archives

o Microsoft Launches Free Online Music Service for MSN
o Panasonic Opens Video Compression Research Lab in Universal City
o Streaming Media Delivery Firm Speedera Networks Raises $20 Million
o MTVi, RioPort to Begin Selling Downloads from 5 Major Labels
o Media Delivery Software Firm Burst.com Restructures, Laying Off 75%
o Mitsubishi Invests $1 Million in Video Encoding Firm DiamondBack Vision
o Streaming Media Infrastructure Provider InfoLibria Lays Off 25% of Staff
o Online Ad Firm Lightningcast Closes Two Offices
o Game Technology Provider iEntertainment Receives Nasdaq Delisting Notice
> Digital Media Wire: D.C. -- "Interactive Games on the Internet"
> Note To Readers: Pepper Hamilton Legal Update
o Briefly Noted: Napster usage, Video game ads, Infogrames - "Mission
Impossible 2," RIAA - NARM - CEA, Music publishers - subscription services
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> Job Postings: Copywriter, Researcher/Editor, Acct. Executive,
Acct. Executive, Content Writer, Acct. Manager

> Events/Services: "Call for Entries: Short Attention Span Festival"

Full Job/Event descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section or at
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html
To Post an Event: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
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o Microsoft Launches Free Online Music Service for MSN

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced on Wednesday the launch of a free
online music service for users of its MSN portal. The service will offer
"sounds-like" technology -- as the company puts it -- so users can find
artists, songs and albums similar to their favorites or based on the
particular mood they are in. Recommendations will come from a combination
of machine-based programming and human input from MSN musicologists. The
technology for the service was provided by Redwood City-based MongoMusic,
which was acquired by Microsoft in September. Over one million streaming
audio stations representing 20 musical styles, with "near-CD quality"
sound will be featured on Microsoft's first music service offering.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010404/sfw026.html
http://music.msn.com
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o Panasonic Opens Video Compression Research Lab in Universal City

Osaka, Japan -- Japanese electronics firm Matsushita -- better known as
Panasonic -- announced on Wednesday the opening of the Panasonic Hollywood
Laboratory in Universal City, California. The facility will conduct
research and development on next-generation digital video compression and
technologies for broadband distribution. "We need to collaborate even more
closely with Hollywood movie studios and other content providers to
develop new digital content distribution services," said Yoshiaki Kushiki,
Matsushita Electric board member and head of multimedia and software
technologies. Matsushita said the lab will also develop digital cinema and
television technologies, as well as highly-compressed video suitable for
transmission to wireless devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010404/0269.html
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o Streaming Media Delivery Firm Speedera Networks Raises $20 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Speedera Networks, a provider of technology
services that speed streaming media content across the Internet, announced
on Wednesday that it has raised $20 million in its latest round of venture
capital financing. Continuum Group led the investment round; Banc of
America Securities, Balanced Growth Fund, Comdisco, Deutsche Bank,
Hewlett-Packard, Industry Ventures, Oracle, Palo Alto Investors and
Trinity Ventures also participated. SpeederaCEO Ajit Gupta said that the
company is now fully funded, and looking towards a possible initial public
offering. The new funds will go towards expanding into new services and
partnerships, as well as into new domestic and international markets.
http://www.speedera.com
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o MTVi, RioPort to Begin Selling Downloads from 5 Major Labels

New York -- MTVi announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with San
Jose-based digital distribution provider RioPort to sell music downloads
from all five major record labels on Radio MTV.com and VH1atWorkRadio. The
service will let users purchase songs they hear while listening to
streaming radio at MTVi websites. RioPort said that BMG, Warner Music,
EMI, Sony and Universal Music will offer about 8,000 combined total songs
to the service, which will be sold for anywhere from $0.99 to $2.49 for
singles and from $9.99 to $17.99 for full-length albums.
http://www.rioport.com/RioCorpPressReleases/1,3614,,00.html?article_id=1000502
http://www.mtv.com
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o Media Delivery Software Firm Burst.com Restructures, Laying Off 75%

