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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 6, 2003
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o Australian Police Raid ISPs for Subscriber Data in Music Piracy Probe
o Electronic Arts, Nintnedo to Collaborate on Video Game Titles
o U.K. ISP Launches Unlimited Download Digital Music Service
o SportsLine.com Amends Agreement With CBS for Added Promotion
o Game Developer Activision Extends Stock Buyback by $200 Million
o DVD Creation Software Firm Sonic Solutions to Sell $20 Million in Stock
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
o Briefly Noted: Liquid Audio, Creative Commons, FindLaw - Clear Channel
Television Interactive, TouchTunes - Univision Music Group, U.K.
Association of Online Publishers, Logitech - PlayStation 2, Online
Publishers Association - Europe, RealNetworks - game developer contest,
Airborne Entertainment - National Hockey League, AJile Systems, Game
Informer Magazine, Activision - "Gods and Generals," InterTrust
Technologies, Pseudo.com - Ice-T - Kazaa
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> Events: Games & Mobile Forum: April 28 | NYC
> Marketplace: Entertainment & Corporate Legal Services, Game Industry
Report, iTV Chronicle, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o Australian Police Raid ISPs for Subscriber Data in Music Piracy Probe
Sydney, Australia -- Australian federal police executed search warrants at
several Australian Internet service providers as part of a music piracy
probe, the Australian newspaper Australian IT reported on Thursday.
Australian ISP Telstra, which serves 1.4 million subscribers, and several
other ISPs were served with orders asking for details on subscribers
purported to be trading music files worth up to $36 million. A police
spokeswoman confirmed to Australian IT that officers, accompanied by
computer forensics experts, visited a Telstra facility in Melbourne and
ISP Eftel's Perth offices, as part of ongoing investigations. Simon
Ehrenfeld, the chief executive of ISP Eftel's parent company Datafast
Telecommunications, told Australian IT the company cooperated with police,
provided information relating to a subscriber and closed the subscriber's
website.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,6081015%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
http://www.telstra.com
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o Electronic Arts, Nintnedo to Collaborate on Video Game Titles
Redmond, Wash. -- Japanese video games firm Nintnedo and independent game
developer Electronic Arts on Thursday announced a collaboration on games
that will include exclusive features for connected play between the
Nintendo GameCube console and the portable Game Boy Advance system.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts will release 20 games for
Nintendo's GameCube in the next year; the company said titles including
"Madden NFL 2004," "FIFA 2004" and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004" would
support connectivity between the GameCube and Game Boy Advance. EA will
lead development efforts, with Nintendo's legendary "Mario" game designer,
Shigeru Miyamoto, providing input on technical game play elements. "This
agreement means that three of the world's most popular sports games are
going to include a new way to play, and new way to compete on Nintendo
systems," said Nancy Smith, EA executive vice president of North American
publishing.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230655208&ticker=
http://www.ea.com
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o U.K. ISP Launches Unlimited Download Digital Music Service
London -- U.K. Internet service provider BT Openworld on Thursday launched
Dotmusic On Demand, a digital music service that offers subscribers
unlimited downloads and streams of the 150,000 tracks offered through the
service. Operated by OD2, musician Peter Gabriel's European digital music
distribution service, subscribers pay $16 per month for access to the
unlimited downloads, the ability to purchase "burnable" tracks, music
videos and a number of genre-based Web radio stations.
