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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 24, 2003
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o Independent Online Game Developer Mythic Entertainment Gets $32 Million
o RIAA Subpoenas Verizon for Data on Two More Alleged File-Traders
o Report: Consumer Spending on Online Content to Hit $2 Billion This Year
o Video-on-Demand Equipment Firm BitBand Networks Raises $9 Million
o Microsoft Laying Off 34 of 200 Staff At Japanese Xbox Division
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
> Featured Section: HP Workstation for a PC Price
o Briefly Noted: Bertelsmann, ValuSoft - "Veggie Tales," Germany - digital
TV, Netflix - Portland, Black Isle - "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II,"
GameStar - Poland, Electronic Arts - "1503 A.D. -- The New World," Search
engine market, AARP - Kazaa
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> Events: Games & Mobile Forum: April 28 | NYC
> Marketplace: Entertainment & Corporate Legal Services, Game Industry
Report, iTV Chronicle, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o Independent Online Game Developer Mythic Entertainment Gets $32 Million
Fairfax, Va. -- Mythic Entertainment, an independent developer of
massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, announced on Monday that
it has received a $32 million investment from Boston-based private equity
firm TA Associates. Founded in 1995, Virginia-based Mythic has released 13
online games to date; its flagship title, "Dark Age of Camelot," currently
claims 220,000 paying monthly subscribers worldwide. "With advancements in
technology, interactive virtual worlds such as Dark Age of Camelot are at
the very beginnings of mass market adoption," said TA Associates vice
president Jonathan W. Meeks, who will join Mythic's board.
http://www.mythicentertainment.com/press/ta_mythic1.html
http://www.ta.com
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o RIAA Subpoenas Verizon for Data on Two More Alleged File-Traders
Boston -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed
two additional subpoenas asking Internet service provider Verizon for the
identities of subscribers who have allegedly used file-sharing networks
for copyright infringement, Boston.internet.com reported. The new
subpoenas -- which Verizon is contesting -- follow Verizon's refusal to
comply with an earlier subpoena. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered
Verizon to comply, and an appeal of his ruling is currently pending. Judge
Bates consolidated the new subpoenas into the original case and will rule
on them, in addition to Verizon's request to stay his order to turn over
subscriber data while the appeal is underway, in a hearing scheduled for
April 1.
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/2116721
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o Report: Consumer Spending on Online Content to Hit $2 Billion This Year
New York -- Consumer spending on paid online content is projected to grow
over 30 percent this year, to $2.0 billion from $1.6 billion in 2002,
according to a report released on Monday by New York-based Jupiter
Research. The paid online content market is expected to grow 20 percent
annually until 2007, when it will reach $5.4 billion. However, Jupiter
notes that online advertising remains the best revenue opportunity for
most online media businesses, as ad spending online is projected to reach
nearly $14.0 billion in 2007, up from $6.2 billion in 2003. "Consumers are
slowly opening their pocketbooks for paid content," said Jupiter Research
vice president and research director David Card. "However, for at least
the next 18 to 24 months, most online media companies should generate
60-70 percent of their revenues from advertising."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030324/245155_1.html
http://www.jupitermedia.com
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o Video-on-Demand Equipment Firm BitBand Networks Raises $9 Million
Tel Aviv -- BitBand Networks, a provider of audio and video-on-demand
delivery technologies for broadband IP networks, announced on Monday that
it has raised $9 million in its second round of venture capital financing.
Participating in the round were new investor Apax Partners, as well as
previous investors Fantine Group, Challenge Fund Kardan Group and Sequoia
Seed Capital. The company said it has deployed 400 of its digital media
servers to date. Tel Aviv-based BitBand will use the additional capital to
extend its marketing and sales efforts and its global presence in the
relevant markets as well as broaden its product offering to address a
larger portion of customer needs in the area of digital broadband services
over IP networks
http://www.bitband.com/Pages/NewsPage.asp?iGlobalId=34
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o Microsoft Laying Off 34 of 200 Staff At Japanese Xbox Division
London -- Microsoft is laying off 34 of the 200 staff at the Japanese
division of its Xbox video game unit, according to a report on
GameIndustry.biz picked up by U.K. news site TheRegister. The layoffs --
which the company said will improve profitability -- will affect both
marketing and production divisions at the unit. Figures printed in a
Japanese newspaper Monday indicated the Xbox has not yet sold 400,000
units in Japan. Additionally, the main game title created by Microsoft's
Japanese division, "Kakuto Chojin," will not be released outside of Japan,
due to what Microsoft reportedly termed "potentially offensive religious
content."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/29877.html
http://www.gameindustry.biz
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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
copies.
