archives

o Rearden Steel Raises $67 Million Seed Funding for Reported Set-Top Box
o Ruling Makes Traditional Radio Stations Pay Royalties on Webcasts
o Interactive TV Developer MetaTV Raises $28 Million
o IBM, Sony Designing Digital Archive for CNN Video Footage
o Sony, Accenture Partner on Digital Asset Management Venture
> Digital Media Wire Seminar: The Future of Digital Entertainment - LA
o Briefly Noted: Kickworks - RCS Sound Software, Yahoo Broadcast, Edward
Felten, Sony Music Entertainment Japan - Digital Island, Philips Digital
Networks - DigiMarc, Generic Media, Versaly Games - Fictionwise.com,
Digital Club Network - NTT, Philips - Be Here Corporation, Court TV - AOL,
Macrovision - Integrity Incorporated, AccessDTV
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> Job Postings: Director of Technology, Marketing Associate, Research
Associate

> Events/Services: "Real Road Show 2001," "Digital Horizon Conference & 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
_____________________________________________

o Rearden Steel Raises $67 Million Seed Funding for Reported Set-Top Box

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Rearden Steel, a stealth-mode start-up founded by
WebTV creator Steve Perlman, announced on Monday that it has raised $67
million in seed funding to "develop hardware and software products for the
consumer marketplace." America Online led the investment round; Cisco
Systems, EchoStar Communications Corporation, Mayfield, Vulcan Ventures,
The Barksdale Group, The Washington Post Company and Macromedia Ventures
also participated. Although the company did not disclose what specific
product it is developing, outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The
New York Times and News.com all reported that Palo Alto-based Rearden is
developing a set-top box or home server that would combine a TiVo-like
personal video recorder with features such as the ability to download
music, video and games from the Internet.
http://www.rearden.com/technologies/news/news.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5690080.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Ruling Makes Traditional Radio Stations Pay Royalties on Webcasts

Washington -- The U.S. Copyright Office issued a ruling on Monday that
will compel traditional radio stations to pay royalty fees when they
simulcast their on-air broadcasts online. The National Association of
Broadcasters, a lobbying group for traditional radio stations, had filed
suit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the
matter, claiming that stations shouldn't have to pay "performance right"
licenses for webcasts because they do not have to pay similar royalties
for on-air broadcasts. The RIAA viewed the ruling as a victory. "This is
an important right for artists and record companies," RIAA CEO Hilary
Rosen told Reuters. "We look forward to working with the broadcasters for
a smooth transition into this marketplace."
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/carp/webcast.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5696833.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Interactive TV Developer MetaTV Raises $28 Million

Sausalito, Calif. -- MetaTV, a developer of software for interactive
television portals and services, announced on Monday that it has raised
$28 million in its latest round of funding. Comcast Interactive Capital
and Cox Communications led the investment round; previous investors
Redpoint Ventures and Rosewood Venture Group and new investors Atrium
Venture Partners, Harron Capital, Liberate Technologies and Saints
Ventures also participated. Sausalito-based MetaTV's technology lets TV
networks and content providers add interactive elements to their new and
existing programming. The company will use the funds for marketing, sales
and international distribution efforts.
http://www.metatv.com/news/new/042001_28mil.htm
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o IBM, Sony Designing Digital Archive for CNN Video Footage

Las Vegas -- IBM and Sony Electronics are designing a digital asset
management system for AOL Time Warner's CNN in a five-to-seven-year,
$20-million project that will put CNN's videotape archive online. The
120,000 hour searchable video, audio, graphics and text archive will first
be made available to CNN's journalists; the company also plans to give the
public access to the library, where they can purchase desired footage and
content. CNN will use the archive to preserve its library of video, as
well as to generate revenue through new sales.
http://64.35.93.160/pressrelease/758
http://www.cnn.com
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o Sony, Accenture Partner on Digital Asset Management Venture

Las Vegas -- Sony and consulting firm Accenture on Monday announced they
are forming a joint venture that will provide media companies and
distributors with technology to manage and store vast libraries of audio
and video data. Concadia Solutions will offer services including the
preservation and re-purposing of video and audio for multiple downloadable
and streaming formats, so that they can be distributed to wider audiences.
http://64.35.93.160/pressrelease/733
http://www.accenture.com
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> Digital Media Wire Seminar: The Future of Digital Entertainment - LA

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

Los Angeles | Sponsored by Jones Day Reavis & Pogue
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/LAcopyright.html

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)
- 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.
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(White Plains, N.Y.) Webcasting service Kickworks, which was recently
granted a license by the RIAA for music from major labels, announced on
Monday that RCS Sound Software will provide technology for its webcasting
service. The technology includes Selector, a widely used music scheduling
software in the radio industry. San Francisco-based Kickworks plans to
offer users the ability to program their own online radio stations under
the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes webcasters
adhere to the same stipulations as traditional broadcasters, such as not
announcing playlists ahead of time.
http://www.rcsworks.com/company/news/01043kickworks.htm
http://www.kickworks.com

(Las Vegas) Yahoo announced on Monday a new version of its Yahoo Broadcast
entertainment site, which was created when the company acquired
Broadcast.com for $5 billion in stock in 1999. The new site features 30
and 60 second ads inserted into both audio and video content from
providers including ABCNEWS.com, CourtTV.com, Mondo Media and National
Lampoon.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010423/0172.html