http://www.dotmusic.com/news/March2003/news28543.asp
http://www.od2.com
http://www.dotmusic.com/ondemand
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o SportsLine.com Amends Agreement With CBS for Added Promotion
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- SportsLine.com, an online provider of sports news
and information, announced on Thursday that it has amended an agreement
with CBS Broadcasting, whose parent company Viacom owns 31 percent of
SportsLine.com. The new terms will change the annual payment schedule
whereby CBS receives SportsLine.com common stock, in exchange for CBS'
promotion of the CBS SportsLine.com website. Florida-based SportsLine.com
will now issue CBS $20 million worth of its stock on each of April 1,
2003, July 1, 2004, October 1, 2005 and January 1, 2007; a stipulation to
the agreement says that Viacom's stake in SportsLine.com may not rise to
more than 39.9 percent.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030306/flth007_1.html
http://www.sportsline.com
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o Game Developer Activision Extends Stock Buyback by $200 Million
Santa Monica, Calif. -- Video game developer Activision announced on
Thursday that it intends to increase its share repurchase program by $200
million; the program now totals $350 million. Last October, the company's
board approved a plan to repurchase up to $150 million of Activision
common stock. Companies often buyback their own shares when they feel
their stock is undervalued in the current market.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030306/lath033_1.html
http://www.activision.com
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o DVD Creation Software Firm Sonic Solutions to Sell $20 Million in Stock
Novato, Calif. -- Sonic Solutions, a provider of DVD creation software
licensed by companies including Microsoft and Sony and bundled with PCs
from Dell and HP, announced on Thursday in a filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it intends to raise up to $20 million
through periodic sales of its common stock. The company plans to use the
proceeds for research and development, to expand manufacturing and
customer service, for working capital and for general corporate purposes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030306/tech_sonic_1.html
http://www.sonic.com
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DMW Publications: February Law & Policy Report
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report - New Issue
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media. 35+ pages of case summaries, news and analysis, policy updates,
court filings, and exclusive interviews with legal counsel and business
leaders.
Published monthly. February issue on sale now!
**Special Reduced Rates available for a limited time**
Price: $19.00 Per Issue | $195.00 Annual Subscription
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FEATURED SECTION
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Briefly Noted:
(Redwood City, Calif.) Liquid Audio, the beleaguered provider of digital
music distribution services, announced on Thursday the resignation of
chief financial officer Michael Bolcerek. Company president Stephen Imbler
will assume his responsibilities. Redwood City, Calif.-based Liquid Audio
sold its digital music fulfillment business in January to Anderson
Merchandisers for $3.2 million, following a failed merger with Alliance
Entertainment. The company said in a statement that it is "pursuing a
dissolution while exploring the disposition of its remaining assets."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030306/65121_1.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
(Stanford, Calif.) Creative Commons, a project created to develop and
promote copyright licenses free for public use that put creative works
like books, songs and movies into the public domain, recently launched the
International Commons project. The offshoot's aim is to "port" the
Creative Commons licenses to operate in the legal systems and languages of
countries across the world.
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/archive/2003/03/#3625
http://creativecommons.org/projects/international
(Mountain View, Calif.) Online legal resource FindLaw said on Thursday
that it has reached an agreement to provide a comprehensive collection of
law-related content and resources to Clear Channel Television Interactive.
Under the agreement, Mountain View, Calif.-based FindLaw will provide
content to 40 Clear Channel Television Interactive websites, including
those of TV station affiliates for ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030306/cgth042_1.html
http://www.findlaw.com
(Las Vegas) TouchTunes, a provider of digital music jukeboxes found in
bars and restaurants, said on Thursday that it has licensed Latin music
content from Univision Music Group for inclusion on its 6,000 jukeboxes.
The deal includes songs from artists on Univision Records, Fonovisa and
Disa Records.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030306/nyth104_1.html
http://www.univisionmusic.com
http://www.touchtunes.com
(London) The U.K. Association of Online Publishers (AOP) said that its
members receive an estimated 49 million clicks every day. The group's
members, which include the BBC, ft.com and Guardian Unlimited, boast 17.6
million news users and 9 million registered users every day.
http://www.ukaop.org.uk/news/story/2003/02/27Census.htm
(Fremont, Calif.) Logitech, a manufacturer of PC accessories, announced on
Thursday that its $29.95 USB keyboard and $19.95 optical mouse for Sony's
PlayStation 2 video game console will ship to retail later this month.
