archives

o Patent Could Allow Satellite Radio to Compete With Local Radio for Ads
o Video-on-Demand Technology Provider N2 Broadband Raises $10 Million
o Judge Dismisses Claims by Columbine Families Against Video Game Firms
o Press Release Distributor Internet Wire Raises $4 Million
o Intertainer Launches Branded Video-on-Demand Service for Third Parties
o Briefly Noted: Fox Filmed Entertainment - Yahoo, Walt Disney Internet
Group - Qualcomm's BREW, EarthLink - Forbes.com, Broadjam, Slate -
MSNBC.com - Lavalife, Satellite radio - digital radio, Morpheus vs. Kazaa,
MPEG-LA vs. open source
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>DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PANEL DISCUSSION SERIES:
"Interactive Games on the Internet: Recent Developments"

Register to join leading executives at our upcoming breakfast panels in
San Francisco (March 12) and New York City (March 14).

San Francisco: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFgames2.html
New York City: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames2.html
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o Patent Could Allow Satellite Radio to Compete With Local Radio for Ads

Washington -- The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has released
a statement condemning satellite-delivered radio provider XM Satellite
Radio for what it calls a "secret patent" the company obtained that would
allow it to compete with local radio stations for advertising dollars. XM
requested the rights to install land-based "repeater" antennas that it
says will help provide higher quality signals, but could also potentially
be used to deliver local ads and shows catering to regional markets. XM
has an agreement with broadcasters not to compete for local advertising.
"We are astonished to learn that XM Radio has secretly acquired a patent
that will allow the company to provide local programming," said NAB CEO
Edward Frittis. Washington-based XM responded to the allegation in a
Washington Post article. "We are a national radio service," XM spokesman
Charles Robbins told The Post. "And we have no intention of broadcasting
locally."
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/statements/s0502.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44251-2002Mar5.html
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o Video-on-Demand Technology Provider N2 Broadband Raises $10 Million

Atlanta -- N2 Broadband, a provider of video-on-demand delivery
technology, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $10 million in its
latest round of venture capital financing. Highland Capital Partners led
the investment round, which included funds provided by previous investor
AOL Time Warner Ventures. Atlanta-based N2 Broadband provides digital
asset management and delivery, billing and security components for content
providers and four major cable TV companies that offer video-on-demand
services. To date, the company has raised a total of $17 million.
http://www.n2broadband.com
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o Judge Dismisses Claims by Columbine Families Against Video Game Firms

Denver -- U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock has dismissed claims filed on
behalf of victims of the 1999 school shootings at Columbine High School
against a number of video game firms, the Associated Press reported. The
suit argued that video game firms such as Id Software, developer of the
game "Doom" and also one of the defendants in the suit, influenced Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold in their decision to launch an assault at their
school. "Setting aside any personal distaste, as I must, it is manifest
that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of
entertainment, even if they contain violence," Judge Babcock wrote in his
ruling. Other defendants in the suit included Time Warner, Sony Computer
Entertainment America and Palm Pictures. The plaintiffs in the case plan
to appeal.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2002/03/05/columbine/index.html
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o Press Release Distributor Internet Wire Raises $4 Million

Los Angeles -- Internet Wire, an online service that distributes press
releases to journalists on behalf of companies, announced on Wednesday
that it has raised $4 million in its latest round of funding. Blue Chip
Venture led the investment round; Hummer Winblad Venture Partners,
Montreux Equity Partners, Osprey Ventures and Sequoia Capital also
participated. Los Angeles-based Internet Wire distributes news releases
for 2,500 clients, including AT&T, IBM, Oracle and USA Networks. The
company expects the funding to take it to profitability in the fall of
this year.
http://www1.internetwire.com/iwire/release_html_b1?release_id=38963
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o Intertainer Launches Branded Video-on-Demand Service for Third Parties

Culver City, Calif. -- Intertainer, a provider of Internet-based
video-on-demand (VOD) programming and services, announced on Wednesday
that it has developed an end-to-end system that it will market to cable TV
operators, broadband providers and content owners wishing to launch their
own VOD services. The Demand E.S.P. service will include asset management
and production, programming and scheduling, usage reporting, royalty
management and other features. Culver City-based Intertainer said that
Canadian broadband provider Aliant Telecom will be the service's first
client. In addition to providing technology, Intertainer will also assist
Aliant in licensing feature film, television and music programming for the
service, which Aliant will offer to its 70,000 DSL subscribers.
http://www.intertainer.tv/news/43.html
http://www.aliant.ca/english/index.html
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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 WEST 2002 -- April 23-26, Los Angeles Convention Center

Streaming Media West 2002 is the World's Largest Digital Media Technology
Event, featuring an extensive exhibition floor and an intensive four-day
Conference program.