San Francisco -- Burst.com, a developer of video and audio Internet
delivery software, on Wednesday announced a major restructuring that
includes a 75 percent staff reduction, leaving the company with five
employees. The company received notice from the Nasdaq on Thursday that it
is in danger of being delisted. San Francisco-based Burst.com said it will
no longer market its own software; instead, it has opted to license
patents which it holds. Stepping down from their posts are Doug Glen,
former president and CEO, as well as the company's CFO, John Lukrich, its
vice president, secretary and general counsel Edward Davis and former
president of International Operations, Thomas Koshy. All will remain as
advisors to the company. Burst.com chairman and co-founder Richard Lang
will take over as CEO.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010404/law030.html
http://www.burst.com
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o Mitsubishi Invests $1 Million in Video Encoding Firm DiamondBack Vision

Reston, Va. -- DiamondBack Vision, a developer of video encoding
technology, announced on Wednesday that Mitsubishi has invested $1 million
in its second round of funding. Riggs Capital Partners also invested an
undisclosed amount, bringing the total for the round to $8.5 million so
far. Virginia-based DiamondBack Vision plans to use the funds to market
its technology in Asia in addition to expanding its business into wireless
video streaming, digital video recorders, interactive video platforms and
video games.
http://www.objectvideo.com
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o Streaming Media Infrastructure Provider InfoLibria Lays Off 25% of Staff

Waltham, Mass. -- InfoLibria, a provider of infrastructure services for
streaming media companies, said that it has laid off 25 percent of its
staff, or 50 employees. The company cited the current market conditions as
reason for the layoffs. Massachusetts-based InfoLibria's technology lets
companies distribute, manage, accelerate and deliver broadcast-quality
streaming video and accompanying data on the Internet.
http://www.infolibria.com
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o Online Ad Firm Lightningcast Closes Two Offices

Alexandria, Va. -- Lightningcast, a provider of advertising services for
streaming audio and video, has closed two of its sales offices,
VentureWire reported on Wednesday. The company said that closing the two
underperforming sales offices -- in Atlanta and Dallas -- will only result
in the laying off of three employees. Virginia-based Lightningcast closed
its second round of funding in January for $15.5 million, led by Nokia
Venture Partners.
http://www.lightningcast.com
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o Game Technology Provider iEntertainment Receives Nasdaq Delisting Notice

Research Triangle Park, N.C. -- iEntertainment Network, a provider of game
content and software tools to ISPs, portals and e-commerce sites, said on
Wednesday that it will be delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The
company now expects to be traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board.
North Carolina-based iEntertainment Network has created games areas for
AT&T WorldNet, Earthlink, Juno and TheGlobe.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010404/0496.html
http://www.ient.com
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> Digital Media Wire: D.C. -- "Interactive Games on the Internet"

MODERATOR:
-Paul Sherman, Executive Editor, Digital Media Wire

PANELISTS:
-Peter Baldwin, Managing Director (U.S.), Quantic Dream
-Larry Cotter, President and CEO, Sandbox.com
-Mark Jacobs, President, Mythic Entertainment
-David Levine, President and CEO, Butterfly.net
-Doug Lowenstein, President, Interactive Digital Software Association

Date: Thursday, April 5th, 2001
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/DCgames.html
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> Note To Readers: Pepper Hamilton Legal Update

On April 18, Digital Media Wire will begin publishing its first regular
content feature on legal issues and developments affecting the digital
media sector. The feature will be written and produced by the law firm of
Pepper Hamilton LLP and will run every other Wednesday. A synopsis of the
feature story will run in Digital Media Wire, with a link to the Web page
with the full story.

For information about the availability of other content feature
placements, please contact Mike Hoinski at: michael@digitalmediawire.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(Cambridge, Mass.) Analyst firm Webnoize reported on Wednesday that
despite the company's efforts to filter copyrighted music, Napster usage
is once again on the rise. The company reports that the total number of
traded files during the last week of March rose 25 percent over the
previous week's total, to 593 million. Said Webnoize Analyst Matt Bailey,
"Millions of consumers continue to use Napster to access huge amounts of
free music."
http://www.webnoize.com

(New York) Inside.com ran a feature story on Wednesday that discussed the
nascent market for corporate product placement within video games.
Developers such as Electronic Arts have put ads for Kodak and Goodwrench
onto cars in its NASCAR racing games. Other companies to take advantage of
the new medium -- which graphically-advanced games like Sony's Playstation
2 have made more attractive to advertisers --include Coca-Cola and MTV.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27779&pod_id=13

