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Past Editions

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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- April 30, 2002
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Subscribe for free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o Digital Broadcast Radio Developer IBiquity Digital Raises $45 Million
o Industry Group Open EBook Forum Launches Consumer Advocacy Program
o Online Advertising Groups Agree On New Standards
o Report: Online Ad Spending to Reach $16 Billion by 2007
> Digital Media Wire Wine Tasting Event: Los Angeles | May 9
o Briefly Noted: Simon and Schuster - Hemingway e-books, Red Hat - Jim
Henson Company, Pace Micro Technology Americas - Ucentric Systems, TDK
Mediactive - "Dinotopia," DivXNetworks - Texas Instruments, Palm Digital
Media - OverDrive, Digital TV - transition deadline, MPAA vs. individual
studios
_____________________________________________

o Digital Broadcast Radio Developer IBiquity Digital Raises $45 Million

Columbia, Md. -- IBiquity Digital, a developer of digital broadcast radio
technology, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $45 million in its
third round of financing. New investor Susquehanna Radio, the country's
eleventh largest broadcaster, participated in the round along with
previous investors Grotech, JP Morgan Partners, New Venture Partners and
Pequot Capital. Maryland-based IBiquity Digital has developed technology
that allows traditional radio broadcasters to add a digital AM or FM
signal to their transmissions, enabling the inclusion of a wireless data
feed for artist information, weather or traffic information. "The proceeds
raised through this financing round will fully fund IBiquity's operations
through commercialization to profitability," said IBiquity president and
CEO Robert Struble. "With the investment by Susquehanna, the nation's top
11 broadcasters are now owners of IBiquity."
http://www.ibiquity.com
_____________________________________________

o Industry Group Open EBook Forum Launches Consumer Advocacy Program

New York -- The non-profit Open eBook Forum, an industry trade and
standards association, announced on Tuesday that it will launch a
worldwide e-book consumer advocacy program on May 2. The campaign will
highlight how e-book technologies and products promote literacy, provide
access to books for those with reading disabilities, and have enhanced
educational opportunities. Members of the Open eBook Forum including
Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Random House and McGraw-Hill will launch
extensive e-book promotions, such as free book downloads. "This is the
grand re-opening of the e-book industry," said Open eBook Forum executive
director Nicholas Bogaty. "E-books are enjoying global success in the
classroom, in the business community, with travelers, and the vision
impaired. In fact, sales of e-books increased by 40 percent in 2001 over
the previous year."
http://www.openanebook.org
_____________________________________________

o Online Advertising Groups Agree On New Standards

New York -- The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and American
Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) have released Version 2.0 of
their mutually agreed upon terms and conditions for Internet advertising.
The new standards will help regulate agreements between advertisers, ad
agencies and publishers for online ads. Participating in the negotiations
were companies including Walt Disney Internet Group, AOL, DoubleClick,
Yahoo and Foote, Cone and Belding. The new rules address issues like the
delivery of ads by third parties, such as DoubleClick, in addition to
stipulating when lawsuits are admissible when contracts are broken. "We
have achieved our overriding objectives -- to streamline operations and
negotiations by addressing potential business issues facing publishers and
agencies and provide the industry with a uniform document to use as a
basis for agreements," the two groups said in a joint statement.
http://www.iab.net/news/content/04_29_02.html
http://www.aaaa.org
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-894843.html?tag=cd_mh
_____________________________________________

o Report: Online Ad Spending to Reach $16 Billion by 2007

New York -- Online advertising spending in the U.S. will grow from $6.2
billion in 2002 to $16 billion by 2007, according to a report released on
Tuesday by research firm Jupiter Media Metrix. Online classified ads are
expected to be the fastest growing form of advertising this year. "While
the off-line classifieds market contracted by more than 15 percent in
2001, online classifieds registered impressive growth, increasing 38
percent to more than one billion dollars," said Jupiter Research senior
analyst Marissa Gluck. Jupiter predicts that online classified ad spending
will increase from $1.2 billion in 2002 to $2.3 billion by 2007. The firm
says the growth of the industry will be influenced by increased broadband
penetration, a sustained growth of the online population, media
consolidation and general economic recovery.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020430/nytu015_1.html
http://www.jmm.com
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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:

