archives

o Music Industry Sales Down 5% Worldwide; Piracy Cited As Main Factor
o Interactive TV Content Developer Spiderdance Ceases Operations
o Supreme Court Declares "Virtual" Child Porn Law Unconstitutional
o Amazon.com Defends Policy of Selling Used Books to Authors
o Discovery Launching All-HDTV Channel, Subscription Video-on-Demand
o Interactive Media Creation Software Firm Anark Raises $2.3 Million
o Game Developer Interplay in Talks to Sell Shiny Entertainment Subsidiary
o Broadband Services Content Delivery Firm Myrio Raises $8 Million
o Briefly Noted: TiVo Series 2, EA Sports - Digital Bridges, SeaChange -
PVR - Adelphia, Infogrames - "Dragon Ball Z," Red Herring CEO, Creative
Nomad - FireWire, Buzztime Entertainment - Microsoft, "Mod" video games
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> TOMORROW: San Francisco Interactive TV Panel

Last chance to pre-register for Wednesday's breakfast panel discussion
featuring leading iTV executives, being held at The City Club of San
Francisco.

http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFitv2.html
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o Music Industry Sales Down 5% Worldwide; Piracy Cited As Main Factor

London -- Worldwide music industry sales were $33.7 billion in 2001, down
5 percent from 2000, according to figures released on Tuesday by the
International Federation of the Phonograph Industry, which represents
major record labels worldwide. "Much of the fall in sales is attributed to
the increased availability of free music via mass digital copying and the
Internet," the IFPI said in its report. Declines in market value in 2001
ranged from 4.5 percent in the U.S. and 9.6 percent in Canada to 9.2
percent in Germany and 8.6 percent in Italy. "In 2001 the international
recording industry was caught in a perfect storm, buffeted by the combined
effects of mass copying and piracy, competition from other products and
economic downturn," said IFPI chairman Jay Berman. "The industry's
problems reflect no fall in the popularity of recorded music: rather, they
reflect the fact that the commercial value of music is being widely
devalued by mass copying and piracy." Berman said that the recording
industry plans to combat the unauthorized copying of music through
anti-copy measures on CDs and Internet anti-piracy actions.
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20020415.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=582&e=2&cid=582&u=
/nm/20020416/wr_nm/media_music_ifpi_dc_5
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-883761.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Interactive TV Content Developer Spiderdance Ceases Operations

Los Angeles -- Spiderdance, a developer of interactive TV content and
delivery technology, announced on Tuesday that it will suspend its
operations. CEO Steven Hoffman made the announcement during a Digital
Media Wire panel discussion on interactive television Tuesday in Los
Angeles. Hoffman said the company will go into "hibernation," maintaining
the rights to its technology and intellectual property while waiting for a
stronger market to emerge for interactive TV content. The company may also
explore possible mergers or selling its technology. San Francisco-based
Spiderdance's technology was used to create the MTV interactive game show
"WebRiot," as well as interactive elements for NBC's "The Weakest Link"
and the WB's "No Boundaries." "I don't see a viable model anytime soon for
interactive TV content," Hoffman told the panel's audience. "As soon as
television networks and MSOs start spending on interactive TV shows, our
core team will step back into the market and resume business as usual,"
the company said in a statement.
http://www.spiderdance.com
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o Supreme Court Declares "Virtual" Child Porn Law Unconstitutional

Washington, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled as
unconstitutional two provisions of the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention
Act that banned computer generated and morphed child pornography. The
ruling was strongly denounced by a number of organizations representing
children. In the 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court called the law's language
unconstitutionally vague and far-reaching. The majority opinion expressed
concern that under the law, the government might be able to prosecute
individuals for possession of a film with literary or artistic value, such
as "Traffic" or "American Beauty." The Virginia-based American Center for
Law and Justice denounced the ruling, saying that it makes it easier for
pornographers to engage in Internet activities and fails to close a legal
loophole at the expense of children.
http://www.NewsAlert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CplUHWbKbyti0odq
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Child-Porn.html
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o Amazon.com Defends Policy of Selling Used Books to Authors

