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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- April 29, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Record Industry Sends Individual Warnings to Online Song-Swappers
o Vivendi Universal to Invite Bids for U.S. Entertainment Assets
o Dow Jones: Game Publisher Take-Two Mulling Bid for Vivendi Games Unit
o CinemaNow Licenses MGM Films for Internet Video-on-Demand Service
o Internet Metrics Firm ComScore Launches Search Engine Measurement Service
o Wireless Entertainment Publisher PlayPhone Announces Launch
o Korean Independent Game Developer NCSoft Announces E3 Titles
> DMW Publications: March Law and Policy Report
> Featured Section: Special Offer from Discreet cleaner XL
o Briefly Noted: Slashdot Games, Nintendo - U.K. "Pokemon" importers,
Yahoo Platinum - content providers, Moviso - Motorola, EMusic - Vagrant
Records, Match.com - AOL U.K., Beatnik Audio - Samsung, Creative
Technology - iPod speaker systems, Electronic Arts - "Harry Potter:
Quidditch World Cup," Ubi Soft - "Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu," 989 Sports -
"MLB 2004," Sony Online Entertainment - "EverQuest: War on Faydwer," Apple
iTunes launch - news analysis
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> Events: Streaming Media NY, May 6-8, NYC, Pipeline Safety & Security Expo
> Marketplace: HP Workstation for a PC Price, Game Industry Report,
iTV Chronicle, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o Record Industry Sends Individual Warnings to Online Song-Swappers
Los Angeles -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a
trade group representing major record labels that has served as the
industry's voice against online music piracy, has stepped up its campaign
against file-sharing services by sending individual instant messages to
users of Kazaa and Grokster, warning them of the penalties of criminal
copyright infringement. "When you offer music on these systems, you are
not anonymous and you can easily be identified," reads part of the message
sent to around 200,000 file-sharing service users on Tuesday. The RIAA
told Reuters that at least one million users will receive the message by
the end of the week. "We're going to be sending messages to the very
people who are offering music, in real time, as they do it," RIAA
president Cary Sherman told CNET News.com. "The hope is that this way
we'll be reaching the people who need to know that they are not anonymous,
that there are risks of legal consequences if they continue, and also that
there are risks to privacy and security."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2652931
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-998825.html?tag=fd_top
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o Vivendi Universal to Invite Bids for U.S. Entertainment Assets
Paris -- As part of its 16-billion-euro ($17.6 billion) asset disposal
program, beleaguered French media giant Vivendi Universal has announced
that it will invite bids for its U.S. assets, including Universal Studios.
The company has asked U.S.-based executives to prepare detailed financial
information for bidders who may be interested in Vivendi's studios, theme
parks or cable channels. Potential buyers are expected to receive the
"information packs" within the next 10 business days. The company is
currently straddled with more than 12 billion euro ($13.2 billion) in
debt.
http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/vu2/en/_home/home.cfm
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o Dow Jones: Game Publisher Take-Two Mulling Bid for Vivendi Games Unit
Paris -- According to a Dow Jones report, New York-based video game
publisher Take-Two Interactive, whose Rockstar Games division created the
popular "Grand Theft Auto" game franchise, is currently "mulling a bid"
for Vivendi Universal Games, the video game unit of the debt-laden media
conglomerate. A source familiar with the situation told Dow Jones that
Take-Two would have financial partners to aid its bid, and that the
company has valued VU Games at $1 billion, below Vivendi's reported asking
price of $1.6 billion. The report also stated that other suitors for VU
Games include Thomas Lee Partners, General Atlantic and Francisco
Partners, as well as Bain Capital with TA Associates.
