archives

o Napster Gets 10 Months to Prove Claims of Record Label Copyright Misuse
o Electronics Firms Form Japanese Joint Venture for Video-On-Demand
o Study: Games, Cell Phones Causing Physical Mutations of Young Hands
> Digital Media Wire Panel Series: Interactive Television | L.A., S.F., NYC
o Briefly Noted: Sirius Satellite Radio, HDNet - Major League Baseball,
Digital Bridges - Universal Pictures - Vizzavi, DivXNetworks - Monument
Video, Featurewell.com - Mother Jones, Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley
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o Napster Gets 10 Months to Prove Claims of Record Label Copyright Misuse

San Francisco -- U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has given
Napster, Inc. ten months to comb through hundreds of thousands of pages of
documents submitted by the major record labels suing the company for
copyright infringement, to try to prove its claims that the labels cannot
prove ownership of songs and have misused their copyrights. If Napster can
prove its claims, the company may not be liable for damages for copyright
infringements because the labels' copyrights would then be viewed as void.
It is unclear whether or not Napster has the funds to continue its legal
battle for another year; the company also recently said that it will once
again push back the launch of its paid subscription service, its only
foreseeable source of revenue. Patel is not expected to rule on the
copyright issue until next spring. The Los Angeles Times also reported
that the company is seeking to have two board members -- former CEO Hank
Barry and venture capitalist John Hummer -- removed from the board "in
light of a pending offer to buy the company."
http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cotown/la-000021992mar27.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness%2Denter
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175483.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869491.html
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o Electronics Firms Form Japanese Joint Venture for Video-On-Demand

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Seven consumer electronics and technology firms
have formed a joint venture in Japan -- E-Box Corporation -- that will
offer cable TV operators a complete infrastructure for providing
video-on-demand and interactive TV services to their subscribers. The
Tokyo-based venture includes Pioneer, Sharp, National Semiconductor, Sigma
Designs, CMC Magnetics, IVast and Modern VideoFilm. Additionally, U.S.
cable TV operator Comcast will advise E-Box on technical requirements and
will launch field trials of its service early next year. E-Box said it
will offer North American and Asia Pacific cable operators new services
such as video-on-demand "with the look and feel of interactive DVD,"
e-commerce, bandwidth-efficient delivery of HDTV and high-capacity
personal video recording. E-Box is also currently negotiating content
deals with several Hollywood studios and KCTS/Seattle Public Television.
"Our joint venture is a consortium of companies that have leading-edge
products and services targeted towards the future of television
entertainment," said Dr. Masao Sugimoto, executive corporate engineering
adviser for Pioneer Corporation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020327/sfw030_1.html
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o Study: Games, Cell Phones Causing Physical Mutations of Young Hands

London -- Playing video games such as Nintendo's GameBoy and using cell
phones and two-way pagers to send text-messages is affecting physical
mutations in the hands of those under the age of 25, U.K. news site The
Observer reported. A recent study in nine cities including Tokyo, Chicago
and London found that in young people who frequently use handheld devices,
their thumbs have become more muscled and dexterous than their fingers.
The study was conducted by Dr. Sadie Plant, founder of the Cybernetic
Culture Research Unit at Warwick University. "There are many ways to input
information into these devices, but for some reason kids under 25 most
often choose to use their thumbs over any other digit, Plant told The
Observer. "There is no question that choice is having a clear effect on
their physicality: thumbs are the new fingers."
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,673103,00.html
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Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA)
INVESTMENT CAPITAL CONFERENCE 2002
Sources of Capital for Growth Companies
Thu. April 4, 2002 * Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles

IS FUNDING AVAILABLE IN THE CURRENT MARKET? -- YES!
Over 65 Speakers & 70 Sponsors
LEARN WHERE THE CAPITAL IS -- AND HOW TO GET IT!

http://www.lava.org

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VirtualMedia Partners "interactiveTV Global RoadShow"

Due to remarkable success of the iTV Spring RoadShow, VirtualMedia is
running a series of six updated events in the summer and fall of 2002. The
revised agenda was compiled with the aid of an advisory panel of industry
experts and covers topics as diverse as t-commerce and the consumer
lifecycle to interactive horizontal marketing and proof of concepts in the
interactiveTV space - but this time with a global reach, including Asia,
Japan and the far east Exclusive networking, with the limited number
attendance of 70 delegates. Special Early Booking Discount.

http://www.virtualmediapartners.com/globalroadshow/
yaqub@virtualmediapartners.com
Tel: 917 432 2906

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STREAMING MEDIA WEST 2002: April 23-26, Los Angeles Convention Center

**FREE EXHIBITION PASS*** Experience the tricks behind the trade and find
today's business solutions, as the most cutting-edge, industry leading
companies showcase the latest in streaming and digital media advancements.

***SAVE $200 ON CONFERENCE PASS*** Listen, learn and network with a
distinguished faculty of over 150 speakers consisting of executives from
such companies as RealNetworks, Microsoft, Apple, DavidLynch.com, Sony
Pictures Digital Entertainment, Motorola, MSNBC and
PricewaterhouseCoopers.