Seattle -- Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos sent a letter to a number of used
booksellers defending the company's practice of selling used books on its
site, after the Authors Guild -- a group representing published authors --
urged its members in a letter to de-link their websites from Amazon
because authors do not receive a cut of used book sales from the site.
"Amazon.com is now, and has always been, supportive of and good for
authors," Bezos wrote in his letter, which goes on to describe how all
authors benefit whenever their books are bought and read. "Offering
customers a lower-priced option causes them to visit our site more
frequently, which in turn leads to higher sales of new books while
encouraging customers to try authors and genres they may not have
otherwise tried." The Authors Guild restated its view on the Amazon
practice in a statement. "It's disingenuous to trumpet Amazon's concern
for authors by saying that used books sales encourage readers to
experiment with authors and genres and that this in turn encourages new
book sales," said Authors Guild president Nick Taylor. "Used books might
do that, but Amazon's way of selling them does not."
http://www.authorsguild.org/
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51791,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-883663.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175887.html
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o Discovery Launching All-HDTV Channel, Subscription Video-on-Demand

Bethesda, Md. -- Discovery Communications announced on Tuesday that it
plans to launch a 24-hour channel that will broadcast in high-definition
television format. The company will also debut a subscription
video-on-demand service that will give subscribers access to up to 500
shows from the network's library at any given time. Discovery HD Theater,
slated to launch on June 17, will be available to owners of
high-definition televisions on satellite and cable TV systems. The network
has initially formatted 115 programs in its usual areas of nature,
history, world cultures, geographic explorations, science, education,
travel and how-to programming. The signal will be delivered in 1080i
high-definition resolution and will utilize 3 MHz of spectrum. In addition
to the subscription video-on-demand service, Maryland-based Discovery will
also offer an entry-level, free video-on-demand service, giving viewers
access to 10-25 hours of Discovery programming. Both services will feature
full VCR functionality.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/221062487&ticker=
http://www.discovery.com
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o Interactive Media Creation Software Firm Anark Raises $2.3 Million

Boulder, Colo. -- Anark, a developer of software used to create
interactive multimedia, announced on Tuesday that it has added $2.3
million to its second round of venture capital financing, to close the
round with a total of $8.1 million. Holden Capital led the investment
round, which also included participation from Murphree Venture Partners,
Wolf Ventures, Presidio Ventures and additional private investors.
Colorado-based Anark's content authoring software is used to create
audiovisual corporate communications and tradeshow presentations,
e-learning applications and interactive media delivered on CD-ROM, through
kiosks, on the Web and elsewhere. The company will use the funds for
marketing and sales efforts, staff expansion and continued product
development.
http://www.anark.com/news/get-press-release.php3?newsid=48
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o Game Developer Interplay in Talks to Sell Shiny Entertainment Subsidiary

Irvine, Calif. -- Interplay, a developer and publisher of video games,
announced on Tuesday that it is in the advanced stages of negotiations
with a potential buyer of its Shiny Entertainment subsidiary. The
potential buyer and terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Laguna
Beach, Calif.-based Shiny has developed games including the PC multiplayer
title "Sacrifice" and is currently developing a number of games based on
the movie "The Matrix" for Irvine-based Interplay. "In combination with
our recent cost-cutting measures and management reorganization, this
transaction would further strengthen our balance sheet going forward,"
said Interplay CEO Herve Caen.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020415/nym192_1.html
http://www.shiny.com/
http://www.interplay.com
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o Broadband Services Content Delivery Firm Myrio Raises $8 Million

Kirkland, Wash. -- Myrio, a provider of content delivery software that
enables for digital TV and advanced entertainment services over broadband
networks, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $8 million in its most
recent round of financing. The investment was led by NeoCarta Ventures,
Ridgewood Capital and Alexander Hutton Venture Partners, and follows
Myrio's late-2001 round which brought $6.8 million. Washington-based Myrio
will use the funds to continue to pursue customer deployments within RBOCs
(Regional Bell Operating Companies), international telephone operators and
independent operating companies.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/221060186&ticker=
http://www.myrio.com
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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?"

