archives

o Judge Calls Napster's Song-Blocking Efforts "Disgraceful"
o Radio Stations Suspend Webcasts in Dispute Over Commercials
o Online Locker Service Musicbank Shuts Down, Before Service Ever Launched
o Napster Acquires Technology, Engineering Staff of Gigabeat
o Web Syndication Provider iSyndicate Lays Off Half Its U.S. Employees
o FreeNet Founder Ian Clarke's Uprizer Raises $4 Million from Intel
o Amazon.com to Serve as Online Store for Borders
o Game Developer TDK Mediactive Raises $8 Million
o Swedish Game Developer Digital Illusions Acquires Sandbox Studios
o Igo Media to Acquire Film Industry Site ExtraCast.com
> Digital Media Wire Panels: "Digital Copyright Crossroads" - LA, D.C.
o Briefly Noted: Liberate Technologies - Concurrent Computer Corporation,
Gemstar-TV Guide - Nielsen Media Research, Digital Club Network - McGarthy
Promotions, InterTrust - Artesia Technologies, Net4Music - Zomba Music
Publishing, Peer2Media
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> Job Postings: General Manager/VP Client Development, Copywriter,
Researcher/Editor

> Events/Services: "Stanford Media and Entertainment Conference,"
"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
_____________________________________________

o Judge Calls Napster's Song-Blocking Efforts "Disgraceful"

San Francisco -- During a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel
described Napster's efforts to comply with a preliminary injunction
ordering it to block unauthorized copyrighted songs from its service as
"disgraceful," CNET reported. Patel also said that "maybe the system needs
to be shut down" while Napster steps up its compliance. The RIAA submitted
testimony to the fact that virtually all of the songs it has asked Napster
to remove from its service are still available, even if in misspelled or
variant filenames. "Notwithstanding Napster’s nitpicking over every detail
of the Court’s Order in an effort to resist compliance, we are confident
that the Court will make the injunction effective," said RIAA general
counsel Cary Sherman. Napster said it would leave it up to the court's
appointed technical expert, A.J. "Nick" Nichols, to examine its efforts to
comply with the injunction. Judge Patel also denied class action status to
a number of indie labels and independent artists' lawsuits and did not
approve claims of personal liability against executives from Napster and
venture firm Hummer Winblad.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5567384.html?tag=tp_pr
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=398
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o Radio Stations Suspend Webcasts in Dispute Over Commercials

San Antonio, Texas -- Clear Channel Communications, a media company that
owns a large number of U.S. radio stations, has suspended the online
streaming versions offered by its stations. The move is in response to
demands from the record industry and advertisers to receive compensation
for actors appearing in commercials that are included in the webcasts.
Emmis Communications, another radio company, has also suspended its
stations' webcasts. A representative from the Association of National
Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies
(AAAA) told CNET that "advertisers recently sent the broadcasters a letter
saying that the ads shouldn't be used online -- unless the stations
themselves wanted to pay the extra fees for the actors," said Ira Shepard,
an attorney for the two organizations. Advertisers are asked to pay actors
extra when their work is played online, but currently have no way to
collect compensation from radio stations for these performances. Emmis
said that it will simply delete the commercials from its webcasts as soon
as it is able to implement the necessary technology.
http://content.clearchannel.com/streamingstatus/
http://www.emmis.com
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5575140.html?tag=mn_hd
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o Online Locker Service Musicbank Shuts Down, Before Service Ever Launched

San Francisco -- Musicbank, an online service that would have provided
users access to streaming versions of their CD collections, ceased
operations and laid off its entire staff this week -- having never
officially launched its service. San Francisco-based Musicbank had secured
the necessary rights from all of the major labels and music publishers to
create a legal service, but was not able to secure enough funding to
remain in business. The company laid off about 30 percent of its staff in
February -- including its engineers -- after creating its technology,
which has been in beta testing since then. The company's investors
included Atlas Venture, Bertelsmann Ventures, Bonaventure Investments and
Universal Music Group.
http://www.musicbank.com/
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o Napster Acquires Technology, Engineering Staff of Gigabeat