(New York) Publisher Simon and Schuster announced on Tuesday that its
Scribner imprint will publish all twenty-three titles in its catalog of
Ernest Hemingway works in e-book format. The e-books, including titles
such as "The Sun Also Rises" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," will be
available for $9.99 beginning in August on Simon and Schuster's site and
from other e-book retail sites. Scribner also said it would begin granting
electronic permissions for use of Hemingway's works in academic courses.
"This is an important first step in creating a complete, scholarly
electronic library for Hemingway, as well as bringing our classic backlist
into the new era of digital publishing," said Susan Moldow, executive vice
president and publisher of Scribner.
http://www.simonsays.com/about_release.cfm?id=909688722

(Raleigh, N.C.) Red Hat, a provider of Linux operating system software,
announced on Tuesday that Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the digital
production studio arm of the "Muppets" creator's company, will use Red Hat
Linux to power its Henson Digital Performance Studio and other projects.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020430/302130_1.html
http://www.redhat.com
http://www.henson.com

(Boca Raton, Fla.) Pace Micro Technology Americas, a provider of digital
set-top boxes, said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Ucentric
Systems, a provider of media distribution software. Under the agreement,
Florida-based Pace will integrate Massachusetts-based Ucentric's software
into its digital home gateway, so that digital entertainment services can
be distributed to various devices throughout the home. The combination
will allow for multi-TV personal video recorder functionality, multi-TV
video-on-demand, multi-speaker digital music, and shared Internet access
over a wired or wireless network in the home.
http://www.ucentric.com/index.php?news/releases/25
http://www.pacemicro.com

(Calabasas, Calif.) Video game publisher TDK Mediactive announced on
Tuesday that it is developing a title based on the Hallmark TV miniseries
"Dinotopia" for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handheld game. "Dinotopia: The
Timestone Pirates" has already shipped to retailers; the TV miniseries
based on James Gurney's vision of a unique civilization where dinosaurs
and humans live peacefully together begins airing on ABC on May 12.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020430/300030_1.html
http://www.tdk-mediactive.com
http://www.dinotopia.com

(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression technology and
video-on-demand systems, announced on Tuesday that its video compression
technology has been integrated onto chips made by Texas Instruments. The
integration will allow for San Diego-based DivXNetworks' technology to be
used in consumer electronics devices, such as digital set-top boxes,
handheld video players, next-generation DVD players and digital video
cameras. The company said its technology enables full-motion, high-quality
video at 7-10 times greater compression than MPEG-2, a competing format.
http://www.divxnetworks.com

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Palm Digital Media, the e-book publishing arm of
handheld device maker Palm, said on Tuesday that it has partnered with
OverDrive, a provider of e-book, e-commerce and digital rights management
software. The two companies will collaborate to expand global digital
distribution and retail marketing of e-books in the Palm Reader format.
Cleveland-based OverDrive will integrate Palm's e-book titles as well as
the company's digital rights management technology into its content
network, which serves 400 publishers worldwide. OverDrive will also
provide conversion services for publishers who want to convert their
titles into the Palm Reader format.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020430/sftu088_1.html
http://www.palm.com/about/
http://www.overdrive.com

(New York) The New York Times recently reported on Wednesday's FCC
deadline for TV stations nationwide to have switched to digital broadcast
-- and the fact that nearly three-fourths of them will not have made the
switch by tomorrow. Stations filing for extensions on the deadline cited
the high cost of equipment needed for the transition, low consumer
interest due to the high cost of digital TV sets and many technical
issues. Lawmakers have urged the transition because once 85 percent of
stations have switched to digital, they must relinquish their space on the
analog broadcast spectrum to other industries, such as wireless.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/technology/ebusiness/29TUBE.html

(Los Angeles) The Los Angeles Times recently reported on Motion Picture
Association of America (MPAA) member meetings held to discuss proposed
legislation that would put government mandated copyright control in
consumer devices in an attempt to curb piracy. The MPAA represents the
interests of major movie studios such as Disney, Universal, Fox, Warner
Bros. and Sony in Washington, although all members often do not agree with
what end up becoming the public viewpoints of the MPAA. "I keep telling
everyone that no matter how powerful they are as a company, no one is
powerful enough to face the government alone," MPAA president Jack Valenti
told The Times. The fact that most studios are now part of larger,
sometimes multi-national conglomerates means that the interests of
Hollywood's film producers are not always the same as their parent
companies' visions.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-042902lobby.story
http://www.mpaa.org
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire