archives

o Release of Nintendo Gamecube Delayed in Japan
o Global Crossing Raises $100 Million For Entertainment Industry Extranet
o AOL Time Warner Sued For Copyright Infringement of Music Player Software
o Nevada Online Gambling Bill Passes in State Assembly, Moves to Senate
o SportsLine.com Lays Off 20% of Staff
o Online Music Retailer LoudEnergy Acquires Assets of Riffage.com
o Video News Broker AssignmentEditor.com Raises $1 Million
o Entertainment Domain Name Provider Dot-TV Lays Off 30 Employees
o Youth Entertainment Network Snowball Lays Off One-Third of Staff
> Digital Media Wire: Panelists Added to LA, D.C. Digital Copyright Debates
o Briefly Noted: Dolby Laboratories - Microsoft Xbox, THQ - Nickelodeon,
EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin, Digital Owl - AMACOM, "Is the FCC
Quelling Free Speech?," Fan films
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> Job Postings: General Manager/VP of Client Development, Research
Associate, Ad Sales Exec., Development Associate, Media Planner

> Events/Services: "GW Technology and Business Expo"

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 Release of Nintendo Gamecube Delayed in Japan

Tokyo -- Nintendo has delayed the release of its Gamecube video game
console in Japan, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The game
will now be released in Japan in mid-September instead of July, possibly
due to a parts shortage. Gamecube is still scheduled to be released in the
U.S. in time for the holiday shopping season. Nintendo is soon expected to
announce the retail price for the Gamecube, which is the company's entry
into the console market that includes competitors like Sony's Playstation
2 and Microsoft's upcoming Xbox.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5653512.html?tag=mn_hd
http://www.nintendo.com/gcn/
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o Global Crossing Raises $100 Million For Entertainment Industry Extranet

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Global Crossing, a provider of bandwidth and
telecommunications services, announced on Wednesday that it has received a
$100 million investment from Bear Stearns' Constellation Ventures to
develop a worldwide high-bandwidth network for use by the entertainment
industry. The company says the "extranet" could be used for storing and
delivering high-resolution digital media content to consumers. Other plans
for the extranet include its use by TV networks and film studios to
exchange video footage as part of their daily operations.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010418/0165.html
http://www.globalcrossing.com
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o AOL Time Warner Sued For Copyright Infringement of Music Player Software

San Francisco -- AOL Time Warner has been sued for copyright infringement by
West Hollywood-based Playmedia Systems for digital music software used in
its AOL version 6.0, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The software in
question is the Winamp MP3 player, created by AOL-owned developer
Nullsoft. Playmedia is seeking an injunction to stop AOL from using the
software, and damages of more than $47 million. Playmedia previously sued
Nullsoft for copyright infringement in a case that was eventually settled
when Nullsoft agreed to pay a licensing fee to Playmedia.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5652265.html?tag=mn_hd
http://www.playmediasystems.com
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o Nevada Online Gambling Bill Passes in State Assembly, Moves to Senate

Las Vegas -- A bill to legalize online gambling in the state of Nevada
passed unanimously in the State Assembly on Monday. The bill now moves on
to the state's senate where, if approved, must then be signed by Nevada
governor Kenny Guinn in order to become law. New Jersey has considered a
similar law, which would allow 21-and-over state citizens to gamble online
through credit cards. The U.S. recently passed an online gambling law that
makes U.S. Internet service providers block access to off-shore and
overseas online gambling operations.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010417/latu127.html
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o SportsLine.com Lays Off 20% of Staff

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- SportsLine.com, a sports news site partnered with
the CBS television network, said on Wednesday that it will lay off about
20 percent of its staff as part of its efforts to decrease spending. The
company said the layoffs will not affect its sales division, but did not
elaborate further. Florida-based SportsLine also said that the
cost-cutting measures, which include a decrease in discretionary
marketing, will save the company between $8 and $10 million annually. The
company expects to become profitable by the fourth quarter of this year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010418/hsw014_2.html
http://www.sportsline.com
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o Online Music Retailer LoudEnergy Acquires Assets of Riffage.com