Redwood City, Calif. -- Napster announced that it has acquired the music
search and song file identification technologies of Palo Alto-based
Gigabeat, as well as the engineering team that created the technology.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Napster said it
will integrate the company's technology into its current efforts to block
copyrighted songs from its music-swapping service. "Gigabeat has developed
some very interesting and innovative technologies," said Napster CEO Hank
Barry. "We look forward to working with their technology and highly
qualified engineers."
http://www.gigabeat.com
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o Web Syndication Provider iSyndicate Lays Off Half Its U.S. Employees

San Francisco -- iSyndicate, a provider of syndication services for online
media, has laid off 85 employees, or about half of its U.S. operations,
VentureWire reported. The layoffs, which affected all divisions, were
blamed on the current difficult market conditions. Employees working in
the company's offices abroad were not affected, the company said. San
Francisco-based iSyndicate sells editorial content from media
organizations to websites and other outlets. The company raised $55
million in April 2000 from investors including News Corporation's News
Digital Ventures, Microsoft, NBC and Vignette.
http://www.isyndicate.com
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o FreeNet Founder Ian Clarke's Uprizer Raises $4 Million from Intel

Los Angeles -- Uprizer, a provider of peer-to-peer networking services for
businesses, has raised $4 million in funding from Intel Corp. and two
other venture firms, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Los
Angeles-based Uprizer was founded by Irish computer programmer Ian Clarke,
who developed FreeNet -- an encrypted file-sharing system similar to
Gnutella that scrambles data as it is transferred, so that the users
remain anonymous and what they are trading is hidden from sight. Clarke is
well-known for his opposition to intellectual property laws, but has said
that Uprizer's offerings will be entirely legal and will not counter
existing copyright laws.
http://www.uprizer.com
http://freenet.sourceforge.net
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o Amazon.com to Serve as Online Store for Borders

Seattle -- Amazon.com announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with
Borders, a retail chain of stores that sell books and music, to become the
provider of online sales fulfillment for Borders.com. Financial terms of
the deal were not disclosed. The companies will create a co-branded
website to launch in August that will offer all of Amazon.com's inventory,
as well as store locations and in-store event information for Borders
locations. In the future, the site may offer the ability to reserve a book
online for purchase at a local Borders store, or let users return books
purchased on Amazon.com to a physical Borders location.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/0064.html
http://www.borders.com
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o Game Developer TDK Mediactive Raises $8 Million

Calabasas, Calif. -- TDK Mediactive, a publisher of PC and console-based
video games, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an $8 million loan
financing agreement with TDK U.S.A. Corporation. "Although we were able to
obtain this funding through our major shareholder, we will require
additional funding to continue our plans to add new titles for launching
during 2002," said TDK Mediactive CFO Martin Paravato. Calabasas-based TDK
Mediactive's games are based on original and licensed content derived from
major motion pictures, video franchises, popular literature and popular
culture.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/2014.html
http://www.tdk-mediactive.com
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o Swedish Game Developer Digital Illusions Acquires Sandbox Studios

Stockholm, Sweden -- Digital Illusions, a Stockholm-based game developer,
announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Toronto-based developer
Sandbox Studios for $3.5 million in cash and $500,000 in stock. The
purchase will create U.S. operations for the company, which develops games
software for Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation,
Nintendo Gameboy, Nintendo Gameboy Advance and PC CD-ROM. "The new group will attain the critical mass that is necessary to manage several
next-generation console projects in parallel," said Digital Illusions CEO
Patrick Soderlund. "Simultaneously, the group will be less vulnerable in a
situation where a publisher decides to move forward or limit a launch."
http://www.dice.se
http://www.sandboxstudios.com
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o Igo Media to Acquire Film Industry Site ExtraCast.com

El Segundo, Calif. -- Igo Media, an entertainment content aggregator,
announced on Wednesday that it will acquire 100 percent of Ephoria Online
Systems, the parent company of ExtraCast.com -- an online resource for
"extras" casting directors and background talent in Hollywood. Financial
terms were not disclosed. Beverly Hills-based ExtraCast.com is a free
resource for licensed casting directors for film, television, music
videos, print ads and commercials.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/0087.html
http://www.extracast.com
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> Digital Media Wire Panels: Los Angeles, CA and Washington, D.C.

"Digital Copyright Crossroads:
Does Digital Rights Management Have The Right of Way?"