Co-located with Internet World Spring, Streaming Media West is the premier
event for business and technology professionals to conduct business,
discover the latest advancements in streaming and digital media and forge
valuable relationships.

Join us in Los Angeles and discover for yourself the business and
technology of streaming and digital media! For your FREE Exhibition pass
or to save $200 on your full Conference pass visit
http://www.streamingmedia.com/west
Or contact register@streamingmedia.com or 888 301-8890

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o Briefly Noted:

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo announced on Wednesday that it has signed an
online promotional and market research agreement with Fox Filmed
Entertainment. Under the agreement, Fox will promote new releases and home
entertainment titles on Yahoo, with Yahoo providing market research
feedback on the promotions. The first titles Fox will promote include the
digitally animated movie "Ice Age" and the Steven Spielberg-directed
"Minority Report."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020306/60066_1.html
http://movies.yahoo.com

(North Hollywood, Calif.) Walt Disney Internet Group said on Wednesday
that it is developing ESPN-branded wireless sports games for wireless
technology firm Qualcomm's BREW platform. Games developed by Disney
Interactive will include "ESPN's 2-Minute Drill," based on the cable
network's sports trivia quiz show of the same name, as well as "ESPN X
Games Skateboarding" and "ESPN X Games Snowboarding."
http://disney.go.com/corporate/press/wdig/

(Atlanta) Internet access provider EarthLink said on Wednesday that it has
signed an agreement with financial news site Forbes.com to provide news,
content and portfolio services to EarthLink subscribers on their EarthLink
Personal Start Page.
http://finance.earthlink.net
http://www.forbes.com  

(New Glarus, Wisc.) Broadjam, a provider of music industry professional
software, has released a Web-based song indexing database and search
engine for music publishers. Wisconsin-based Broadjam employs music
professionals to encode music files and then listen to determine the right
genre and sub-genre; select the appropriate subject matter of the songs;
record the tempo; determine the language in which songs are sung; research
similar artists; look up historical chart positions, and extract a
memorable portion of the song to provide with the online listing. The
company said it has licensed its system to The Orchard, an independent
music distributor.
http://www.broadjam.com/splash/news.asp

(Redmond, Wash.) Online magazine Slate.com, published by Microsoft, said
on Wednesday that it will provide content to MSNBC.com's opinion section.
MSNBC.com is jointly owned by Microsoft and the NBC television network.
MSNBC.com also said that it has partnered with Toronto-based Lavalife to
provide online personals on its site.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020306/dcw019_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020306/62213_1.html
http://www.slate.com
http://www.lavalife.com

(New York) Online financial news site Forbes.com currently features an
article on satellite-delivered radio services such as XM and Sirius, and a
competing digital radio format backed by broadcasters and under
development by Maryland-based Ibiquity Digital. Ibiquity's radio service
simulcasts a digital version of a radio station's signal alongside the
analog version, at a cost of about $75,000 per station. Nine broadcasters
in six cities are expected to offer a digital signal by January 2003.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/0318/166.html
http://www.ibiquity.com

(San Francisco) CNET and Wired News have both published stories about the
ongoing dispute between file-sharing distributors StreamCast Networks and
Sharman Networks over why exactly Tennessee-based StreamCast's Morpheus
program went down last week. StreamCast has claimed Morpheus was
"attacked," while Kazaa distributors Sharman Networks claim StreamCast was
not up to date in licensing fees and had its license revoked. StreamCast
has since released a version of Morpheus that uses the Gnutella
file-sharing protocol rather than the FastTrack network it shared with
Kazaa and Grokster.
http://news.com.com/2009-1023-850759.html
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50858,00.html

(San Francisco) Online magazine Salon.com featured an article Wednesday on
the controversy surrounding licensing fees proposed by MPEG-LA, a group of
18 companies that own the patents to the video compression standard.
Several reports have shown that the proposed fees to be paid by webcasters
per hour of video they stream could eclipse any possible profits,
prompting review of open source alternatives. New York-based On2, for
instance, has made its VP3 video compression codec open source -- meaning
that it is free to use and modifications may be made without the
permission of its creators.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/03/06/mpeg/index.html
http://www.on2.com
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