archives

o Canal Plus Alleges NDS Group Pirated, Published Its Digital TV Security
o RosettaBooks Wins Appeal in E-Books Case Vs. Random House
o Canada Planning Tariff on Digital Recordable Media to Compensate Artists
o EarthLink Gets Broadband Distribution Through AT&T Broadband
o Used CD Retailer Djangos.com Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
o Adobe Systems Invests $500,000 in Online Magazine Salon.com
o Thomson Multimedia Acquires DVD Compression Firm Still in Motion
o Briefly Noted: RealNetworks - Nokia, Neil Young, Nokia - Lucasfilm,
CinemaNow - Chunghwa Telecom, Scale Eight - FullAudio, THQ - "Hey Arnold!
The Movie," Counterpoint Systems - British Film Institute, Yahoo - SPDE
Soap City, Reliacast, Sen. Orrin Hatch - NARM
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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 panel in New
York City on Thursday, March 14.

http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames2.html
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o Canal Plus Alleges NDS Group Pirated, Published Its Digital TV Security

Paris -- Canal Plus Technologies, a division of Vivendi Universal, on
Tuesday sued rival digital and interactive TV firm NDS Group, a unit of
News Corp., alleging the company conspired to crack its digital TV
security technology and then published it on the Web. "NDS spent large
amounts of money and resources to extract the code from Canal Plus'
digital TV smart card, and then provided the code to a Web site frequented
by counterfeiters," Canal Plus said in a statement. "After the code was
published on the Internet, criminal organizations flooded the market with
counterfeit cards." Canal Plus estimates damages from the alleged
conspiracy at over $1 billion. London-based NDS called the claim
"outrageous and baseless" and plans to file a countersuit. "That problem
is due solely to the inferior nature of Canal Plus' conditional access
technology, the failure of its business plan to contain measures to
protect against piracy and its failure to deal with piracy once it began,"
said NDS CEO Dr. Abe Peled. "The clear evidence is that the pirate
community targeted Canal Plus early in 1998 and succeeded without any help
from anyone, particularly NDS."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020312/122408_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020312/120330_1.html
http://www.actionone.com/clients/actionmarketing/The_Complaint.pdf
http://www.msnbc.com/news/722857.asp?0dm=C18OT
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o RosettaBooks Wins Appeal in E-Books Case Vs. Random House

New York -- E-book publisher RosettaBooks has won another victory in its
legal battle with major publisher Random House over which company owns the
electronic rights to titles from noted authors such as Kurt Vonnegut and
William Styron. A three-judge panel for the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld an earlier decision that denied Random House's preliminary
injunction against RosettaBooks, which would have prevented the company
from selling e-book versions of titles written by authors distributing
through Random House. The publisher claims that its contracts with its
authors cover e-books, but courts to this point have ruled that
RosettaBooks' separate contracts with Random House authors covering the
e-book format are valid. "It is a good day for authors and for the
development of electronic reading," RosettaBooks CEO Arthur Klebanoff told
the Associated Press. Random House plans next to appeal on the District
Court level.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2002/03/11/publisher/index.html
http://www.rosettabooks.com
http://www.randomhouse.com
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o Canada Planning Tariff on Digital Recordable Media to Compensate Artists

Ottawa, Canada -- The Copyright Board of Canada has proposed that a tax be
placed on sales of blank CDs and DVDs, as well as flash memory cards and
hard drive-based MP3 players. Fees collected by the Canadian Private
Copying Collective would then be distributed to musicians, in an attempt
to offset lost sales of new prerecorded CDs. If the tax is approved, blank
CDs would cost an additional $0.59 Canadian; $1.23 would be added to the
price of each MiniDisc; 0.8 cents for each megabyte of memory on a flash
memory card; $2.27 for each blank DVD, and $21 for each gigabyte of memory
available on a hard drive-based MP3 player. The latter fee would mean that
the price for a 40GB MP3 player manufactured by Archos, retailing for
around $870 CDN, would be taxed an additional $840 CDN under the proposal.
"Products are already painfully expensive in Canada due to the poor
exchange rate on our dollar," corporate law attorney Joseph McCormick told
Wired News. "Adding more fees on top of those prices will stifle business
or turn people into criminals. Mark my words: They will start smuggling
blank CDs across the border."
http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/tariffs/proposed/c09032002-b.pdf
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50995,00.html
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o EarthLink Gets Broadband Distribution Through AT&T Broadband