For your FREE Exhibition pass or to save $200 on your full Conference pass
visit http://www.streamingmedia.com/west or call 888 301-8890

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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Sirius Satellite Radio said on Wednesday that it is
accelerating the nationwide rollout of its satellite-delivered digital
radio service for consumers. The company will now offer service to 39
states over the next 60 days, with full nationwide distribution available
by July 1. New York-based Sirius previously said its service would be
nationwide by August. The company suffered numerous delays in the launch
of its service. Rival XM Satellite Radio was first to market and has
already established its nationwide satellite radio service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020327/nyw079_1.html
http://www.siriusradio.com

(Dallas) HDNet, a provider of high-definition television broadcasts of
sports, entertainment and news, announced on Wednesday a deal with Major
League Baseball to broadcast 80 games during the 2002 season on DirecTV.
The deal follows last year's airing of 12 games in HDTV. Dallas-based
HDNet was co-founded by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, also founder of
Broadcast.com, which was sold to Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion. "Watching
an MLB game in high definition is the next best thing to being in the
ballpark," said Cuban.
http://www.hd.net
http://www.mlb.com

(London) Wireless entertainment developer Digital Bridges said on
Wednesday that it has partnered with European wireless operator Vodafone
to offer games based on the Universal Pictures film "Ali G Indahouse."
Three games whose scripts were written by the film's creators -- Sacha
Baron Cohen, Dan Mazer and Ant Hines -- as well as ringtones from the
soundtrack, logos and icons will be offered on the Vizzavi wireless
entertainment portal.
http://www.vizzavi.co.uk/tvandradio/alig_indahouse.jsp
http://www.digitalbridges.com

(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression technology,
said on Wednesday that video distributor Monument Video has licensed
DivXNetworks' video-on-demand delivery system to distribute its movies
online. Monument will initially offer six films encoded using San
Diego-based DivXNetworks' DivX codec.
http://www.divxnetworks.com
http://www.monumentvideo.com/ondemand.html

(San Francisco) Featurewell.com, a site that syndicates articles that have
already been published, announced on Wednesday that it will begin
distributing articles that first appeared in Mother Jones and on
MotherJones.com. Featurewell.com offers writers 60 percent of the revenue
generated from the sale of their articles. Founder David Wallace told the
San Francisco Chronicle that he's sold $100,000 worth of articles in the
company's first year.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/03/27/BU21088.DTL
http://www.featurewell.com
http://www.motherjones.com

(San Francisco) CNET on Wednesday reported on the ongoing dispute between
the entertainment and technology industries over the inclusion of
copyright protection technology on digital media devices to prevent piracy
of movies, music and other media. The article features insight on Sen.
Fritz Hollings (D, S.C.), who recently introduced a bill -- the Consumer
Broadband and Digital Television Act -- that if enacted would impose
government-mandated security technology on such devices.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869902.html?tag=cd_mh
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>DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PANEL DISCUSSION SERIES:
"iTV: New Interactive Services Fuel Big Expectations
Slow Market Penetration Raises Questions: How Big is iTV Going to Be?"

Register by clicking on the links below to join leading executives and
professionals at our upcoming iTV breakfast panels in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and New York.

LA: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21549&Referrer_id=4074
SF: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21550&Referrer_id=4074
NYC: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21551&Referrer_id=4074

========================================================
LOS ANGELES: Tuesday, April 16, 2002, Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills
========================================================
Moderator: Ken Rutkowski, Founder and CEO, KenRadio.com
Stephen Condon, SVP and CMO, Intertainer
K.C. Hildreth, COO, GoldPocket Interactive
Steve Hoffman, CEO, Spiderdance
Mark Kapczynski, Senior Consultant, Media-Entertainment Solutions,
Microsoft
David Nathanson, Director of Broadband Strategy, Fox Cable Networks

Sponsored by: LARTA
For more information and to register for the Los Angeles event:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21549&Referrer_id=4074

========================================================
SAN FRANCISCO: Wednesday, April 17, 2002, City Club of San Francisco
========================================================
Moderator: Sean Badding, VP and Senior Analyst, The Carmel Group
Martijn Lopes Cardozo, VP of Product Management, GoldPocket Interactive
Bridget Steele, Business Development Manager, Microsoft TV
Bill Niemeyer, Founder, Centrimedia (former Director, Strategic Dev.,
Spiderdance)
Peter Schultz, Director of Business Development, Pop Program, Liberate

For more information and to register for the San Francisco event:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21550&Referrer_id=4074

=========================================================
NEW YORK: Thursday, April 25, 2002, Cornell Club of New York City
=========================================================
Moderator: Art Cohen, SVP, Advertising, ACTV
Patrick Donoghue, VP, Interactive Television, Cablevision
Gerard Kunkel, President, WorldGate
Christopher S. Lucas, VP & Exec. Producer, Digital Media Group, Showtime
Networks
Rod A. Nenner, Director, TV & Entertainment Solutions Group, America
Online
Carla Sinatra, Vice President of Business Development, NBC
Todd Krieger, Senior Manager, Business Development, Microsoft TV

Sponsored by: WorldGate
For more information and to register for the New York event:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=21551&Referrer_id=4074

Sponsorships and Inquiries:
Ned Sherman at 323.464.0793 or esherman@digitalmediawire.com
Paul Sherman at psherman@digitalmediawire.com

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