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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 13, 2003
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o Enron Execs Arrested In Scandal Over Blockbuster Video-on-Demand Venture
o Congress Examines Prevalence of Child Porn on Peer-to-Peer Networks
o Sony Doubles Shipments of Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2
o Report: 3.9 Billion Video Streams Served in 2002, Up 52% from 2001
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
o Briefly Noted: Sprint PCS - wireless multiplayer games, SanDisk - 4GB
flash card, Moviso - "TruTones," Qualcomm - Sony Music Entertainment,
Dolby Laboratories - Texas Instruments, BBC - satellite encryption,
Gamecaster, Vivendi Universal Games - Interplay Entertainment, "Amplitude"
- music artists, TDK Mediactive - The Jim Henson Company, Vivendi -
financing package, Digital radio technologies, India - digital cinema
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> Events: Games & Mobile Forum: April 28 | NYC
> Marketplace: Entertainment & Corporate Legal Services, Game Industry
Report, iTV Chronicle, Interest-Based Navigation
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o Enron Execs Arrested In Scandal Over Blockbuster Video-on-Demand Venture
Houston -- Federal authorities have arrested two Enron executives on fraud
charges, alleging they recorded $111 million in phantom revenue from a
joint venture to develop a streaming video-on-demand service with video
rental giant Blockbuster that never came to fruition. Kevin Howard and
Michael Krautz, both accounting executives at Enron Broadband Services,
were charged with fraud and face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Blockbuster signed a 20-year contract with Enron in April 2000 to develop
the video-on-demand service, which was slated to begin testing in December
2000 but not to begin showing profits for years. However, Howard and
Krautz set up a venture codenamed "Braveheart" that recorded revenues of
$111 million in 2000 and 2001, in spite of the fact that the venture
recorded zero earnings and the contract with Blockbuster was terminated in
March 2001.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/March/03_crm_153.htm
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2372400
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o Congress Examines Prevalence of Child Porn on Peer-to-Peer Networks
Washington -- Two government reports set to be released at a House
Government Report Committee hearing on Thursday purport to show the large
quantity of pornography -- both legal and illegal -- available on
peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, CNET News.com reported. One report,
prepared by the General Accounting Office, found that searches for terms
like "preteen" and "underage" on the Kazaa network yielded images that
qualify as child pornography. "We identified 1,286 items, each with a
title and file name, determining that 543 (about 42 percent) were
associated with child pornography images. Of the remaining, 34 percent
were classified as adult pornography and 24 percent as non-pornographic,"
the GAO report reads. However, some question exists as to whether the
images are in fact illegal child pornography. "They don't indicate that
the images they identify as child pornography would meet the [Supreme
Court's] definition of child pornography," David Greene, director of the
First Amendment Project, told News.com.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-992371.html?tag=fd_top
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-992471.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17695-2003Mar12.html
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o Sony Doubles Shipments of Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2
Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on
Thursday that demand for its Network Adaptor, which allows the PlayStation
2 video game console to connect to the Internet for online gaming, has
prompted the company to double its shipments to a cumulative one million
units by the end of its fiscal year on March 31. The company said it has
already sold 500,000 Network Adaptors to consumers, and that it sees an
average of 2,500 new members joining per day. By contrast, Microsoft
reported earlier this month that it had registered 350,000 for its Xbox
Live online gaming service. Sony reports that 42 percent of users playing
online games access the network via dial-up and 58 percent play on a
broadband connection. There are currently 13 online PlayStation 2 titles
available; Electronic Arts said that 400,000 have registered to play its
"Madden NFL 2003" online.
http://www.us.playstation.com
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o Report: 3.9 Billion Video Streams Served in 2002, Up 52% from 2001
Seaside, Calif. -- Over 3.9 billion video streams were served during 2002,
a 52 percent increase over the number recorded the previous year,
according to a market report from AccuStream iMedia Research. Broadband
video streams grew at an annual rate of 84 percent in 2002, and accounted
for 63 percent of the total streams served; narrowband streams also grew
18 percent, compared to 2001 totals. "We've been surprised at the adoption
rate of streaming video by broadband users, and the fact that narrowband
streams continued double-digit growth in 2002," said AccuStream director
of research Paul A. Palumbo. In terms of content, news and information
streams were most popular, followed by music videos and other music
related content. Music-related content also experienced the greatest
growth of any segment, up 86 percent in 2002 to a total of 883 million
streams served. The report also found that in the volatile Internet radio
market, listening was down about 6 percent from 2001, as users averaged 94
million aggregate tuning hours per month in 2002.
http://www.accustreamresearch.com/news/mar1103.html
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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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Published monthly. February issue on sale now!
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Price: $19.00 Per Issue | $195.00 Annual Subscription
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Briefly Noted:
(Overland Park, Kan.) Wireless network operator Sprint PCS on Thursday
announced that in April it will launch wireless multiplayer games for
customers of its PCS Vision service. Games from providers such as Jamdat
Mobile, Mforma and Mobliss will enable players to either choose their
partners or be automatically matched with players nearby or nationwide on
the Sprint network. The games will cost between $1.99 and $5.99, with some
offered on a monthly subscription basis and some for permanent download.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030313/cgth032_1.html
(Sunnyvale, Calif.) SanDisk, a manufacturer of flash data storage
products, announced on Thursday its 4GB CompactFlash card, the
highest-capacity memory card on the market. The $999 product is capable of
storing 4,000 high resolution pictures, 1,000 MP3 songs or an entire DVD
movie. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SanDisk also introduced its 1GB and 512MB
SD cards, postage stamp-sized storage media that are compatible with
increasingly smaller portable devices like MP3 players.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030313/135281_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030313/135277_1.html
http://www.sandisk.com
(Los Angeles) Wireless entertainment distributor Moviso announced on
Thursday the launch of "TruTones," a service that replaces the cell phone
ring with recordings of celebrity voices, actual songs, sound effects and
audio clips. Los Angeles-based Moviso said it licensed the master
recordings to a number of songs for their inclusion as ringtones. TruTones
will be offered for between $1.50 and $2.99 to T-Mobile subscribers this
spring; Moviso also said it is in talks with additional wireless carriers
and handset makers.