PlayStation 2 titles currently on the market that will support the use of
a keyboard and mouse, for uses such as chatting with other players online,
include Infogrames' "Unreal Tournament," THQ's "Red Faction II," Sierra's
"Half-Life" and Majesco's "Soldier of Fortune."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030306/sfth008_1.html
http://www.logitech.com
(New York) The Online Publishers Association, a trade group representing
online newspapers and other Internet publications, announced on Thursday
that ten leading European publishers have come together to form OPA
Europe. The group includes CNET Networks (Europe), Gruppo Editoriale
L'Espresso (Italy), Group Financial Times (Great Britain and France),
IDM/La Vanguardia Digital (Spain), International Herald Tribune (Europe),
Khatimerini (Greece), Le Monde interactif (France), Le Temps
(Switzerland), Prismacom/el Pais (Spain) and Spiegel Online (Germany).
Bruno Patino, CEO of Le Monde interactif, was elected president of the OPA
Europe board. OPA Europe's aim will be to enhance the business climate for
European online publishers by producing credible research into online
advertising and media consumption.
http://www.online-publishers.org
(San Jose, Calif.) Media delivery technology provider RealNetworks
announced on Thursday its RealOne Arcade Game Developer Showdown, a
contest for game developers creating downloadable games. The contest will
award one $100,000 grand prize and two runner-up $25,000 prizes, with
winning games to be featured on the company's RealOne Arcade online games
service. Titles will be judged based on originality, how much fun the game
is to play, ease of use, production quality, stability of play and
smallest download size.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030305/sfw065_1.html
http://gamedevs.realonearcade.com/contest
(Montreal) Wireless game developer Airborne Entertainment announced on
Thursday a partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL) to produce
NHL Wireless, a mobile sports entertainment channel. Already available in
the U.S. and soon to launch in Canada, the service offers updated hockey
information, wide-reaching statistics, downloadable logos and SMS
text-message alerts. The companies are planning carrier-by-carrier
rollouts of the service throughout the U.S. and Canada, with international
launches following shortly thereafter.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230655318&ticker=
http://www.airborne-e.com
(San Jose, Calif.) AJile Systems, a developer of Java-based video game
technology, announced on Thursday the release of its JAMiD game
development kit. The kit will allow Java software developers to create
multimedia mobile games that will also play on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
and Game Boy SP handhelds. The kit features a Java game cartridge, which
plugs into the external card slot on any Game Boy, which in addition to
bringing Java functionality will also allow users to listen to MP3 music
files.
http://www.ajile.com
http://www.jamid.com
(Minneapolis) Game Informer Magazine, a multi-platform video game
publication, announced on Thursday that its December 2002 issue surpassed
one million readers, according to data from the Audit Bureau of
Circulation. "I am thrilled that we were able to exceed on our
guarantees," said Cathy Preston, publisher of Game Informer.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/230655363&ticker=
http://www.gameinformer.com
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision announced on Thursday the
release of "Gods and Generals" for the PC, based on the Civil War feature
film of the same name. The game is being published by Minneapolis-based
Activision Value Publishing, and will sell at retail for $19.99.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030306/65196_1.html
http://www.activisionvalue.com
http://www.godsandgenerals.com
(Santa Clara, Calif.) InterTrust Technologies, a provider of digital
rights management systems, announced on Thursday that it has appointed
Talal Shamoon, previously the company's executive vice president for
business development, as its new CEO. Santa Clara, Calif.-based InterTrust
was acquired on Jan. 7 by a holding company created by consumer
electronics firms Sony and Philips. It is now focusing on developing and
licensing its intellectual property.
http://www.intertrust.com/main/home/press/2003/030306_shamoon.html
(New York) Pseudo.com, an early online entertainment site that produced
original video segments but went bankrupt in 2001, announced on Thursday
that it will produce a new hour-long hip-hop program hosted by rapper
Ice-T that will be distributed on the Kazaa peer-to-peer file-sharing
network. The show, "One Nation," will be updated weekly and is scheduled
to debut later this month. Pseudo.com is now owned by New York-based INTV,
which purchased its assets in January 2001 for $1.8 million.
http://www.pseudo.com
http://www.intv.tv
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-991396.html?tag=fd_top
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