Main Stories
o Report: U.S. Internet Use Drops 2%; Hong Kong Usage Up 25%
o Sen. Orrin Hatch Named to Head New Intellectual Property Subcommittee
o Aussie File-Sharing Raid on ISP Leads to Closure of 50 P2P Sites
o Report: U.K. Govt. Should Support Local Video Game Industry
o Report: Wireless Internet Access Grows Nearly 30% in 2004
o Google Now More Popular in U.K. than in U.S., Report Says

o Briefly Noted: QuietTiger - DarkNoise Technologies, MySpace - Queens of the Stone Age, Square Enix - "Final Fantasy" E3 concert, Vivendi Universal Games, Majesco, Game Trust, Fiona Apple - file-sharing, "Credence" - P2P spam
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New York -- Average U.S. Internet use at home has dropped 2% in the past year, mirroring minimal to flat growth in other more mature Internet markets like the U.K., Brazil, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden, according to a report from New York-based Nielsen/NetRatings. U.S. Internet users logged on an average of 25 times per month, for a total average of 13 hours and 44 minutes. By contrast, Internet use in Hong Kong grew 25%, where users logged on an average of 30 times per month for a total average of 22 hours per month. In addition to Hong Kong, Australia, France and Italy also saw double-digit growth in the number of monthly user sessions. "The easiest opportunities are in countries where Internet usage patterns and user/site relationships are less established," said Nielsen/NetRatings senior Internet analyst Kaizad Gotla. "Acquiring users in markets that are currently in their growth stages will lead to a loyal user base that will pay dividends for Internet companies in the future."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050318/sff004_3.html 
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com 
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o Sen. Orrin Hatch Named to Head New Intellectual Property Subcommittee

Washington -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has been named to head a new Senate Intellectual Property subcommittee, recently created by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-Penn.). The subcommittee will be responsible for creating copyright and patent legislation and overseeing the U.S. Copyright Office. Hatch, an amateur songwriter in his own right, has been a vocal advocate for the recording industry -- who once said that copyright holders ought be able to destroy the PCs of infringing file-swappers. Hatch endorsed legislation called the "Induce Act," that critics said was worded so broadly as to go beyond unauthorized file-sharing to outlaw products like the iPod or the PC. Hatch spokesman Adam Elggren told The Washington Post that reintroducing the Induce Act would not be on the new subcommittee's "immediate agenda."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44361-2005Mar17.html
http://tinyurl.com/3kg6e 
http://hatch.senate.gov 
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o Aussie File-Sharing Raid on ISP Leads to Closure of 50 P2P Sites

Sydney -- The Australian recording industry's anti-piracy division said this week that a raid on Aussie ISP Swiftel last week, which was alleged to be hosting BitTorrent file-sharing websites, has resulted in the closure of 50 file-sharing hubs in the country. Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) said that 50 of 63 sites it was investigating have shut down in the aftermath of the Swiftel raid, including one reportedly accessible only by Swiftel subscribers; MIPI said in this case Swiftel "adopted BitTorrent technology for the purpose of generating a commercial benefit." "The knock-on effect of last week's raid represents an important development in the fight against Internet piracy in Australia and proves that the Internet service provider industry is prepared to take copyright issues seriously," Michael Speck, a representative of the anti-piracy unit, told ZDNet Australia. "We will get to them in due course if they don't shut themselves down," Speck added, referring to the remaining 13 active hubs. "We take the view that the raid on Swiftel was sufficient warning for the 63 targets. The remaining (active hubs) don't get further warning."
http://go.theregister.com/news/2005/03/17/oz_torrent_closures
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,39185110,00.htm
http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1459
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/288585/fromItemId/340639 
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o Report: U.K. Govt. Should Support Local Video Game Industry

London -- According to a new report by market analysis firm Screen Digest, the U.K. video game industry is healthy, but needs more support from the British government. The U.K. video game industry generated $384 million in positive trade balance in 2003, compared to a negative trade balance from the U.K. film ($541 million) and television ($893 million) industries. Although more software and games are being sold abroad than are imported, the rising cost of making games in the U.K. has forced many studios to close, Screen Digest said. In fact, the report found that the number of U.K. developers has fallen by 6% since 2000. "Our greatest asset is our creativity, and in recent times we have seen this talent being leeched away through lack of funding and more attractive prospects overseas," said Roger Bennett, director general of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. "It is now time for government to recognize the valuable contribution we make to the U.K. economy, comparative to other entertainment sectors."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?R42A223BA 
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=7500 
http://www.elspa.com 
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o Report: Wireless Internet Access Grows Nearly 30% in 2004