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/030428/1143001118_2.html
http://www.vugames.com
http://www.take2games.com
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o CinemaNow Licenses MGM Films for Internet Video-on-Demand Service
Marina del Rey, Calif. -- CinemaNow, a provider of video-on-demand
programming and delivery technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has
signed an agreement with MGM Home Video, a unit major motion picture
studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to offer MGM films for streaming and download
from its CinemaNow service. Under the deal, Marina del Rey, Calif.-based
CinemaNow will offer MGM's new release films -- such as "Barbershop" and
"Bulletproof Monk" -- the same day they become available in their
traditional pay-per-view window, along with previously released movies
from MGM's vast film library. CinemaNow is majority-owned by film studio
Lion's Gate Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030429/295214_1.html
http://www.cinemanow.com
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o Internet Metrics Firm ComScore Launches Search Engine Measurement Service
San Bruno, Calif. -- In another step in the constant bid to improve
Internet metrics, comScore Networks, a provider of Internet audience
measurement services, has launched a new system designed to measure
consumer search queries across 25 major search engines and portals. The
information will help search providers, marketers and financial analysts
gain a deeper understanding of the sector. Previously, marketers gauged
search activity using counts of "unique visitors" to search engines sites,
or data reported by search providers themselves. omScore's system,
however, will rely on information from a cross section of more than 1.5
million Internet users on its network.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?id=325
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o Wireless Entertainment Publisher PlayPhone Announces Launch
San Jose, Calif. -- PlayPhone, a publisher of wireless entertainment
content, on Tuesday announced its launch. The company announced strategic
alliances with Japanese game manufacturer Sammy and Latin American
wireless entertainment distributor Atrativa, and said its ringtones are
already available in pre-paid packs at 4,000 retail locations including
Rite Aid and Fred Meyers. San Jose, Calif.-based PlayPhone expects to have
at least fifteen branded packs in more than 10,000 stores by the end of
the third quarter of 2003, with retail packs featuring mobile Java games
launching in the second quarter of this year. The packs are universally
accessible and will work with most phones from all of the major North
American carriers.
http://www.sammyusa.com
http://www.atrativa.com
http://www.play-phone.com
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o Korean Independent Game Developer NCSoft Announces E3 Titles
Seoul -- Korean independent online game developer NCSoft on Tuesday
announced the slate of new games it plans to feature at next month's
Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) video game convention in Los
Angeles. The company plans to unveil "Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle,"
a sequel to its popular massively multiplayer online game, as well as
"City of Heroes," developed by Cryptic Studios; "Guild Wars," developed by
ArenaNet; "Exarch," developed by Realm Interactive; and two titles
developed by Phantagram: "Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders" for the Xbox,
and the massively multiplayer online title "Shining Lore" for the PC.
http://www.ncsoft.net/e3
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==========================================
DMW Publications: March Law & Policy Report
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Contact tinzar@digitalmediawire.com or call 323-464-0793 to order.
To purchase directly, go to:
http://kb.digitalmediawire.com/marketplace.php
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
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Briefly Noted:
(Boston) OSDN (Open Source Development Network) announced on Tuesday the
launch of a new games section on its Slashdot technology news and
discussion site. Slashdot Games will offer daily articles, new product
announcements, discussion of game development and programming, interviews
with leading game developers and designers, reviews, and open commentary
from site visitors. "We've wanted to run a game section on Slashdot for
years. We constantly have an abundance of game related content that we
don't have room for on the main page, and now all of that will have a
home. Besides, now I can count 'Zelda' on my timesheet," said Slashdot
site director and co-founder, Rob Malda.
http://games.slashdot.org
(London) Gameindustry.biz reports that Nintendo has issued a warning to
U.K. retailers importing U.S. versions of Game Boy Advance titles "Pokemon
Ruby" and "Pokemon Sapphire," in advance of the titles' U.K. launch on
July 25. Game Boy Advance titles carry no regional protection, meaning
that users may legally play versions of the games, as long as they are
purchased legally. "Nintendo is monitoring the situation closely and is
prepared to take legal action against importers and retailers should the
number [of imported games] become significant," Nintendo UK general
manager Andy Williams told UK trade paper MCV.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/30424.html
(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo on Tuesday announced the launch of additional
new programming for its Yahoo Platinum online audio and video premium
subscription service. New content was added from Showtime, the National
Hockey League, National Geographic, Major League Soccer and Warren Miller
Entertainment. In coming weeks, the company also plans to add financial
news from CNBC, in addition to a mix of entertainment and news programming
from the BBC to the $9.95 per month service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030429/295346_1.html
http://platinum.yahoo.com
(Los Angeles) Moviso, a provider of mobile media products and services,
announced on Tuesday an agreement with cell phone maker Motorola, where
Moviso will provide downloadable mobile media like ringtones and graphics
for Motorola's mobile media website, HelloMoto.com. In addition to
powering the mobile media portal, Los Angeles-based Moviso, a unit of
Vivendi Universal, will work with Motorola to develop integrated marketing
campaigns and promotions.