Atlanta -- Internet access provider EarthLink announced on Tuesday a deal
with AT&T Broadband to offer high-speed cable modem service over AT&T
Broadband's network. The service will initially launch in Boston and
Seattle, with additional cities being added in 2003. "This agreement is
the culmination of years of investing to develop a multiple-ISP solution
to offer consumers a choice of Internet providers on our network," said
AT&T chairman C. Michael Armstrong." Atlanta-based EarthLink has a similar
agreement to provide broadband services over Time Warner Cable's lines in
several U.S. cities.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020312/latu077_1.html
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o Used CD Retailer Djangos.com Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Portland, Ore. -- Djangos.com, a traditional and online retailer of used
CDs, has closed two of its retail stores and filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection, The Oregonian reported. Stores in Los Angeles and
Huntington Beach, California have been closed. Portland-based Djangos.com
said it was unable to find an equity investor to help finance its
previously announced plans to purchase rival CD Warehouse, and plans to
re-emerge after consolidating its debt. Djangos.com president Steve Furst
told The Oregonian that all of the company's retail stores are profitable.
"It's a model that's successful and needs a re-start," said Furst.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/business/
10159377392856082.xml
http://www.djangos.com
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o Adobe Systems Invests $500,000 in Online Magazine Salon.com

San Francisco -- Online magazine Salon.com announced that it has received
a $500,000 investment from Adobe Systems, a provider of Web and desktop
publishing software. Adobe was one of Salon's initial investors and
participated in several of the company's successive financing rounds. San
Francisco-based Salon.com said that recent funding dating back to
September totals $3.75 million.
http://www.salon.com
http://www.adobe.com
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o Thomson Multimedia Acquires DVD Compression Firm Still in Motion

Paris -- Electronics manufacturer Thomson Multimedia announced on Tuesday
that it has acquired Los Angeles-based DVD compression and authoring
services provider Still in Motion. Financial terms of the transaction were
not disclosed. Still in Motion's management team and employees will be
maintained, and the company will be added to Thomson subsidiary
Technicolor's Creative Services unit. Still in Motion reports annual sales
of about $10 million.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020312/122265_1.html
http://www.technicolor.com
http://www.stillinmotion.com/
http://www.thomson-multimedia.com
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youngStartup Ventures Presents: "The StartupGallery Party"

March 19th, 2002 (5:00 pm - 10:00 pm) @ TechSpace in New York City. An
exclusive start-up industry gathering bringing together people, money and
ideas. The event will feature high level networking opportunities, a panel
discussion by leading Venture Capitalists and a unique art exhibit
featuring startup logos. Speakers include: Ed Goodman, Milestone Venture
Partners; Scott Flamm, Hudson Ventures; Paul Lisiak, Metropolitan Venture
Partners; Dan Grossman, Venrock; and Howard Sommer, New York Community
Investment Company.

For more information or to register visit:
http://www.youngstartup.com/events

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UCLA ANDERSON FORECAST CONFERENCE:
"Entertainment: LA's Most Important Industry"

This conference looks at the business of entertainment, the impact of the
industry on the Los Angeles economy, and the forces that are altering how
the business is organized. UCLA economists will also release their
quarterly forecasts for the nation, state, and Los Angeles region.
Speakers include Mayor Jim Hahn and Jeff Berg, Chairman/CEO of
International Creative Management as well as confirmed panels of industry
leaders.

