archives

o Report: Online Ad Spending Fell 14.7% in 2001
o RIAA, Association for Independent Music Partner Against Piracy
o Interactive TV Developers Create Interactive Television Council
o Game Developer THQ Announces Stock Split
o U.K. Broadband Provider BTopenworld Acquires Dotmusic.com
o Briefly Noted: Voyetra Turtle Beach - Digital Closet, Solectron - Pace
Micro Technology, Digital cinema, FastTrack, The Rosenbergs
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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 Report: Online Ad Spending Fell 14.7% in 2001

New York -- Online ad spending fell 14.7 percent during 2001 when compared
with figures from 2000, according to a report published on Friday by
market research firm CMRi. Companies spent an estimated total of $2.5
billion on online ads during 2001; the top spender was Ebay with $45.1
million followed by General Motors with $43.3 million. Yahoo was the site
that generated the most advertising dollars, with $344 million for the
year. "With the year 2002 already showing some signs of improvement, we're
expecting to see an upswing in spending by third quarter," said CMR CEO
David Peeler. "In fact, CMR estimates that Internet spending will lead the
way in 2002, in terms of significant growth, up 8.8 percent from its 2001
total. With subtle signs of recovery on the horizon, the industry awaits
the economy's stabilization, and then we're hopeful to see advertising
revenues reach more positive levels."
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220672099&ticker=
http://www.cmr.com
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o RIAA, Association for Independent Music Partner Against Piracy

Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
announced that it has partnered with the Association for Independent Music
(AFIM), a group representing independent record labels, artists,
distributors and suppliers, to work together on common issues such as CD
recordable piracy, international intellectual property protection and the
parental advisory program. The RIAA provided the AFIM with a $25,000 grant
to foster the creation of joint programs between the two groups. "We are
pleased that the independent voice will be strengthened as a result of our
new relationship with the RIAA," said AFIM executive director Jeanne
Oberstar. "This relationship will provide a direct line of communication
with our members and enlighten them on issues that may significantly
affect the industry and their business activities."
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=496
http://www.afim.org/
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o Interactive TV Developers Create Interactive Television Council

Arlington, Va. -- A group of interactive television developers has created
the Interactive Television Council (iTVC), aiming to promote the
development and deployment of interactive TV services to consumers.
Founding members of the council, which operates under the auspices of the
Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), include Canal Plus
Technologies, Concurrent Computer Corp., OpenTV, Liberate Technologies,
MetaTV, Microsoft, Sonicblue, TeleCruz Technology and TiVo. The group will
lobby on behalf of member companies on issues including information
security, taxes and finance policy, digital intellectual property
protection, telecommunications competition, online privacy, consumer
protection and e-commerce policy. "While their technology may be new to
many Americans, market research firm IDC expects interactive television
services will reach 36 million U.S. households by year-end 2005," said
ITAA president Harris N. Miller. "ITAA is ready to play its part in
helping these firms bring the digital revolution to the American people."
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220672203&ticker=
http://internet-association.org/
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o Game Developer THQ Announces Stock Split

Calabasas Hills, Calif. -- THQ, a developer and publisher of video games
for PC, consoles and wireless, announced on Friday that it has declared a
3-for-2 split of the company's shares, to be delivered as a 50 percent
stock dividend. "This stock split, THQ's third since 1998, reflects our
continuing strong financial and market performance," said THQ CEO Brian
Farrell. "In light of THQ's continuing revenue growth, which the Company
anticipates to be 35 percent this year, we believe this stock split will
enable a broader diversity of investors to participate in our bright
prospects."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020308/80046_1.html
http://www.thq.com
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o U.K. Broadband Provider BTopenworld Acquires Dotmusic.com

London -- British Telecom announced this week that its Openworld broadband
access provider unit has acquired European digital music site
Dotmusic.com. The company paid about $1.4 million to acquire the site from
U.K.-based publisher United Business Media. Dotmusic.com offers music
news, charts and reviews, interviews and music videos. The site will now
be part of the content offered to BTopenworld's broadband subscribers.
http://www.dotmusic.com
http://www.btopenworld.com 
http://www.unm.com/prreq.htm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/22/24324.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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To find out how Bender/Helper can impact your business, contact Steve
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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
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Or contact register@streamingmedia.com or 888 301-8890

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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Voyetra Turtle Beach, a developer of digital audio technology,
said on Friday that its technology will be used by Digital Closet in the
company's home network and entertainment gateway. New York-based Digital
Closet manufactures a device that connects to a DSL or cable modem
broadband connection and can network entertainment devices in the home.
The agreement with Turtle Beach will allow consumers that have Digital
Closet's product installed in their homes to provide audio streaming of
downloads or ripped CDs to any room from a central library server.
http://www.thedigitalcloset.com
http://www.tbeach.com

(Milpitas, Calif.) Solectron, a provider of electronics manufacturing
services, said that it will become the primary provider of manufacturing
for Pace Micro Technology, a developer of set-top boxes used for digital
and interactive television. Milpitas-based Solectron will begin production
in April, reaching full volume in Europe by mid-summer with other regions
to follow.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020305/sftu099_3.html
http://www.pace.co.uk
http://www.solectron.com

(Las Vegas) USAToday.com recently featured an article on the nascent
digital cinema industry, which aims to replace traditional film projectors
in movie theaters with digital projectors that can play movies beamed in
on satellite, sent over the Internet or delivered on DVDs. Costs
associated with the upgrade are the main impediment for struggling movie
theater owners. "[Digital cinema] is very good, some say it is as good as
35-millimeter film," National Association of Theater Owners president John
Fithian told USA Today. "So what? It has to be better. There's no reason
to make the biggest transition in the history of the theater business
unless the quality is better."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/03/07/digital-cinema.htm

(San Francisco) SFGate.com reported on Friday on the ongoing dispute
between the operators of the Morpheus and Kazaa file-sharing applications,
providing a history of the FastTrack network on which both companies'
file-sharing software operates. Morpheus stopped working for users last
week when an upgrade to the FastTrack network that Morpheus was not privy
to locked out its users. Morpheus has since switched to an open source,
Gnutella-based network, but the outage could provide media firms suing the
companies with an example of how to shut down the supposedly decentralized
FastTrack network, which its creators have claimed they have no control
over.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2002/03/07/p2pmx

(New York) StarPolish.com, a provider of news and information for
musicians working in the recording industry, recently featured a lengthy
diary written by David Fagin of The Rosenbergs, a band that was touted for
its sidestepping of the traditional music industry in favor of Internet
promotion and distribution. The band headlined a tour sponsored by
Napster, and Fagin's diary serves as an account of what it's like to
create, promote and distribute music without the aid of a major record
label.
http://www.starpolish.com/features/columns/article.asp?ID=331
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