archives

o House Hears Debate On Digital TV Piracy; Firms Propose Security Standard
o Online Movie Ticket Seller Fandango Sues Rival AOL Moviefone
o WSJ: AOL Time Warner Considering Spinning Off Cable Division
o Search Engine Provider Overture Extends Agreement With Yahoo
o Group Files Brief Deriding Out-of-State Prosecution in DVD-Cracking Case
> Digital Media Wire Wine Tasting Event: Los Angeles | May 9
o Briefly Noted: Xbox - game sales decline, SeaChange - VOD ads, Universal
Interactive - Blue Tongue - "Jurassic Park," DigMedia - MSN Music,
VideoBanner, G4 Media
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o House Hears Debate On Digital TV Piracy; Firms Propose Security Standard

Washington, DC -- At a House hearing on Thursday, U.S. Representatives
heard testimony from a number of entertainment industry companies and
electronics manufacturers, who said they are near approving a proposed a
digital TV security standard. Two companies -- AOL Time Warner and Japan's
Matsushita/Panasonic -- said they are fundamentally agreed on a digital
watermark security technology called a "broadcast flag," and predicted
they would be ready to approve it at a May 17 industry group meeting. The
broadcast flag would be embedded in digital TV signals, and technology
would have to be placed in any device capable of receiving the signals,
including televisions, PCs, set-top boxes and other devices, that would
prevent any signal with the flag from being copied or transferred.
Opponents to the proposal included manufacturer Philips Electronics, whose
CEO Lawrence Blanford testified at the hearing that the new technology
raises serious issues of cost, complexity, reliability and confusion for
consumers. "This proposal threatens the fair use rights of the consumer
and introduces unnecessary levels of complexity and costs in consumer
devices," Blanford said in prepared testimony. "Philips cannot, and will
not, accept that. We believe other companies will not accept that.
Congress should not accept it either."
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176149.html
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3139400.htm
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-892154.html?tag=cd_mh
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020425/atth021_1.html
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o Online Movie Ticket Seller Fandango Sues Rival AOL Moviefone

Los Angeles -- Fandango, a provider of online movie ticket sales, on
Thursday filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against AOL's Moviefone
service and a Canadian holding company, alleging tortuous interference
with Fandango's exclusive ticketing agreement with Loews Cineplex
Entertainment. Both Moviefone and Fandango offer moviegoers online movie
listings and the ability to purchase tickets online to avoid lines at the
box office. In its lawsuit, Hollywood-based Fandango claims that Moviefone
engaged in unfair competition, compelling Loews to take steps as it has
emerged from bankruptcy to disavow its exclusive contract with Fandango.
The company is also suing Onex Corporation, a Canadian holding company
that acquired 60 percent of Loews during the company's 2001 bankruptcy
proceeding, for fraud. "Fandango has a valid and enforceable agreement
with Loews, and expects to continue working with Loews," the company said
in a statement.
http://www.fandango.com
http://www.moviefone.com
http://www.onexcorp.com/cp/cp_entgp/cp_entgp.asp
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o WSJ: AOL Time Warner Considering Spinning Off Cable Division

New York -- The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that AOL Time
Warner executives are considering selling a minority stake in Time Warner
Cable through a public stock offering. The article said that the spin-off
could have a market capitalization of $45 billion. Such a spin-off could
help resolve AOL Time Warner's long-running dispute with AT&T over their
cable partnership, called Time Warner Entertainment. The article said a
spin-off could be a means for AOL Time Warner to compensate AT&T, without
cash.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/743970.asp#BODY
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o Search Engine Provider Overture Extends Agreement With Yahoo

Pasadena, Calif. -- Overture, a provider of pay-for-performance search
engine services, announced that it has renewed its agreement to provide
search results for Yahoo. Terms of the new three-year agreement were not
disclosed. Pasadena-based Overture will provide results for Yahoo Sponsor
Matches. The renewed agreement was somewhat of a surprise, as many
analysts expected Yahoo would not renew the agreement. Overture has
similar contracts up for renewal with other companies such as AOL Time
Warner that could negatively affect its business if lost to other
providers, such as Google.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020425/250416_1.html
http://www.overture.com
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o Group Files Brief Deriding Out-of-State Prosecution in DVD-Cracking Case

