Main Stories
o IFPI Sues Music File-Swappers in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada
o New Research Disputes Record Industry's File-Sharing Claims
o Report: Number of Paying Music Downloaders Up Three-Fold in 2003
o Boeing Sells Digital Cinema Business to Access Integrated Technologies
o NY Daily News: Steve Case May Attempt to Buy Back America Online
o Report: Content Delivery Networks' Revenue Up 60% for 2003
o AOL Claims 250,000 Subscribers for MusicNet Service
o Report: 28 Million Digital Video Recorders to Ship in 2008
o Study: Three-Quarters of 18-34 Year-Olds Are Online

o Briefly Noted: Opera - mobile DVR programming, The Orchard - Roger McGuinn, FlickStation, Wraptor - PureVolume.com, Linktone, Midway Games - "NBA Ballers," Aspyr Media - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Disney Interactive - "Home on the Range," Stardock Entertainment - "The Political Machine," MPAA - screener ban lawsuit settlement

London -- The worldwide recording industry expanded its legal campaign against file-swappers beyond the U.S. on Tuesday, as the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced that it has sued 247 individuals in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada for copyright infringement. The group's U.S. counterpart, the Recording Industry Association of America, has sued nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens for allegedly offering music for download on file-sharing services like Kazaa. The IFPI said its current lawsuits were only the first wave, with additional suits soon to be filed in other countries. "This is the start of an international campaign against online copyright theft, and it is the logical next step in the fight against piracy, coming after our extensive education and warning campaigns of the last few months," said IFPI chairman Jay Berman. The IFPI noted that more than 600,000 consumers in Europe have tried the emerging legitimate download services offered there, which offer a catalogue of 300,000 tracks from 50 legal online sites.
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20040330.html 
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5181872.html
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o New Research Disputes Record Industry's File-Sharing Claims

London -- Researchers from the Harvard Business School and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill published a report this week that contradicts the music industry's claim that Internet file sharing has had a major impact on global CD sales. According to Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf, file sharing has had only a limited effect of global sales. "The economic effect is also small," the report said. "Even in the most pessimistic specification, five thousand downloads are needed to displace a single album sale." Little surprise, the Recording Industry Association of America rejected the researchers' findings, saying in a statement: "Countless well-respected groups and analysts -- including Edison Research, Forrester and the University of Texas, among others -- have all determined that illegal file sharing has adversely impacted the sales of CDs." 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H2D8621E7
http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5181562.html
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o Report: Number of Paying Music Downloaders Up Three-Fold in 2003

New York -- The number of U.S. music downloaders who actually paid to download a song increased nearly three-fold in 2003, as in December an estimated 10 million U.S. users had paid a fee to download music over the Internet, according to New York-based research firm Ipsos-Insight's TEMPO survey of digital music behavior. In December 2003, 22% of downloaders reported having paid for a song, as opposed to 8% in the same period for 2002. "This is the clearest sign yet that American music enthusiasts are becoming increasingly dependent on digitally formatted and distributed music, and as a result, are sampling many of the recently launched fee-based online music services to find a legal means of online music acquisition," said study author Matt Kleinschmit. "The next order of business for fee-based online music services is to both continue to lure new consumers to their respective services, as well as retain users who may be visiting for experimentation purposes only."
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=2100
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o Boeing Sells Digital Cinema Business to Access Integrated Technologies

Los Angeles -- Defense contractor Boeing announced on Tuesday its exit from the digital cinema business, with the sale of its Boeing Digital Cinema assets to New Jersey-based Access Integrated Technologies. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Boeing's digital cinema system eliminates the need for physical film stock by providing the ability to transmit first-run films and alternative media like sporting events and concerts directly to movie theatres via satellite. "Boeing successfully pioneered and demonstrated many advances in the deployment of advanced satellite and secure digital distribution of large data files from a single point to multiple locations simultaneously," said Boeing Network Enabled Solutions vice president Dr. Ron Maehl. "AccessIT can now take that technology to the next level with its focus on the entertainment industry and its ability to put a capital structure in place for full-scale market implementation."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040330/cgtu016_1.html
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/cinema/flash.html
http://www.accessitx.com
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o NY Daily News: Steve Case May Attempt to Buy Back America Online