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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
http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.php
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
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Briefly Noted:
(Berlin) German media giant Bertelsmann on Monday announced that it plans
to reach its goal of doubling profit margins to almost 10 percent by 2005.
However, CEO Gunter Thielen admitted that target would be reached only if
there were a marked economic recovery in the United States and Germany.
http://www.bertelsmann.com/index.cfm?oldBrowser=0
(Chicago) Big Idea Productions, creators of the popular "Veggie Tales"
direct-to-video children's series, announced on Monday that it partnered
with game developer THQ's value-priced game unit ValuSoft to release
"VeggieTales Creativity City" for the PC. "Creativity City incorporates
many of the life lessons taught by the VeggieTales characters into robust
games and activities that kids can enjoy and parents can feel good about,"
said ValuSoft vice president Scott Zerby.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030324/245008_1.html
http://www.valusoft.com
http://www.bigidea.com
(Berlin) In a bid to improve poor digital TV penetration in Germany, the
government has called on its 15 media regulators to create a joint fund to
finance digital terrestrial TV (DDT). Cable operators have criticized the
plan, saying the fund shouldn't be restricted to terrestrial
infrastructure.
http://www.dtg.org.uk/index.html
(Los Gatos, Calif.) Online DVD rental service Netflix on Monday announced
the opening of a new shipping center to serve the greater Portland, Oregon
area. The new center, part of Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix's plan to
provide one-day movie delivery to its members, will offer 80 percent of
Oregon's residents generally one-day delivery.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030324/sfm029_1.html
http://www.netflix.com
(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games and game developer Interplay
Entertainment on Monday announced the development of "Baldur's Gate: Dark
Alliance II" for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, a sequel to the popular
roleplaying game title. Irvine, Calif.-based Black Isle Studios, a
division of Interplay, will develop the title for release in the fall; Los
Angeles-based VU Games will distribute the game.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030324/lam033_1.html
http://www.interplay.com
http://bgda2.blackisle.com
(Boston) International Data Group (IDG), a technology publisher, announced
on Monday the launch of its GameStar video game industry magazine in
Poland. With an initial circulation of 50,000, the Polish edition joins
versions of the title published in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic
and the U.S.
http://www.idg.com
http://www.gamestar.pl
(Redwood City, Calif.) Video games firm Electronic Arts announced on
Monday the release of its "1503 A.D. -- The New World" empire-building
title for PC. The game was developed by Germany-based Sunflowers, which
also created the 2.5 million-selling "1602 A.D."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030324/245036_1.html
http://www.1503ad.com
(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Monday reported on the current state of
the search engine market, and the gravitation towards
algorithmically-derived search results from those produced by human
editors combing the Web. The article also examines the growing dominance
of pay-for-performance search listings from advertisers, as opposed to
services such as Yahoo's where an advertiser can pay the company's editors
to review its site for possible inclusion in its directory listings.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032-993677.html?tag=cd_mh
(New York) The New York Times on Monday reported on the American
Association of Retired Persons' (AARP) recent appearance as an advertiser
on the controversial Kazaa file-sharing exchange. "These people are not
just surfing on grandparents' sites," Nicole Mansdorf, an account director
with itraffic, the agency that created the AARP banner, told The Times.
"They're trading music. They're chatting. They're using instant
messenger."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/technology/24TUNE.html
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
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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
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& Entertainment."
Door Tickets Price: $250. For Early Bird Specials, pre-register at:
http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/register.php?eventid=1025
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Copyright 2003 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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