http://www.moviso.com
http://www.hellomoto.com
(San Diego) Digital music subscription service EMusic, a unit of Vivendi
Universal, announced on Tuesday a distribution agreement with Vagrant
Records, home to artists including The Get Up Kids, Paul Westerberg and
Dashboard Confessional. Under the terms, both catalog and new releases
from Vagrant artists will be available for download as full albums in MP3
format from the EMusic service.
http://www.vagrant.com
http://www.emusic.com
(Dallas) Online dating service Match.com announced on Tuesday that it has
signed an agreement with America Online to become the exclusive provider
of paid online dating services for AOL in the UK, AOL.co.uk and
Netscape.co.uk. AOL currently claims more than two million U.K. members
who access the AOL service through dial-up, broadband, mobile and
interactive television.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030429/latu082_1.html
http://www.match.com
(London) Beatnik, a developer of audio software solutions for mobile
devices, announced on Tuesday that Japanese consumer electronics firm
Samsung has licensed the Beatnik Audio Engine (BAE) for inclusion in a
range of its upcoming multimedia mobile phones. San Francisco-based
Beatnik's technology generates sounds that have been created from samples
of real instruments and voices, for use in ringtones and game sound
effects. The BAE incorporates a synthesiser, mixer, sample rate converter,
linear audio player and support for MIDI, SP-MIDI, XMF, RMF and WAV file
formats.
http://www.beatnik.com/news/releases/03_04_29_samsung.html
(Milpitas, Calif.) Consumer electronics firm Creative Technology on
Tuesday introduced two new speaker systems designed for use with Apple's
iPod line of digital music players. The $99 Creative I-Trigue 2.1 I3350
home speaker system features two slim speakers with a wooden subwoofer
that deliver 80 watts of total system power, while the $99 Creative
TravelSound I300 speaker system is a portable, one-piece unit that runs on
four AAA batteries and features two 1" titanium micro-drivers and a
digital amplifier.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030428/sfm117_1.html
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/SFM117-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/SFM117-b
http://www.creative.com
(Redwood City, Calif.) Game developer Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday
that its EA U.K. studio is currently at work on "Harry Potter: Quidditch
World Cup," based on the flying broomstick game featured in the immensely
popular J.K. Rowling Harry Potter novels. Redwood City, Calif.-based
Electronic Arts said the game will come out in the fall for PlayStation 2,
Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and the PC.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030429/295470_1.html
http://www.ea.com
(San Francisco) Video game publisher Ubi Soft Entertainment announced on
Tuesday that it will publish "Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu" for PlayStation 2,
Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance in the fall of 2003. The game is
currently being developed at Ubi Soft's Montreal Studios.
http://www.ubi.com
(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America's 989 Sports
division announced on Tuesday that its "MLB 2004" title for PlayStation
and PS one consoles is now available in stores. The game, which is in its
eighth season on the PlayStation console, features Los Angeles Dodgers
right fielder Shawn Green as its cover athlete.
http://www.989sports.com
(San Diego) Sony Online Entertainment announced on Tuesday the release of
its "EverQuest: War on Faydwer" game for the Pocket PC platform, available
for purchase and download for $19.99. Developed by San Diego-based Emodiv,
the Pocket PC title is a single-player fantasy action game, unlike the
massively multiplayer online roleplaying game "EverQuest."
http://www.emodiv.com
http://eqpocket.station.sony.com
(San Francisco) Both Salon.com and CNET News.com on Tuesday provided
analysis of yesterday's launch of Apple's iTunes digital music
distribution service. The service offers Mac users about 200,000 songs
from all five major record labels for purchase and download for $0.99
each, along with the ability to burn the songs an unlimited number of CDs
and transfer them to Apple's digital music player, the iPod.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/04/29/itunes/
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-998675.html?tag=fd_top
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
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For more information, or to register to attend, go to
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CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
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