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Past Editions

===================================================
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- April 25, 2001
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o Watermarking Video Copy-Protection Groups Combine Efforts
o Universal Music to Acquire Bertelsmann's Stake in GetMusic Joint Venture
o Capitol Records Partners with ActiveBuddy on IM Promotions
o Digital Rights Management Provider Reciprocal Lays Off 30% of Staff
o Custom Online Download Store Provider eSplice Shuts Down
> Digital Media Wire Seminar: The Future of Digital Entertainment - DC
o Briefly Noted: RealNetworks - "Big Brother," iBeam - SportsLine.com,
Tonos Radio, Space.com, Ultima Online, Digital copyrights
_____________________________________________

> 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 Watermarking Video Copy-Protection Groups Combine Efforts

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Two groups of companies independently working to
develop watermarking video copy-protection standards have decided to merge
their efforts to form VWM (Video Watermarking) Group. Companies formerly
part of a group called Galaxy -- Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer and Sony -- and the
former Millennium group companies -- Digimarc, Macrovision and Philips --
will now work together on developing a standard for watermarking
technology. The technology would be embedded into digital video files to
prevent unauthorized playing or recording on consumer devices. VWM will
submit its watermarks to the DVD Copy Control Association -- the group
that released the often-hacked CSS encryption technology -- in response to
that group's call for bids on a new DVD copy control technology.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010425/0787.html
_____________________________________________

o Universal Music to Acquire Bertelsmann's Stake in GetMusic Joint Venture

Cambridge, Mass. -- Universal Music Group is expected to announce that it
will acquire BMG Entertainment's 50 percent share of the companies'
GetMusic joint venture, Webnoize reported on Wednesday. Farmclub.com will
become part of GetMusic, and the weekly Farmclub TV show will be suspended
while Universal works on a new program that will feature other
GetMusic.com content.
http://news.webnoize.com
http://www.getmusic.com
_____________________________________________

o Capitol Records Partners with ActiveBuddy on IM Promotions

New York -- EMI Recorded Music label Capitol Records announced on
Wednesday that it will use technology from New York-based ActiveBuddy to
promote its artists through instant messaging (IM) technology. Radiohead
-- which used an IM promotion on file-sharing service Aimster to promote
its last album "Kid A" -- will use ActiveBuddy's technology to promote its
upcoming release "Amnesiac." Fans of Radiohead can add the Radiohead
custom "buddy" to their buddy contact list on IM services provided by AOL,
Yahoo, MSN, Odigo and others, to receive promotional information from the
band and Capitol Records.
http://www.activebuddy.com/press/pr010424.shtml
http://www.hollywoodandvine.com
http://www.radiohead.com
_____________________________________________

o Digital Rights Management Provider Reciprocal Lays Off 30% of Staff

New York -- Reciprocal, a provider of digital rights management technology
for music, video and books, announced on Wednesday that it will lay off
about 30 percent of its employees as part of a new operating plan. The
company said its plan, which includes further expansion into media other
than music and publishing, will be aided by a new financing round led by
previous investors Microsoft and Softbank.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/211152600&ticker=
http://www.reciprocal.com
_____________________________________________

o Custom Online Download Store Provider eSplice Shuts Down

Minneapolis, Minn. -- Navarre Corporation announced on Wednesday that it
will shut down its subsidiary eSplice.com, which designed and hosted
custom digital media download stores for businesses. The company cited
current market conditions and "the lack of significant growth in music
digital downloads" among its reasons. "We do believe that there is a
future in digital distribution, and will reconsider our position in this
business once it proves to be a substantial revenue and profit model,"
said Navarre vice chairman Charles Cheney. Navarre distributes software
and other media online as well, and recently announced Microsoft as a
client.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010425/2186.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.esplice.com/++site:www.esplice.com+esplice&hl=en
_____________________________________________

> Digital Media Wire Seminar: The Future of Digital Entertainment - D.C.

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

Washington, D.C. | Sponsored by Katten Muchin Zavis
Wednesday, May 9th at The University Club

For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=13850&Referrer_id=4074

MODERATOR:
- David Halberstadter, Attorney, Katten Muchin Zavis

PANELISTS:
- Fritz Attaway, Executive Vice President & 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)
- Jenny Toomey, Executive Director, Coalition for the Future of Music
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Seattle) Online media delivery provider RealNetworks said on Wednesday
that it will provide a 24-hour-a-day webcast of the Australian version of
TV reality show "Big Brother." The 85-day challenge started on Tuesday
with twelve contestants competing for a $250,000 prize.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010425/sfw067.html
http://bigbrother.com.au/

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Streaming media services provider iBeam announced on
Wednesday a two-year partnership to provide streaming services to sports
news site SportsLine.com. Sunnyvale-based iBeam provided audio and
on-demand video streaming for the site's coverage of this year's NCAA
Men's College Basketball Tournament. iBeam announced yesterday that it
will lay off 25 percent of its staff to reduce costs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010425/2076.html
http://www.ibeam.com
http://www.sportsline.com

(Culver City, Calif.) Online musicians' resource Tonos.com said on
Wednesday that it will begin featuring user-submitted songs during a
weekly Web radio program on its Tonos Radio service. The program will also
offer behind-the-scenes stories of popular songs from the songwriters,
producers, record label executives and artists affiliated with the site
who were involved in their creation. The current show features songwriter
and producer Glen Ballard speaking about the writing and recording of
Alanis Morissette's "Hand In My Pocket."
http://www.tonos.com/app1/about/jsp/press_042501.jsp
rtsp://prodreal.tonos.com/radio/2001_04_16.rm

(New York) Space exploration and NASA-related news site Space.com
announced on Wednesday that it has named John C. Ferrara as its new
president and CEO. Ferrara joined Space.com in 1999 and most recently was
president and chief operating officer. He replaces Lou Dobbs, who left the
company to return as an anchor for CNN.
http://www.space.com

(San Francisco) Wired News Radio on Wednesday offered an audio interview
with Rick Hall, a senior producer for Electronic Arts' massively
multiplayer online roleplaying game, Ultima Online. The action game lets
large numbers of users play against one another on the Internet while
exploring a vast 3-D virtual universe.
http://www.wired.com/news/radio/0,1665,43196,00.html
http://www.ultimaonline.com

(New York) Inside.com published additional coverage of the ongoing digital
copyright debate on Wednesday, examining current cases and issues
surrounding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Discussed are the
efforts of the SDMI and RIAA to prevent a researcher from publishing data
that could undermine copy-protection technology for digital music, and the
upcoming May 1 appellate hearing in the 2600 Magazine/DeCSS case. On that
date, the court will address whether computer code can be considered
"speech" -- as defined and protected under the First Amendment --
regardless of its ability to circumvent copy-protection on digital media.
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=29356&pod_id=13

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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
______________________

> 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
______________________

> 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

===================================================
Event Postings:
===================================================
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
______________________

> 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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http://www.digitalmediawire.com

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