New York -- The number of wireless Internet users in last year grew by 29%, according to a new survey conducted by market research firm Ipsos-Insight. An estimated 171 million people, or 44% of Internet users in the 12 measured markets, have accessed the Internet wirelessly, according to the firm. Wireless growth was largely driven by the two biggest Internet markets, the U.S. and Japan, fueling 69% of the increase. The survey involved interviews with more than 6,500 adults.
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2598 
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o Google Now More Popular in U.K. than in U.S., Report Says

London -- According to a new report by Internet monitoring firm Hitwise, Google is more popular in the U.K. than in the U.S. The report found that google.co.uk came in first place in terms of market share of visits, 48%, and volume of searches, 63.7%. By comparison, Google's U.S. website only commands 36.6% market share and accounts for 56.7% of search volume. The report showed that Google came in 55 percentage points ahead of its nearest competitor, MSN Search, which accounted for just 7.86% of the market based on volume of searches. The following sites rounded out the Top 10: google.com (7.7%), uk.search.yahoo.com (5.5%), ifind.freeserve.com (4.45%), search.yahoo.com (2.93%), ask.com (1.92%), search.msn.com (1.22%), ask.co.uk (1.22%) and altavista.com (0.71%).
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U149222BA 

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(Phoenix, Ariz.) QuietTiger, the marketing arm of CD and DVD copy-protection technology developer SunnComm, said on Friday that it will acquire U.K.-based DarkNoise Technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DarkNoise is developing technology that would insert inaudible data on CDs and DVDs played "as is," that would only become audible interference on unauthorized copies made of a disc. While DarkNoise ran out of money before it could deliver the technology on its own, QuietTiger said that the company's developers, along with SunnComm's team, will now work jointly on completing the technology.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050318/185178_1.html 
http://www.quiettiger.com

(Los Angeles) Social networking site MySpace.com announced on Friday that it is offering an exclusive preview of the new album "Lullabies to Paralyze," from Interscope Records artists Queens of the Stone Age, in advance of the album's release on March 22. Los Angeles-based MySpace said over 180,000 artists have uploaded songs to their own band sites on the network, promoting concerts and connecting with fans through its online community.
http://www.myspace.com/queensofthestoneage

(Los Angeles) Japanese video game publisher Square Enix announced on Friday that it will present a live concert, "More Friends -- Music from Final Fantasy -- With Special Guests," at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on May 16, during the E3 Expo video game convention. The concert will be conducted by Grammy award-winner Arnie Roth and performed by the World Festival Symphony Orchestra and the CSUF University Singers, with special appearances by "Final Fantasy" rock tribute band The Black Mages -- which includes series composer Nobuo Uematsu as a member. The company produced a similar "Final Fantasy" concert featuring Uematsu's game music during last year's E3 Expo.
http://www.square-enix.com/uematsu/concert/index.html

(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games said that it has shipped its "Nexus: The Jupiter Incident" PC multiplayer title. The game was developed by Budapest-based Mithis and Amsterdam-based HD Interactive.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050317/lath084_3.html 
http://www.nexusthegame.com

(Edison, N.J.) Video game publisher Majesco said on Friday that it will publish "Texas Hold 'Em Poker" and "ATV: Quad Frenzy" for the Nintendo DS later this year. The poker title will feature Wi-Fi multiplayer support for up to five players.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050318/185088_1.html 
http://www.majescogames.com

(New York) Game Trust, a provider of online game tournament technology, said on Friday that independent game developers Fuel Industries and Alter Ego Studios will use its services to enable their games for online cash tournament play. New York-based Game Trust will share revenues garnered from distributing Fuel's "Switch Wakeboarding" and Alter Ego's "Revolved" titles to its network of partners, including Shockwave.com.
http://www.fuelindustries.com

(San Francisco) Wired News reported on Friday on a new album from multi-platinum Sony/Epic recording artist Fiona Apple -- which is available on file-sharing networks and is being played on the radio -- despite not being available to buy in stores. "Extraordinary Machine" was completed in 2003 but was shelved by Sony/Epic, reportedly for its lack of an obvious hit single. File-sharing monitoring firm BigChampagne reports that an average of 38,000 U.S. users are currently downloading tracks from the record at any give time. "You can't buy what they won't sell you," BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland told Wired News. "The whole (music) migration online is still one huge unrealized opportunity."
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66926,00.html

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Friday reported on "Credence," a software application being developed by Cornell University researchers that aims to eliminate both general spam and the "decoy" song and movie files that record labels and studios are distributing on file-sharing networks in an effort to frustrate file-swappers. Such spoof files have the same name and file size as the actual song, but when downloaded and opened contain a corrupted file, and in some cases a recorded copyright warning from the label. The Credence software lets users' computers on file-sharing networks "gossip" with each other in the background, to determine which peer-to-peer files can be trusted, and which should be ignored.
http://tinyurl.com/5j4p6 
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/People/egs/credence

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