Wednesday, March 27, 2002. 9:15am - 3:00pm at The Anderson School at UCLA.
Contact: forecast@anderson.ucla.edu or (310) 825-1623
http://www.uclaforecast.com

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o Briefly Noted:

(Hanover, Germany) Media delivery technology provider RealNetworks
announced on Tuesday a long-term alliance with cell phone manufacturer
Nokia, whereby RealNetworks' mobile audio and video player will be
integrated into Nokia cell phones. Nokia will include the RealOne mobile
player on its 2.5G and 3G phones. Additionally, the two companies will
collaborate on digital rights management issues as well as giving
consumers the ability to transfer media from their PC to their cell phone
or handheld device. The first Nokia phones with RealOne will become
available in the second quarter.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020312/sftu046_1.html

(Burbank, Calif.) Reprise Records announced on Tuesday that recording
artist Neil Young's new album "Are You Passionate" is available for
streaming through a pop-up player on Young's official website, as well as
through select Internet radio stations and fan sites until the album's
release on April 9. A free download of the single "Goin' Home" will also
be available. In addition, online retailers will provide free streaming of
the album for those who pre-order it on CD until the album arrives.
http://www.neilyoung.com

(Helsinki, Finland) Cell phone manufacturer Nokia on Tuesday said it has
signed a multi-year agreement with Lucasfilm to develop mobile promotions
for "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones." The companies will
develop still and animated graphics, standard and polyphonic ring tones,
MMS services and a variety of mobile games created in conjunction with
game studio LucasArts. The Star Wars-themed services will become available
in Europe, the Middle East and Africa within the next two weeks and across
most of Asia during April.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020312/122042_1.html
http://www.club.nokia.com
http://www.lucasfilm.com/

(Marina del Rey, Calif.) CinemaNow, a provider of Internet-based
video-on-demand technology and programming, announced on Tuesday that it
has partnered with Taiwanese telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom
to offer its content on the company's HiChannel video-on-demand site.
Marina del Rey-based CinemaNow also recently licensed its video-on-demand
delivery technology to Walker Asia, which will offer the service and
CinemaNow content in Singapore.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/220710161&ticker=lgf
http://www.hichannel.com.tw
http://www.cinemanow.com

(San Francisco) Scale Eight, a provider of digital media storage services,
announced that FullAudio, a provider of digital music subscription
services, will use Scale Eight to store its library of over 100,000 tracks
that it has licensed to date from major record labels. Chicago-based
FullAudio has thus far licensed tracks from EMI Recorded Music, BMG
Entertainment and Universal Music Group for its service, which competes
directly with the labels' own services, MusicNet and Pressplay.
http://www.scaleeight.com/news/pr_031102.php
http://www.fullaudio.com

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ announced on Tuesday that it
has secured interactive publishing rights to children's cable TV network
Nickelodeon's "Hey Arnold! The Movie." The film based on a Nickelodeon TV
series of the same name. Calabasas Hills-based THQ will release a title
for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance in June, at the same time that the film is
released in theaters.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020312/120126_1.html
http://www.thq.com
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_shows/shows.jhtml?propertyId=665

(Los Angeles) Los Angeles-based Counterpoint Systems, a provider of
digital rights management software, said on Tuesday that the British Film
Institute will use its product to ensure the proper allocation of rights
and royalties for 11,000 films for which it holds distribution rights. The
British Film Institute is a national agency responsible for encouraging
and conserving the arts of film and television.
http://www.counterp.com/
http://www.bfi.org.uk/

(Culver City, Calif.) Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment said on Tuesday
that it has signed an agreement with Yahoo to make its Soap City online
soap opera entertainment site the exclusive provider of soap opera content
to Yahoo TV.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020312/latu057_1.html
http://tv.yahoo.com
http://www.soapcity.com

(Herndon, Va.) Reliacast, a developer of audience measurement and
management software for streaming media providers, announced on Tuesday
that it has appointed Ranjit Singh as president and CEO. Singh replaces
Tom Klaff, who will remain on the company's board. Previously, Singh was
president and COO of digital rights management firm ContentGuard, a joint
venture between Xerox and Microsoft.
http://www.reliacast.com

(San Francisco) A number of news outlets have reported on Sen. Orrin
Hatch's (R-Utah) remarks to a conference organized by the National
Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), a group that includes
retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tower Records and Virgin Megastore. Hatch said
that he does not support a compulsory license that would compel record
labels to release their recordings to digital music services like Napster.
Hatch did recommend that those with vested interests in online music
distribution increase their lobbying efforts in Washington, as he believes
that policy will determine the future of the business.
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50972,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-857406.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175121.html
http://www.senate.gov/~hatch/
http://www.narm.com/
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