http://www.businesswire.com/photowire/pw.031303/230722041.shtml
http://www.moviso.com
(San Diego) Wireless developer Qualcomm announced on Thursday a successful
trial with Sony Music Entertainment that delivered Sony music video
content over its high-bandwidth CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network to cell phone
users. San Diego-based Qualcomm said the network supports peak data rates
of up to 2.4 Mbps. "These technologies will represent an important new
element of our mobile service business, and we look forward to using them
to enhance our growing portfolio of wireless music content offerings,"
said Sony Music Digital Services senior vice president Thomas Gewecke.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030313/lath038_1.html
http://www.qualcomm.com/cdma/1xEV/whatis
(San Francisco) Audio developer Dolby Laboratories and chipmaker Texas
Instruments jointly announced on Thursday that they are sponsoring the
design and development of a device that allows consumers to connect PCs
with 1394 (FireWire) connectors to their home theater systems. The
technology will allow music and gaming enthusiasts to play back stereo and
multichannel 5.1 audio files from music collections or video games through
their home theater systems from their PCs. A converter establishing the
connection has been developed by Seattle-based Island Digital Media Group.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030313/135425_1.html
(London) The BBC, Britain's state broadcaster, said that it planned to
save more than 85 million pounds ($137 million) over the next five years
since it would no longer encrypt satellite signals. "This decision means
that digital satellite viewers in the U.K. will, in the future, be able to
receive the BBC channels without a Sky viewing card, through any make of
digital satellite receiver," the BBC said.
http://shorterlink.com/?VR6SGO
(San Diego) Gamecaster, a start-up that aims to hold televised video game
tournaments, on Thursday announced its launch. Initial plans include a
seven-day tournament in three video game genres to be held yet this year
in Las Vegas. San Diego-based Gamecaster said it will announce a date,
casino venue, video games and domestic television broadcasting partner in
the near future. The company is touting a "multiple Emmy-award winning"
management team that has worked on the Olympics and "BattleBots."
http://www.gamecaster.com
(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games and developer Interplay
Entertainment announced on Thursday that Interplay's "Run Like Hell" title
for Microsoft Xbox has gone gold, and is scheduled to ship in early April.
The game supports Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and HDTV output, and will
feature extra content downloadable through the Xbox Live online gaming
service. The two companies also announced the development of "Fallout:
Brotherhood of Steel" for Xbox and PlayStation 2. The game is part of the
"Fallout" PC game franchise, and will be released in the fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030313/lath011_1.html
http://www.vugames.com
http://www.interplay.com/rlh
http://www.interplay.com/fbos
(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America on Thursday said
it added songs from artists BT, Pink, The X-ecutioners, Slipknot and Game
Boyz to the roster of remixable tracks featured in its upcoming
"Amplitude" PlayStation 2 title. The title is currently being developed by
Cambridge, Mass.-based Harmonix Music Systems.
http://www.harmonixmusic.com
(Westlake Village, Calif.) Video game publisher TDK Mediactive announced
on Thursday the release of "The Muppets: On With The Show" for Nintendo's
Game Boy Advance handheld gaming system. The game was developed by
New York-based Vicarious Visions as part of TDK Mediactive's licensing
agreement with The Jim Henson Company.
http://www.tdk-mediactive.com
http://www.vvisions.com
(Paris) According to the Financial Times, French media giant Vivendi
Universal is negotiating a 3.5 to 4 billion pound ($5.6 to $6.4 billion)
financing package, as the company ponders the sale of its U.S.
entertainment assets. Vivendi Universal is currently straddled with more
than 12 billion pounds (19 billion) of debt.
http://shorterlink.com/?UC0IXV
(Kulpsville, Pa.) MSNBC.com on Thursday reported on emerging digital radio
broadcast technologies from around the world. The list includes new
satellite broadcasters like XM and Sirius Satellite Radio, as well as the
recently-approved digital AM and FM broadcast technology from IBiquity
Digital. Also mentioned are Europe's free Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)
digital FM transmissions, and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) -- a universal,
digital system for shortwave, medium-wave and long-wave bands. Current DRM
technology requires a PC, special software and a shortwave receiver, but
can receive high-quality broadcasts from around the world.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/883723.asp?0dm=C14NT
(London) The BBC Online recently reported on a deal between Indian movie
processing lab Adlabs Films and Singaporean digital cinema equipment
provider GDC to install digital projection systems in movie theaters in
India. Adlabs Films founder Manmohan Shetty told the BBC he plans to
retrofit at least 400 theaters across India by 2004. The company is also
converting a range of Bollywood films from analog to digital format, at a
cost of about $50,000 each; installing a digital projection system costs
about $100,000 per theater.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2841231.stm
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Digital Media Wire Presents...Games & Mobile Forum
April 2003, New York City
Focusing on games and mobile entertainment opportunities and business
models. Panel topics will include "The Battle to Control the Living Room:
Is the Game Industry Winning?", "Mobile Games: Business Models & New
Opportunities", "Legal & Policy Issues Impacting the Game Industry &
Mobile Entertainment", and "Home Networking: Technology for Modern Living
& Entertainment."
Door Tickets Price: $250. For Early Bird Specials, pre-register at:
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