Newport Beach, Calif. -- LoudEnergy.com, a site that offers artists 100
percent of profits from online sales of their albums, announced that it
has acquired the assets of now-defunct Riffage.com, a site where unsigned
bands could upload their music and receive promotional services. Newport
Beach-based LoudEnergy said that it is currently considering whether to
bring Riffage.com back online or instead incorporate the band webpages
into its own offerings. The company's record producer staff will also
evaluate the 20,000 acts from Riffage.com to find promising bands to sign
to its own record label.
http://www.loudenergy.com/riffage/index.shtml
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o Video News Broker AssignmentEditor.com Raises $1 Million

Chicago, Ill. -- AssignmentEditor.com, an online buyer and reseller of
news video shot by amateurs and professionals, has raised $1 million in
its first round of funding. Origin Ventures led the investment round; a
group of individual investors also participated. The company said that
Illinois-based DuoDesign, a Web design firm, has taken an equity stake in
the company in exchange for providing its services. Chicago-based
AssignmentEditor.com, which launched in 1999, lets amateurs submit
newsworthy video in the hopes of being bought by a network or other media
outlet. The site also serves as a portal to a large number of news and
information sites.
http://www.assignmenteditor.com
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o Entertainment Domain Name Provider Dot-TV Lays Off 30 Employees

Los Angeles -- Dot-TV, an online retailer of domain names ending in the
suffix .tv, announced on Wednesday that it will lay off 30 of its
employees in an effort to become profitable by the third quarter of this
year. Since launching in April of 2000, the company says it has registered
over 350,000 Web addresses ending in .tv. The company raised $28 million
in its second round of funding in November.
http://www.tv
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o Youth Entertainment Network Snowball Lays Off One-Third of Staff

San Francisco -- Snowball, an online entertainment network targeted at
teenagers, said that it has laid off about a third of its staff, or 55
employees, citing as its reason the weakening online advertising market.
The company will try to broaden its revenue-generating efforts with
subscription-based services and "beyond the banner" advertising. San
Francisco-based Snowball online network includes games site IGN.com,
ChickClick.com and HighSchoolAlumni.com.
http://www.snowball.com/press_releases/041701_sb_staff.html
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> Digital Media Wire: Panelists Added to LA, D.C. Digital Copyright Debates

"The Future of Digital Entertainment: What's Next After Napster?"

Los Angeles | Sponsored by Jones Day Reavis & Pogue

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)
- (added) Noah Stone, Executive Director, Artists Against Piracy
*Additional panelists TBA.

Date: Wednesday, April 25th, 2001
CLE credit has been applied for with the California State Bar.
CLE credit may be available in other states as well.

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
- Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office
- Jonathan Potter, Executive Director, Digital Media Association (DiMA)
- (added) Jenny Toomey, Executive Director, Coalition for the Future of
Music
*Additonal panelists TBA.

Date: Wednesday, May 9th, 2001
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/DCcopyright.html
Sponsorships >> Michael Hoinski at michael@digitalmediawire.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(San Francisco) Audio engineering firm Dolby Laboratories announced on
Wednesday that it has created an interactive content encoder that will be
used with Microsoft's Xbox game console. The technology allows developers
to create surround-sound elements during gameplay that can be heard by
users that have their Xbox connected to a home theater system.
http://www.dolby.com/press/co.pr.0104.xbox.html

(Calabassas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ announced on Wednesday that
it has partnered with children's cable TV network Nickelodeon to develop
video games based on Nickelodeon-created characters and storylines. THQ
has already created games for various consoles based on the "Rugrats." The
Calabassas-based company will also create games based on Nickelodeon's
upcoming film and TV series "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," all scheduled for
release in the fall of 2002.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010418/nyw094.html
http://www.thq.com
http://www.nick.com