(New York) Inside.com featured an article Monday about the Secure Digital
Music Initiative's efforts to prevent one of the participants in its "Hack
SDMI" challenge from publishing notes from the contest. The SDMI says that
the action would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Princeton
University researcher Edward Felten and a group of colleagues broke the
watermark developed by Verance Corporation, and the SDMI has threatened to
take legal action if the "hack" is published -- under the section of the
DMCA that prohibits circumventing security technologies on digital media.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=29036&pod_id=9
http://cryptome.org/sdmi-attack.htm

(San Francisco) Sony Music Entertainment Japan announced on Monday that it
will use content delivery services from Digital Island for its Japanese
music site. San Francisco-based Digital Island's technology will speed up
the delivery of animations, images, ad banners and music downloads on the
site.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010423/2261.html
http://www.sonymusic.co.jp
http://www.digitalisland.com

(Las Vegas) Philips Digital Networks, a division of Royal Philips
Electronics, announced on Monday that it has licensed patents from digital
watermarking developer DigiMarc for use as part of its broadcast
monitoring service. The two companies will jointly market the technology,
which can verify that TV program and advertisement transmissions comply
with contractual requirements and do not occur without the permission of
the broadcast owner.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010423/0013.html
http://www.digimarc.com
http://www.digitalnetworks.phillips.com

(Las Vegas) Generic Media, a developer of media encoding technology, on
Monday debuted its technology at the National Association of Broadcasters'
conference in Las Vegas. Palo Alto-based Generic Media's technology lets
content creators encode their audio or video into a single "streaming
master" that can then be redistributed easily in formats like QuickTime,
Real and Windows Media, and for multiple connection speeds.
http://www.genericmedia.com

(Seattle, Wash.) Wireless entertainment distributor Versaly Games said on
Monday that it has partnered with New Jersey-based e-book retailer
Fictionwise.com to allow Versaly subscribers to download short fiction
e-books to their mobile phones. Fictionwise.com authors include Robert
Silverberg, Larry Niven, Harlan Ellison and Mike Resnick.
http://www.versalygames.com/news/pr_042401.htm
http://www.fictionwise.com

(New York) Live concert webcaster Digital Club Network announced a deal on
Monday with Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications to syndicate
concerts to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone for use in testing the telecom
company's new wireless broadband service.
http://www.digitalclubnetwork.com
http://www.ntt-east.co.jp/release_e/0101/010125.html
http://www.gaga.co.jp

(Las Vegas) Philips Electronics and Be Here Corporation announced on
Monday new software for set-top boxes that integrates Cupertino-based Be
Here's 360-degree camera angle technology. The software lets viewers
panoramically navigate the camera's perspective during a TV broadcast with
their remote control. The user-directed video is shown in a
"picture-in-picture" box on the screen. The companies plan to market the
technology for sports events, news and other programming.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010423/0477.html
http://www.behere.com

(New York) Court TV said on Monday that it will syndicate content from its
CourtTV.com website on AOL's news channels. Court TV will also promote AOL
both on its cable network and its website.
http://www.courttv.com/press/aol.html

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Digital rights management provider Macrovision said on
Monday that Christian music publisher Integrity Incorporated will use the
company's technology to copy-protect its DVD and VHS titles.
Sunnyvale-based Macrovision's software includes both encryption and
anti-circumvention technologies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010423/2434.html
http://www.macrovision.com
http://www.integritymusic.com

(San Francisco) Wired News ran a feature story on Monday on AccessDTV, a
company providing technology that lets users connect their cable TV boxes
to their PCs, and watch channels such as HBO on their computers. The
system costs under $500 and does not currently charge a subscription fee.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,43215,00.html
http://www.accessdtv.com/

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

> <kpe>, Director of Technology - Los Angeles

KPE is seeking a Director of Technology for its Los Angeles office who
will develop and implement relevant, cost-effective technology solutions
for its clients in the media and entertainment industries. Given the
typical solution requirement of entertainment firms, KPE seeks an
individual with depth of experience in implementing content management
systems (CMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions.
Send resumes to lajobs@kpe.com
http://www.kpe.com
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> idealab!, Marketing Associate - Los Angeles

Looking for a motivated, talented & creative individual to join the
fast-growing marketing department for New.net, a leading domain name
registry. Duties include providing support for online advertising
campaigns, affiliate programs, banner production, as well as assisting
with other marketing programs & projects. Previous online marketing
experience is a plus.
Please submit resume to idealabmonster@hiresystems.com
http://www.idealab.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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Event Postings:
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To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Real RoadShow 2001, April 26 - New York City

Join RealNetworks, the pioneer and recognized leader in streaming media,
at the Real RoadShow 2001, a free half-day seminar, to find out how
streaming media advertising can work for you. You'll hear from top
industry executives from RealNetworks, Arbitron and Millward Brown
Interactive on the state of the industry and the future of streaming media
advertising.
Register on-line at http://www.key3media.com/realroadshow or contact
Vanessa Doherty at realroadshow@key3media.com
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> Digital Horizon Conference & Expo, April 30 - May 1 - Los Angeles

The Digital Horizon Conference & Expo is a 2-day educational technology
event targeting small business owners and SOHO (small office, home office)
entrepreneurs featuring over 20 workshops, Keynote Luncheons, an exhibit
hall and daily raffles for end-user computer products.
For more information and to register: http://www.digitalhorizonexpo.com
______________________

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