Dulles, Va. -- Steve Case, the former chairman of America Online, is reportedly raising $10 billion in an attempt to buy back AOL from parent Time Warner, the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday. "It would be his redemption," one Wall Street source told the Daily News. Case, who headed AOL when it merged with Time Warner in 2000, reportedly explored such a deal last year but was rebuffed because Time Warner wasn't ready to sell. Now that federal investigations into AOL's accounting practices are nearly complete, however, Wall Street insiders believe the time is right. Some analysts say that such a deal would be attractive to Time Warner, which recently chose to drop the "AOL" from its corporate name in an effort to distance itself from the unit's financial concerns. Others, however, believe that the media giant may want to hold onto AOL, now that its business appears to be on the rebound. One industry insider, in fact, said that Time Warner is looking for "far more" than $10 billion for AOL.
http://www.nydailynews.com/03-30-2004/business/story/178518p-155267c.html
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o Report: Content Delivery Networks' Revenue Up 60% for 2003

Monterey, Calif. -- Content delivery network services, which provide large-scale distribution of streaming media content, delivered double or triple the streaming content in 2003 when compared with 2002, while revenue increased 60% over the previous year, according to data from Monterey, Calif.-based AccuStream iMedia Research. Content delivery networks including Akamai, Speedera, LimeLight Networks and Chaincast Networks generated an estimated $90-$115 million in 2003 from streaming video and Internet radio. The average cost per gigabyte of streaming video transferred in 2003 for these companies was $2.15, while the average price for a gigabyte of Internet radio was $1.31. AccuStream noted that AOL, RealNetworks and Yahoo are in fact the largest content distributors, but usually contract directly with carrier suppliers for their bandwidth needs.
http://www.accustreamresearch.com
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o AOL Claims 250,000 Subscribers for MusicNet@AOL Service

Dulles, Va. -- America Online said on Tuesday that it has signed up 250,000 subscribers for its MusicNet@AOL on-demand music subscription service. By contrast, MusicNet rival Rhapsody, distributed by RealNetworks, said that it hit the 250,000-subscriber mark in October 2003. MusicNet, a joint venture between AOL, Time Warner EMI and Bertelsmann, offers a library of over 600,000 for streaming and "tethered" download for $8.95 per month. AOL also on Tuesday announced the launch of a new download store for MusicNet@AOL subscribers, which will sell songs for $0.99 each.
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/press_view.cfm?release_num=55253879
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o Report: 28 Million Digital Video Recorders to Ship in 2008

Framingham, Mass. -- Aided by heavy investment by satellite and cable TV providers in set-top boxes that offer digital video recording, worldwide unit shipments of digital video recorders are forecasted to climb to more than 28 million in 2008, with a compound annual growth rate of 46.9% between 2003 and 2008, according to a report from Massachusetts-based market research firm IDC. At the end of 2003, there were 3.2 million U.S. households with the devices, with manufacturer TiVo owning 39% of the market. "For the first time the DVR vendors are getting through to people and showing them that these devices are more than just high-priced VCRs," said IDC senior research analyst Greg Ireland. "The pay TV providers can take a lot of the credit, and reap the rewards, for finally breaking through to consumers." IDC noted that devices that combine a digital video recorder with a DVD recorder -- which allows programs to be burned to DVD -- will account for nearly 40% of the market by 2008, shipping a projected 11.3 million units.
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=pr2004_03_22_171100
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o Study: Three-Quarters of 18-34 Year-Olds Are Online

Reston, Va. -- Nearly three-quarters of all Americans aged 18-34 have Internet access, the highest percentage of any age group, according to a new study from ComScore Networks and the Online Publishers Association. While the group comprises only 24% of the total U.S. population, it accounts for 38% of the total time spent online and 40% of the total pages viewed. The skew is even more pronounced among men in this age group. "Eighteen to 34 year-olds feel a perpetual need to stay connected. This group expects to get online whenever they choose and wherever they are," said Michael Zimbalist, the executive director of the Online Publishers Association. "When taken overall, this first installment of our research into 18 to 34 year-olds clearly shows that the Internet has become the dominant medium in the lives of this highly sought after group."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?A273410E7

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(Oslo, Norway) Internet browser software developer Opera announced on Tuesday the launch of a new service that allows users of its mobile browser software to use their cell phones to program the recording of TV shows on their digital video recorders. The company's mobileIPG (mobile interactive program guide) software lets users browse program listings on their Symbian OS-powered phones and schedule recording of programs to Linux-powered set-tops running Opera. Norway-based Opera said it developed the solution in conjunction with German firms DiscVision and TVinfo Internet.
http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2004/03/30/
http://www.opera.com/graphics/products/itv/P900_iTV-movie.gif

(New York) The Orchard, a large distributor for independent record labels, announced on Tuesday an exclusive digital distribution and promotion partnership with Roger McGuinn. The former Byrds frontman will release his upcoming solo album "Limited Edition" exclusively through digital music retailer eMusic for 90 days, before expanding distribution through The Orchard's network of digital retail partners. McGuinn will also distribute a live performance from his upcoming tour through eMusicLive.
http://www.theorchard.com 
http://www.emusiclive.com 
http://www.mcguinn.com

(Atlanta) FlickStation, a provider of DVD rental vending machines, said on Tuesday that it will install its machines in the corporate offices of ISP EarthLink in Atlanta and Pasadena, Calif. The robotic machines hold 2,100 DVDs and allow consumers to rent DVDs with a debit or credit card from their place of work.
http://www.flickstation.com

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) Free Radical Networks said on Tuesday that independent music distributor Unborn Media will exclusively use the company's Wraptor software to sell digital tracks from UM artists on the PureVolume.com site. PureVolume will offer Wraptor -- which distributes songs in a proprietary .wrap format that can include photos, lyrics or tour dates -- to its more than 15,000 featured bands.
http://www.wraptor.com 
http://www.purevolume.com

(Shanghai, China) Linktone, a Chinese provider of wireless entertainment services, said on Tuesday that Chinese handset manufacturers Bird and EastCom will embed its games, images and other services on select cell phones they sell in China. Linktone said that when combined, the two manufacturers serve 65% of the Chinese market.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040330/cntu005_1.html
http://english.linktone.com/aboutus

(Chicago) Video game publisher Midway Games said on Tuesday that it will ship its "NBA Ballers" title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox to retailers on April 5. Chicago-based Midway will launch a national print, TV and online campaign for the game, which features the New York Knicks' Stephon Marbury as cover athlete.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040330/305308_1.html 
http://www.nbaballers.com

(Austin, Texas) Mac game developer Aspyr Media on Tuesday shipped its version of Electronic Arts' "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" title to retailers. Austin-based Aspyr said that the game's conversion to Mac was completed by Quebec-based Beenox.
http://www.aspyr.com 
http://www.beenox.com

(Burbank) Disney Interactive on Tuesday that its "Disney's Home On The Range" for Nintendo Game Boy Advance, based on the upcoming film of the same name, is now available in stores. The feature-length animated film debuts in theaters on Friday.
http://bvinteractive.go.com
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/homeontherange/main.html

(Canton, Mich.) Game developer Stardock Entertainment on Tuesday announced the June launch of its election PC game, "The Political Machine." Players must campaign, raise money, take out advertisements, win endorsements and even go on cable TV news shows to raise support for their virtual candidate; special units such as hecklers, spin doctors, protesters and celebrity supporters also become available during the game. "The Political Machine" will feature both single player and online multiplayer components.
http://www.politicalmachine.com

(New York) IndieWire.com reported on Tuesday that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and a group of independent producers and filmmakers have settled their outstanding litigation over the right to distribute DVD screener movies to awards voting societies, with both sides agreeing not to discuss settlement terms. The MPAA declared a ban on screeners last year that was later overturned by a federal court's injunction; the two sides announced today that they have settled the matter instead of going forward with a full trial. "We find it's a victory because we were able to overturn the ban and we were able to put [the MPAA] decisively on notice that we have the power to confront their ill-advised policies," independent producer Jeff Levy-Hinte told IndieWire. "It was clear to the MPAA, I believe, that it was time to cut their losses." MPAA CEO Jack Valenti said in a statement on Monday that he is "pleased that we have put this matter behind us, and look forward to working together with all segments of the industry to deal effectively with this menace [piracy] lest we all are consumed."
http://www.indiewire.com/biz/biz_040330mpaa.html

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