(San Diego) Sony Online Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it will
in the fourth quarter release an addition to its massively-multiplayer
online roleplaying game EverQuest. EverQuest: The Shadows of Luclin is not
an entirely new game, but rather an expansion of the current game's scope,
which includes a new playing environment, new characters and storylines
and an enhanced 3D graphics engine. EverQuest is a constantly-updated
online game costing $9.99 per month where users can play with and against
one another in 3D environments.
http://everquest.station.sony.com/

(Winter Park, Fla.) Digital rights management provider Digital Owl
announced on Wednesday a deal with AMACOM, the publishing division of the
American Management Association, to provide security for and sell business
and career-related e-books. Florida-based Digital Owl said that individual
chapters of the business titles will be available as well. Digital Owl
recently raised $11 million in its second round of funding.
http://www.digitalowl.com
http://www.amanet.org/books

(San Francisco) Wired News featured an article on Wednesday about the
ongoing consolidation of U.S. media companies, and the Federal
Communication Commission's efforts to further deregulate ownership rules
for companies. Large companies are trying to justify their being able to
control a larger share of markets for cable, TV networks and newspapers by
saying that Americans can get a diverse range of viewpoints from Internet
media.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,43078,00.html

(New York) Inside.com featured an article on Wednesday about "fan films,"
or amateur movies made with inexpensive computer software that parody or
take elements from major motion pictures such as "Star Wars." As fan films
like "George Lucas in Love" become more popular on the Internet and even
gain off-line distribution, creators fear that the studios controlling the
copyrights for the originals may begin to crack down on their increasing
lucrative hobby.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=28145&pod_id=10

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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
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> Ziff-Davis Publishing, Research Associate - San Francisco

Research Associate for Ziff-Davis Smart Business Magazine is responsible
for ensuring that all business-technology stories we publish are timely and
accurate, as well as assist the editorial staff with research, and build &
maintain a contact list of sources & companies. This is perfect for recent
college grads interested in publishing and high-tech! Previous writing and
editing experience a plus.
Send resume to careerscal@ziffdavis.com
http://www.ziffdavis.com
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> emap usa, Advertising Sales Executive - New York City

Publishers of specialist & general interest lifestyle magazines is
currently seeking candidate with relentless drive and enthusiasm for
FHMus.com, the online version of men's magazine FHM. Focusing on
optimizing advertising and sponsorship revenue, you will create strategic
promotional programs and implement web initiatives. Require advertising /
sales exp. in dot-com environment.
Send resume and cover letter to digitalresume@emapusa.com
http://www.emapusa.com
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> iNetNow, Development Associate - Los Angeles

Developer needed to enhance both internal and external web-based
applications, data synchronization and CRM products. Will perform in-depth
programming in a Microsoft development environment. Architectural and
design experience with relational database systems and experience with
NT/Win2k networks required. Must be able to work under minimal
supervision. Send resume to employment@inetnow.com
http://www.inetnow.com
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> Circle.com, Media Planner - New York City

Leading Internet solutions provider to Fortune 1000 companies and emerging
Internet businesses seeks a Media Planner to assist in development of
online media plans and review online advertising reports by placement, by
creative, by site - to provide analysis and optimization recommendations.
Online advertising experience is required.
Send resume to nyjobs@circle.com
http://www.circle.com

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

> Fast Forward 01 - GW Technology and Business Expo

The George Washington University will host "Fast Forward 01," the GW
Technology and Business Expo at the GW Virginia Campus in Ashburn, on
April 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The one-day conference features 14
panel presentations by academic and industry experts on a wide range of
technology and management issues of interest to the Northern Virginia
technology community, including such topics as Wireless Web, Collaborative
CRM, Internet Privacy, Information Security and Ubiquitous Internet, and
High Tech Philanthropy. To register: http://www.gwvirginia.gwu.edu/expoFF
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