========================================================
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
Mitchell Linden, Head of Operations - North America, BBC Technology
Bill Niemeyer, Founder, Centrimedia (former Director, Strategic Dev.,
Spiderdance)
Peter Schultz, Director of Business Development, PopTV Program, Liberate
Bridget Steele, Business Development Manager, Microsoft TV

For more information and to register for the San Francisco event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/SFitv2.html

=========================================================
NEW YORK: Thursday, April 25, 2002, Cornell Club of New York City
=========================================================
Moderator: Art Cohen, SVP, Advertising, ACTV
Patrick Donoghue, VP, Interactive Television, Cablevision
Malia Flynn, Director of Product Management, 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, iTV Marketer (http://www.itvmarketer.com)
For more information and to register for the New York event:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCitv2.html

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

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o Briefly Noted:

(San Jose, Calif.) TiVo, a developer of personal video recorder devices,
announced on Tuesday the availability of its TiVo Series 2 device at Best
Buy retail stores for $399. The company is also offering professional home
installation from Best Buy for an additional $99. The new TiVo offers 60
hours of TV program recording and supports future planned features such as
music, digital photos, video party games, Internet radio and broadband
video.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020416/sftu090_1.html
http://www.tivo.com
http://www.bestbuy.com

(London) Digital Bridges, a developer of wireless entertainment, announced
on Tuesday that game developer Electronic Arts has commissioned the
company to create and distribute two EA Sports 2002 FIFA World Cup
wireless games. The games will be developed for SMS, WAP and color-WAP
wireless platforms, and will be available to 36 million customers of
European wireless network operator Orange Group. London-based Digital
Bridges will launch the games this summer for Orange customers as FIFA
soccer games begin in the U.K., France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands,
and Switzerland.
http://www.digitalbridges.com
http://www.ea.com

(Maynard, Mass.) SeaChange International, a provider of video-on-demand
systems to cable TV operators, said on Tuesday that it will begin offering
personal video recorder functionality to subscribers whose cable TV
operators have installed SeaChange video-on-demand systems.
Massachusetts-based SeaChange said that cable TV operator Adelphia will
use the feature for its sports-on-demand service, having tested the
service with Buffalo Sabres hockey games on-demand earlier this month.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/221062551&ticker=seac
http://www.seachangeinternational.com
http://www.adelpia.com

(Minneapolis) Video game publisher Infogrames announced on Tuesday that
its title based on the animated children's TV series "Dragon Ball Z" will
be released on May 14. "Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku" for Nintendo's Game
Boy Advance was developed for Infogrames by Illinois-based Webfoot
Technologies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020416/mntu004_1.html
http://www.infogrames.com
http://www.webfootgames.com/
http://www.dragonballz.com

(San Francisco) Technology business publisher Red Herring Communications
on Tuesday named Chris Dobbrow as its new CEO. Most recently, Dobbrow
served as senior vice president at RealNames Corporation, and before that
was founder and CEO of SmartPlanet and held several upper management
positions at publisher Ziff-Davis.
http://www.redherring.com

(Milpitas, Calif.) Creative, a developer of digital media entertainment
devices, on Tuesday released its Nomad Jukebox 3, a portable MP3 player
that offers connection to a PC via SB1394 -- commonly known as "FireWire"
-- for loading songs. The 20GB player holds up to 8,000 songs and is being
sold for $399. A 40GB version will be released next month, which will
retail for $499.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020416/sftu092_1.html
http://www.nomadworld.com

(Carlsbad, Calif.) Buzztime Entertainment, a subsidiary of NTN
Communications that develops interactive TV content for restaurants and
bars, announced on Tuesday that it has licensed its trivia games and
content to Microsoft for the company's MSN TV service. The agreement
includes 12 trivia category options and a "question of the day" that
Buzztime will provide for MSN TV. As part of the agreement, Microsoft and
Carlsbad-based Buzztime will collaborate on future distribution
opportunities with broadband satellite and cable TV operators.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020416/nytu006_1.html
http://www.ntn.com
http://msntv.com/

(San Francisco) Online magazine Salon.com on Tuesday featured an article
on "mods," or fan-made modifications to pre-existing computer games. Many
PC game enthusiasts are also skilled programmers, and for some time have
been creating add-ons or entirely refashioned versions of their favorite
games. Valve Software, for instance, recently endorsed and released "Day
of Defeat," a multiplayer add-on to the company's popular first person
shooter game "Half-Life" that was designed entirely by a group of the
game's enthusiasts.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/04/16/modding/index.html
http://www.dayofdefeatmod.com/
http://www.valvesoftware.com

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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire