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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 14, 2003
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o DrinkorDie Piracy Ring Leader Indicted; Will be Extradited from Australia
o BBC New Media to Lay Off 100 Employees
o EA's "NBA Live 2003" First Game Soundtrack to Gain RIAA Platinum Status
o Vivendi Universal Games Acquires Game Publisher Fox Interactive
o Sony to Move All Manufacture of PlayStation 2 Consoles to China
o Nielsen/NetRatings: Pop-Up Ads Growing in Frequency
o Microsoft Launches Xbox Live in Europe
o Report: Sports Sites Drew 51 Million in January
o Video Game Retail Chain GameStop Announces $50 Million Stock Buyback
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
o Briefly Noted: Buena Vista Games, Match.com - Univision, Origin Systems
- "Ultima Online," VU Games - "Hunter: The Reckoning," CD Baby
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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 DrinkorDie Piracy Ring Leader Indicted; Will be Extradited from Australia
Alexandria, Va. -- The alleged leader of DrinkorDie, an international
software, music, movies and games piracy ring, has been indicted on
copyright infringement charges and the Justice Dept. will seek his
extradition from Australia. Hew Raymond Griffiths, of Bateau Bay,
Australia, allegedly spearheaded the group, accused of pirating and
spreading $50 million of copyrighted materials on the Internet. If
convicted, Griffiths faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a
$500,000 fine. "We will seek formal extradition from Australia in the
coming weeks, but for now, the message should be clear: No matter who you
are or where you live, if you steal the intellectual property rights of
individuals and businesses, we will not stop at our borders to find you
and bring you to justice," U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said in a statement.
The Justice Dept.'s "Operation Buccaneer," which raided DrinkorDie
operations worldwide, has resulted in 20 related felony copyright
infringement convictions.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/Pressreleases/griffiths031303.pdf
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/hot-new/pressrel/2001/1211-00.htm
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o BBC New Media to Lay Off 100 Employees
London -- BBCi, the new media division of the British broadcaster,
announced that it will lay off 100 employees in the next six months to a
year, as it shifts from more Web-based initiatives into interactive
television. The company said the changes come as it moves "from a phase of
high initial investment into a period of consolidation which sees
increased resource in interactive TV; an even more robust technical
architecture and infrastructure; and easier access to BBCi content through
improved distribution." The BBC said that affected employees work in its
interactive factual and learning, interactive development and services
(new media central) and radio and music interactive departments.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/03_march/12/new_media.shtml
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o EA's "NBA Live 2003" First Game Soundtrack to Gain RIAA Platinum Status
Redwood City, Calif. -- Game developer Electronic Arts announced on Friday
that the soundtrack to its "NBA Live 2003" video game has achieved RIAA
platinum status, becoming the first video game soundtrack to sell over one
million copies. Released last August, the album features tracks from
hip-hop artists including Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030314/145358_1.html
http://www.ea.com/e3/easports/nbalive2003.jsp
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o Vivendi Universal Games Acquires Game Publisher Fox Interactive
New York -- Vivendi Universal Games announced that it has acquired Fox
Interactive, the video game publishing arm of Fox Filmed Entertainment.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. As part of the
deal, New York-based VU Games will publish and distribute all Fox
Interactive titles that do not already have other arrangements. Fox
Interactive has published titles based on 20th Century Fox films and
television properties including "Aliens," "Predator," "Die Hard,"
"Independence Day," "The Simpsons," "The X-Files" and "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer." Debt-laden Vivendi Universal is also reportedly looking to sell
off part or all of its VU Games division.
http://www.foxinteractive.com
http://www.vugames.com
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o Sony to Move All Manufacture of PlayStation 2 Consoles to China
Tokyo -- Sony will shift all manufacture of its PlayStation 2 video game
console to China to save on labor and parts procurement costs, Reuters
reported. The company will utilize the Chinese plants of two Taiwanese
firms -- Hon Hai Precision Industry and Asustek Computer. As of January,
Sony reported that it had shipped 50 million PlayStation 2 consoles
worldwide.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2373694
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o Nielsen/NetRatings: Pop-Up Ads Growing in Frequency
Milpitas, Calif. -- The number of pop-up advertisements has grown sharply
of late, but still comprises a small percentage of total internet ad
impressions, according to Milpitas, Calif.-based Nielsen/NetRatings, a
provider of Internet audience measurement services. Pop-ups comprised just
3.5 percent of total online ad impressions last year, up from 1.9 percent
in 2001. Led by a plethora of online casino advertisers, the entertainment
industry used the most pop-ups as a percentage of total industry
impressions in the fourth quarter.
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/
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o Microsoft Launches Xbox Live in Europe
Hanover, Germany -- Microsoft on Friday launched its Xbox Live online
video game service in Europe. The company launched the service without the
backing of Electronic Arts, the biggest U.S. computer-game maker.
"Microsoft should be concerned that a game maker of the size of
Electronics Arts doesn't support its initiative," Jason Armitage, an
analyst at IDC, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "It's critical to
maintain relations with the publishers."
http://shorterlink.com/?ZB54XM
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o Report: Sports Sites Drew 51 Million in January
San Bruno, Calif. -- More than 51 million people -- over a third of all
U.S. Internet users -- including more than half of all men aged 25-34
visited sports sites in January, according to a new report from ComScore,
a provider of Internet audience measurement services. ESPN.com led the
category with more than 16 million unique users during the month, followed
by the NFL sites (15.5 million) and AOL sports sites (10.8 million). While
the market for paid online content within the sports category is still
relatively small, accounting for $30.3 million in 2002, spending grew by
more than 300 percent compared with 2001.
http://www.comscore.com
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o Video Game Retail Chain GameStop Announces $50 Million Stock Buyback
Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop, the nation's largest video game and
entertainment software specialty retailer, announced on Friday that its
board has authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $50 million. "We
are very pleased that the board has authorized this share repurchase
program because, at current market prices, we believe our shares represent
an extremely attractive investment opportunity," said GameStop chairman
and CEO R. Richard Fontaine. Texas-based GameStop operates 1,231 retail
stores under the GameStop, Babbage's, Software Etc. and FuncoLand brands.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030314/145036_1.html
http://www.gamestop.com
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DMW Publications: February Law & Policy Report
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Contact tinzar@digitalmediawire.com or call 323-464-0793 to order your
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report - New Issue
Must-read publication on legal and policy matters related to digital
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:
(Burbank, Calif.) Disney Consumer Products has announced the launch of a
new video game unit, Buena Vista Games, which will operate the company's
Disney Interactive game publishing unit. Graham Hopper was named senior
vice president and general manager of the unit, which will access Disney's
stable of film, television and publishing franchises. The first title to
be produced by Buena Vista Games is the previously announced "TRON 2.0,"
scheduled for release in August.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030311/latu036_1.html
http://www.disneyinteractive.com
(Dallas) Online personals provider Match.com said on Friday that it has
partnered with Spanish-language Internet portal Univision Online to
provide a co-branded Spanish-language online personals section on the
Univision Online website. Dallas-based Match.com currently claims 724,000
paying subscribers for its service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030314/laf026_1.html
http://www.match.com
http://univision.match.com
(Austin) Origin Systems, a game development studio owned by Electronic
Arts, said on Friday that its "Ultima Online" massively multiplayer online
roleplaying game has surpassed 250,000 subscribers, the highest-ever
figure in the five-year history of the game. Austin-based Origin said that
the recent release of its "Ultima Online: Age of Shadows" expansion pack
helped propel its subscriber base.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030314/145303_1.html
http://www.uo.com
(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games announced that it has acquired the
exclusive publishing rights for the "Hunter: The Reckoning" video game
franchise from Interplay Entertainment. Interplay had licensed the rights
to produce Hunter-related games from Georgia-based White Wolf Publishing.
New York-based VU Games will publish two titles in development with
Illinois-based High Voltage Software, "Hunter: The Reckoning Wayward" and
"Hunter: The Reckoning Redeemer." Additionally, the White Wolf license
grants VU Games the right to extend its licensing agreement to publish
games based on the franchise through 2008.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030313/lath010a_1.html
http://www.interplay.com
http://www.vugames.com
http://www.white-wolf.com
http://www.high-voltage.com
(Portland, Ore.) CD Baby, a provider of online production and sales of CDs
for independent musicians, announced this week that it has now paid out
over $3 million in revenues to musicians using its service. The online
record store was launched in 1998.
http://cdbaby.org/stories/03/03/11/2873136.html-Dave
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
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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:
http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1025
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