(New York) Video game developer and publisher Infogrames announced on
Wednesday that it has secured the license to develop titles based on
Paramount Pictures' movie "Mission Impossible 2" from Viacom Consumer
Products. New York-based Infogrames said it will release Mission
Impossible 2 games for Sony's Playstation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox in the
fall of 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010404/nyw018.html
http://www.us.infogrames.com

(San Francisco) Wired News reported on Wednesday on the recent efforts of
two trade associations -- the National Association of Recording
Merchandisers and the Consumer Electronics Association -- to voice their
concerns over the recording industry's amount of control over digital
distribution. A representative from Tower Records' digital division was
among the witnesses who gave testimony to this fact in yesterday's Senate
hearing on online entertainment.
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,42819,00.html
http://www.narm.com
http://www.ce.org

(New York) Inside.com on Wednesday reported on the role that music
publishers will play in the online subscription service plans that the
major labels have announced recently, such as Seattle-based RealNetworks'
agreement with Warner, EMI and BMG to create a licensing program for the
labels' music.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=27659&pod_id=9
http://www.nmpa.org

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Job Postings:
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html

> nFusion Group, Copywriter - Austin, Texas

nFusion Group is seeking a Copywriter to write copy for Web sites, sales
collateral material and email newsletters. Ideal candidate will combine
strong written communications skills with a demonstrated ability to
clearly articulate key client messages. 2-3 years experience writing
marketing communications copy. B2B communications experience a plus. Send
resumes to employment@nfusiongroup.com
http://www.nfusiongroup.com
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> Sekani, Researcher/Editor - Los Angeles

Top West LA broadband media and stock footage company seeks
RESEARCHER/EDITOR to join our team. Candidate should have a discerning eye
for images, should have high energy and great organizational skills.
Related experience and BA preferred. Computer and Internet savvy a must.
Send resume and salary requirements to hr@sekani.com
http://www.sekani.com
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> Artisan, Account Executive - New York City

Creative services talent agency looking for self-motivated salespeople to
sell graphic arts and multimedia talent to adver., design, web and corp.
clients in NY. Required: excellent telemarketing and presentation skills.
Sales/design background a must. Fun company, great earning potential. Send
resumes to adrienne@artisan-inc.com
http://www.etalentagency.com
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> Corbis Stock Market, Account Executive - New York City

Seeking sales rep. to grow & service business selling stock photography to
creatives at advertising & design firms. Candidate will possess a minimum
of 2 years business-to-business sales experience, is Internet savvy &
service driven. Excellent phone presence, computer friendly and a team
player. Negotiating and listening skills are very important. Send resume
w/ salary history to: bridget@corbisstockmarket.com
http://www.corbisstockmarket.com
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> Vendaria, Inc., Content Writer - Seattle

The Content Writer will be part of our Media Services Group who is in
charge of the content related to our clients' products. Research & write
scripts for short-form product video clips for streaming applications.
2-years of professional copywriting experience in direct-response
advertising or E-retail web sites. Knowledge of the streaming media
production cycle is preferred. Send resume to jobs@vendaria.com
http://www.vendaria.com
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> Account Manager - Great Plains/West Coast (California)

The Account Manager will develop and maintain a sales account plan in
conjunction with management goals and strategies. Qualified candidates
will have 4-5 years technology sales related experience or knowledge of
financial or business management. Strong communication abilities,
professional attitude, executive presence, and customer management skills
are required. Send resumes to ptw2@careerrewards.com
OR REFER A FRIEND AND EARN $1000
http://www.careerrewards.com/cr/search/jpd.jsp?jobId=2006

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Event Postings:
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To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Call for Entries: Short Attention Span Festival

The Ninth Annual Short Attention Span Film and Video Festival will travel
to 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Entries up to 2 minutes TRT will be
accepted. This year there is NO ENTRY FEE! Cash prizes and all kinds of
other good stuff will be awarded to the lucky winners.
Official Entry Form: http://www.shortspan.com/submit_work/index.cfm
ACT NOW! DEADLINE IS APRIL 15TH!!!
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