or by
phone prior to March 11 for only $60, or register three attendees for
$125. The cost will be $80 at the door.

For more information, please call 831-643-2222 or visit our The Carmel
Group website:
http://www.carmelgroup.com/conferences/conv2002/conv2002.cfm
info@carmelgroup.com

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Bender/Helper Impact is a full-service, mid-sized public relations agency
with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. The agency, which
was founded in 1986, offers strong expertise and capabilities in the areas
of digital entertainment and convergence, new media, electronic gaming,
technology and consumer electronics. Current clients include: Dolby, 20th
Century Fox, Konami, Roxio, DreamWorks, Marvel Enterprises, MGM and Warner Bros., among many others.

To find out how Bender/Helper can impact your business, contact Steve
Honig, Senior Vice President, 310-473-4147, or email:
steve_honig@bhimpact.com.

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STREAMING MEDIA RESEARCH REPORT: Streaming Rollout for Traditional Radio Broadcasters

This report for terrestrial radio broadcasters is a comprehensive analysis
of industry best practices, vendors, online business models and economics
giving broadcast engineers and managers the technical intelligence they
need to implement an effective digital media strategy.

Topics include: choosing a streaming provider, legal, copyright and
licensing issues, realizing additional revenue through in-stream
advertising, tracking and analyzing webcast audiences, and emerging
technological innovations.
Buy the report before March 6, 2002 and pay only $395 - a $100 savings!

Visit http://www.streamingmedia.com/research/ for further information.

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o Briefly Noted:

(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression technology,
announced the release of DivX 5.0, offering faster encoding and decoding,
up to 41 percent smaller file sizes, compatibility with MPEG-4 standards
and support for Mac OS. San Diego-based DivXNetworks worked with chipmaker AMD to optimize DivX 5.0 for the AMD's Athlon XP processor, and also said it released a version of the product for video professionals, DivX Pro.
http://www.divxnetworks.com

(San Carlos, Calif.) Interactive TV developer Liberate Technologies
announced on Tuesday that it has licensed enhanced TV technology from Two
Way TV, a provider of games for interactive TV. London-based Two Way TV
develops interactive versions of TV game shows and sporting events,
allowing viewers to vote, interact with ads and participate in on-screen
betting with their television's remote control.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020305/sftu036_3.html
http://www.liberate.com
http://www.twowaytv.com

(Seattle) Media delivery technology provider RealNetworks on Tuesday
released the Gold version of its RealOne Player, which was released in a
beta version in December. The software includes a new TurboPlay feature,
which Seattle-based RealNetworks says provides "near-instant playback" for
broadband users by reducing the amount of time required for buffering of
video and audio content. The company also introduced a $9.95/mo. SuperPass
subscription service, adding access to content including MLB Condensed
Games and 40 channels of commercial-free online radio previously available
only through RealOne Music Pass to its offering.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020305/sftu101_1.html

(New York) Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) announced on
Tuesday that it will offer a new paid service featuring condensed video
versions of major league baseball games. The 300K video streams show only
the hits, runs and outs in a game, cutting the running time to 20 minutes.
New York-based MLBAM will make its Condensed Games available on MLB.com, streamed through RealNetworks' RealOne Player, about 90 minutes after the completion of each game.
http://www.mlb.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Wireless entertainment developer NGame announced on
Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Viacom Consumer Products to
publish games, ringtones and graphics based on Paramount Pictures'
"Crossroads," a new release starring recording artist Britney Spears.
NGame partnered with Los Angeles-based Premium Wireless Services USA to
provide ringtones and graphics and with Seattle-based Mforma to develop an
SMS-based trivia game. Redwood City-based NGame is also developing games
based on the movie for 3G wireless devices.
http://www.ngame.com/press/20020304.html
http://www.pws.ws
http://www.mforma.com

(San Jose, Calif.) Personal video recorder maker TiVo announced on Monday
that electronics and media retail chain Best Buy will be the exclusive
retailer of its new TiVo Series2 device, beginning in May. The two
companies will also launch a joint initiative to educate consumers on the
features of TiVo.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020305/sftu094_1.html
http://www.bestbuy.com

(Milan) Vitaminic, a network of international digital music websites, said
on Tuesday that it will serve as a content provider and manager of digital
music services for Italian wireless network operator TIM, a division of
Telecom Italia Group. Both major label and local independent music will be
provided to owners of GSM network phones, as well as through TIM's voice
portal and its site for WAP wireless platform users.
http://www.vitaminic.com
http://www.tim.it

(San Francisco) AgentArts, a provider of music navigation, recommendation,
and playlist management technologies, has partnered with Rainbow Partners,
a Japanese provider of music meta-data technology and infrastructure, to
offer its technology in the Japanese market. The two companies are also
negotiating to develop Japanese music-specific recommendation software
that can be implemented in media player applications.
http://www.agentarts.com
http://www.rainbow.co.jp/rp/e/index.html

(Clearwater, Fla.) Visiosonic, a developer of DJ mixing software,
announced on Tuesday that it has begun registration of domain names for
the .DJ domain. Florida-based Visiosonic is registering domains as a
result of an agreement with the East African Republic of Djibouti, to
which the domain was assigned.
http://www.pcdj.com

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ announced on Tuesday that it
will publish a game based on the Disney/Pixar digitally animated film
"Monsters, Inc." for Nintendo GameCube in the fall of 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020305/50219_1.html
http://www.thq.com
http://www.disneyinteractive.com
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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
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
Jim Schoenburg, Chief Operating Officer, BrandPlay Entertainment
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