Los Angeles | Sponsored by Jones Day Reavis & Pogue
(MCLE Approval Pending)

MODERATOR:
- Jim Griffin, CEO of Cherry Lane Digital, Founder of Evolab,
Co-founder of the 'pho' list

PANELISTS:
- Scott Dinsdale, EVP of Digital Strategy,
Motion Picture Association (MPA)
- Russell Frackman, Attorney, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP,
Lead counsel for the RIAA in their litigation vs. Napster
- Robin Gross, Attorney, Fair Use & Intellectual Property,
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
- Jonathan Potter, Executive Director, Digital Media Association (DiMA)

*Additional panelists TBA.
Date: Wednesday, April 25th, 2001
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAcopyright.html
Sponsorships >> Michael Hoinski at michael@digitalmediawire.com

- - - - -
Washington, D.C.

SPEAKERS:
- Fritz Attaway, EVP & Washington General Counsel,
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
- Russell Frackman, Attorney, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP,
Lead counsel for the RIAA in their litigation vs. Napster
- Declan McCullagh, Washington Bureau Chief, Wired News
- Jonathan Potter, Executive Director, Digital Media Association (DiMA)

*Additonal panelists TBA.
Date: Wednesday, May 9th, 2001
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/DCcopyright.html
Sponsorships >> Michael Hoinski at michael@digitalmediawire.com
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(San Carlos, Calif.) Interactive television developer Liberate
Technologies announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with video
on-demand technology developer Concurrent Computer Corporation. The two
companies have combined their services in an offering that gives users
access to email and enhanced programming -- as well as movies through
video on-demand -- through their TVs. The first test of the pairing will
be conducted with Cox Communications' San Diego cable system, using
set-tops developed by Scientific Atlanta.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/2044.html

(Pasadena, Calif.) Interactive program guide provider Gemstar-TV Guide
announced on Wednesday that it will work with Nielsen Media Research to
develop new TV research data based on the information returned from users'
set-top boxes equipped with Gemstar program guides. The companies will
sell reports to advertisers based on data culled from the boxes, which
report to Gemstar which TV shows a person chooses to watch.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/0269.html

(New York) Live concert webcaster Digital Club Network announced that it
has partnered with radio promoter McGathy Promotions to deliver live
concert broadcasts to commercial radio stations around the country. New
York-based DCN webcasts over 100 concerts a week from its website. Under
the partnership, McGathy will arrange for syndication of these live
concert webcasts to their affiliate stations' websites.
http://www.dcn.com
http://www.mcgathypromotions.com

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Digital rights management provider InterTrust
announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Artesia Technologies, a
provider of digital asset management, to integrate and jointly market the
companies' services. Santa Clara-based InterTrust's technology safeguards
music and video files against copying, while Maryland-based Artesia's
technology allows media to be reformatted and distributed across different
channels.
http://www.intertrust.com
http://www.artesia.com

(New York) Downloadable sheet music retailer Net4Music announced on
Wednesday that Zomba Music Publishing, which handles publishing aspects of
recordings by the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and 'N Sync, will use
its service to make sheet music available online. New York-based Net4Music
has similar deals with EMI Music Publishing and Schott Musik
International.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010411/2375.html
http://www.net4music.com

(Los Angeles) Peer2Media, a provider of music distribution services,
announced on Wednesday that it has appointed Glenn Weisberger as president
and CEO of the company. Previously, Weisberger served as executive vice
president, general counsel and acting CFO for The Harvey Entertainment
Company. Los Angeles-based Peer2Media's technology adds advertising into
encrypted song files that are traded on file-sharing services. Proceeds
are then paid to compensate artists and copyright holders.
http://www.peer2media.com

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

> Blast Radius, General Manager/VP of Client Development - New York City

The GM/VP Client Development is responsible for guiding a client
development and operations team towards meeting revenue and operations for
the New York City office. Identify and qualify solid business
opportunities, conduct sales presentations to potential clients,
effectively manage client development and operations team.
Send resumes to vhowell@blastradius.com
http://www.blastradius.com
______________________

> 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
______________________

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

> Stanford Media and Entertainment Conference, April 14 - Palo Alto, CA

Register now for the "Future of Content: Making Convergence Real," a media
& entertainment conference to be held at the Stanford Graduate School of
Business. Michael Eisner, Chairman and CEO of Disney, will deliver the
keynote address. Panel discussions will cover topics including film,
music, intellectual property, mega-mergers, interactive TV, infrastructure
and more.
For more information and to register:
http://www.futureofcontent.com
______________________

> 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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