Washington, DC -- A computer and telecommunications group has filed a
brief asking the California Supreme Court to overturn a Court of Appeals
ruling that said an Indiana native may stand trial in California for
allegedly distributing code that can crack the security technology on
DVDs. The Washington-based Computer and Communications Industry
Association filed an amicus brief in support of Matthew Pavlovich, who is
being charged with distributing the controversial DeCSS code on the
Internet in California, even though he resides in Indiana and posted the
information online from there. "If allowed to stand, this decision would
create universal jurisdiction in California for any person or company that
publishes a website on the Internet," said CCIA president and CEO Ed
Black. "If followed in other states or in other countries, this would
subject every website owner to the jurisdiction of virtually every court
in the world."
http://www.ccianet.org/press/02/0425b.php3
http://www.ccianet.org/legal/pavlovich_amicus.pdf
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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE PRESENTS:
A Spring Celebration and Wine Tasting Honoring
Digital Media Wire Panelists

> Thursday, May 9, 2002, Los Angeles

To register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=22553&Referrer_id=4074

Join us and a distinguished group of our past panelists for a Spring
celebration featuring fine wines, delicious Asian appetizers and
networking.

WHEN: Thursday, May 9, 2002 (6:30PM - 8:30PM)
WHERE: Lucky Duck Restaurant (NE corner of La Brea and Wilshire)
PRICE: $25 (pre-registration); $30 (at the door)

Tasting and wines by Beaulieu Vineyard. Since 1900, BV has been a
benchmark of excellence in Napa Valley wines. Appetizers including crispy
Vietnamese spring rolls, chicken and beef satay, shrimp summer rolls and
vegetable dumplings by Lucky Duck Restaurant. For more information,
contact Ned Sherman at esherman@digitalmediawire.com or visit

http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=22553&Referrer_id=4074

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o Briefly Noted:

(Port Washington, N.Y.) According to recent figures reported by market
research firm NPDFunworld, sales of video games for Microsoft's Xbox
console have tapered off dramatically in recent weeks. Reuters reported
that after posting six games on NPD's Top 20 list for the period from
March 3 to March 16, the console's full-month performance registered only
two titles in the Top 20, at No. 19 and No. 20. In February, the Xbox had
three top-20 titles, including two in the top 10.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-892079.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.npd.com/corp/content/ie/videogames/c_vg0202.htm
http://www.npdfunworld.com

(Maynard, Mass.) SeaChange International, a provider of video-on-demand
systems to cable TV operators, said on Friday that it has launched
long-form advertising video-on-demand content for its cable TV operator
partners. The service will allow cable companies to sell infomercial-type
longer advertisements and offer them for free to their digital cable
subscribers. SeaChange offered examples such as 'do-it-yourself' home
repair videos, real estate showcases, healthcare education, cooking ideas,
and automotive 'test-drives.' Massachusetts-based SeaChange's
video-on-demand systems are currently used by cable companies including
Adelphia Communications, Cablevision, Comcast Communications, Cox
Hospitality Network, Rogers Cable and Time Warner Cable.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020426/262196_1.html
http://www.seachangeinternational.com

(Melbourne, Australia) Universal Interactive, a video game publishing arm
of Vivendi Universal, announced on Friday that Melbourne-based game studio
Blue Tongue is currently developing a title based on Universal Pictures'
"Jurassic Park" film franchise. The as yet untitled game will include
elements of the world-builder and mission-based game genres, and will be
published for PlayStation 2, Xbox and the PC in the fourth quarter of
2002. Game publisher Konami will co-publish the title in Japan.
http://www.bluetongue.com
http://www.universalinteractive.com/

(San Diego) DigMedia, a developer of digital audio consumer electronics,
has formed an agreement with Microsoft's MSN Music, whereby DigMedia will
offer 60 streaming music channel presets from MSN Music on its Smart
Receiver. The device can connect to home stereos and play streaming audio
without the need for a PC connection. San Diego-based DigMedia also
provides software for managing interactive subscription services.
http://www.digmedia.cc

(New York) VideoBanner, a developer of online advertising technology, said
this week that online ad delivery firm DoubleClick has accepted its
technology for ad distribution on its network. Los Angeles-based
VideoBanner's technology can insert streaming video into existing ad
formats, such as banners and emails. A small, fast-loading 8.8 KB video
player is downloaded along with the ad and streaming video content so that
users with either a dialup or broadband connection may view it.
http://www.videobanner.com/company/press5.html

(San Francisco) CNET on Friday featured an interview with Charles
Hirschhorn, CEO of Los Angeles-based G4 Media, which this week launched a
24-hour video game-related cable TV network on Comcast Cable systems.
Comcast will spend $150 million to launch the channel and expects to break
even in five years. "The demographics certainly make this channel more
appealing to advertisers and cable and satellite affiliates...only because
there's so much for other demographics," Hirschhorn, a former Disney and
Fox Broadcasting executive, told CNET. "There's lots of kid channels, lots
of female channels, lots of channels for older adults. There's just not
much for 18- to 34-year-old males."
http://news.com.com/2008-1082-892810.html?tag=fd_nc_1
http://www.g4media.com/
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire