archives

o European Commission Investigating MusicNet, Pressplay, DVD Pricing
o Digital Television Developers form Alliance For Linux Standards
o Broadband ISP Excite@Home Raises $100 Million
o Secure File-Sharing Provider Yaga Raises $15.2 Million in Second Round
o Streaming Audio Developer AudioBase Raises $5 Million in Fourth Round
o Wireless Audio Developer SimpleDevices Gets Investment From Motorola
o U.K. Game Developer Climax Group Acquires Syrox Developments
> DMW & socalTECH Seminar: Digital Asia -- June 20 | Los Angeles
> Digital Media Wire Seminar: iTV -- June 27 | San Francisco
o Briefly Noted: Loudeye Technologies - MSN, Gemstar-TV Guide - Adelphia
Communications, Netflix - Dreamworks - 20th Century Fox - Universal,
DivX.com, RealNetworks - Sony eVilla, Cold North Wind - National Newspaper
Association, Rio - Wal-Mart, Public Interactive, Windows XP - MP3
_____________________________________________

> Job Postings: Sr. Interactive Web Designer/Art Director, New Media
Designer, Director of Product Management

> Events/Services: "Wireless 2001," "Loyola Marymount MBA in the Media"

Full Job/Event/Services 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/Service: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
_____________________________________________

o European Commission Investigating MusicNet, Pressplay, DVD Pricing

Brussels -- The European Commission is investigating potential antitrust
violations by the major record labels and their dueling digital music
subscription services, MusicNet and Pressplay, The Wall Street Journal
reported on Tuesday. The concern stems from the further consolidation of
the music industry from only five major record companies to two in the
online subscription space -- composed of Warner, EMI and BMG's MusicNet,
and Sony and Universal's Pressplay. Webnoize reported that the Commission
is now downplaying the investigation. "What it means for the moment is
that the commission is keeping its eyes open," a spokeswoman told
Webnoize. "I don't think too much should be read into this at this stage."
The European Commission is also investigating why DVD prices are so much
higher in its member countries as opposed to the U.S., and why some U.S.
DVDs won't play in European-produced DVD players -- a result of the
"regional coding" technology that is used by the studios to control the
distribution of their films.
http://interactive.wsj.com/fr/emailthis/retrieve.cgi?id=SB992252163772173372.djm
http://news.webnoize.com/item.rs?ID=13330
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2412455-3,00.html
http://www.dvdcca.org/rpc.html
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o Digital Television Developers form Alliance For Linux Standards

Chicago -- A group of digital and interactive television developers and
technology providers announced on Tuesday the formation of the TV Linux
Alliance, which will work to develop standards for Linux-based digital
set-top boxes. The alliance currently counts 24 member companies,
including ACTV, Diva Systems, Excite@Home, Liberate Technologies,
Motorola, ReplayTV, Sun Microsystems and TiVo. The standards developed by
the alliance aim to shorten time-to-market and ease the integration of an
overall increase in new digital TV and interactive TV technologies.
http://www.tvlinuxalliance.org/press_release.html
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o Broadband ISP Excite@Home Raises $100 Million

Redwood City, Calif. -- Excite@Home, a provider of high-speed cable modem
Internet connections, announced that it has raised $100 million through a
sale of five-year convertible secured notes. Those who buy the notes can
convert them into Excite@Home stock at any time at a 10 percent premium
over the company's average share price last Friday, or $4.38. Redwood
City-based Excite@Home recently announced that it would close portals in
several European countries, including France, Germany and Spain.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010611/2124.html
http://www.excite.com
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o Secure File-Sharing Provider Yaga Raises $15.2 Million in Second Round

Foster City, Calif. -- Yaga, a developer of secure file-sharing
technology, announced that it has raised $15.2 million in its second round
of funding. Investors participating in the round included InfoSpace,
Andojo I, MeVC Draper Fisher Jurvetson, The Individuals Venture Fund,
Altotech and the company's two founders, Chris Kitze and Vijay
Vaidyanathan. Foster City-based Yaga's software lets businesses set up
their own secure peer-to-peer networks for publishing, searching and
retrieving digital files, including audio and video. The company will use
the funds to expand its product offering and expects the new investment to
take it to profitability, which it says will occur by the fall of 2002.
http://www.yaga.com/about/press/june0801.html
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o Streaming Audio Developer AudioBase Raises $5 Million in Fourth Round

Sausalito, Calif. -- AudioBase, a developer of streaming audio technology
for businesses, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in its
fourth round of venture capital financing. Charles Schwab, as a private
investor, led the new round of funding, in which a small number of other
individual investors also participated. Sausalito-based AudioBase's
Java-based technology lets businesses automatically stream audio to 95
percent of Web users without having to launch a media player. Its
customers include Charles Schwab, America West Airlines, Sony Music
Entertainment and Warner Music. The company will use the funds to support
its focus on increasing profitability for its customers' online channels.
http://www.audiobase.com
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o Wireless Audio Developer SimpleDevices Gets Investment From Motorola

Chicago -- SimpleDevices, a developer of wireless streaming audio for home
networking, said that Motorola has made an undisclosed strategic
investment in the company. Additionally, Motorola will integrate
SimpleDevices' wireless audio receiver into its home networking products.
The device lets users stream CD-quality music from their PCs to the
receiver, which connects to a home stereo so that users can listen to MP3s
and other music accessed from the Internet.
http://www.simpledevices.com/press_releases/release_06-11-01_Moto.shtml
http://www.gi.com/noflash/homenetworking_overview.html
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o U.K. Game Developer Climax Group Acquires Syrox Developments

London -- Climax Group, a developer of video games for the PC, game
consoles, iTV, the Web and wireless, announced on Tuesday that it has
acquired game development studio Syrox Developments for an undisclosed
amount of equity and cash. U.K.-based Syrox has created games based on
Woody Woodpecker, Disney's "The Lion King" and a remake of the classic
"Asteroids" arcade title for multiple formats. Climax develops games in
conjunction with companies like EA Sports and Lego.
http://www.climax.co.uk/news/Syrox.htm
http://www.syroxdev.co.uk/
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> Digital Media Wire & socalTECH Present a Panel Discussion:
"Digital Asia: Recent Developments & New Business Opportunities"

Los Angeles | Wednesday, June 20th at the Wyndham Bel Age

SPONSORS:
Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, Loyola Marymount Int'l MBA in Media

This panel of executives, investors and professionals will discuss the
latest developments in digital media, with a focus on business
opportunities, strategies and ventures being created between the United
States and China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=14674&Referrer_id=4074

SPEAKERS:
Ravin Agrawal - Partner | EastWest VentureGroup
Bryan Biniak - COO | Premium Wireless Services & YourMobile Network
Eric Choi - Senior Business Development Manager (Asia Pacific) | Akamai
James Hsu - Attorney | Jones Day Reavis & Pogue (LA - Taipei)
Stuart Levy - Co-Founder & CEO | TOKYOPOP
Beth Minehart - SVP Business Development | Universal Studios Television

MODERATOR:
Stephen Liu
Co-Founder & President | Reelplay, Founder & Chairman | APEX

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:
Asian Business League, AINT, Asian Professional Exchange, Asia Society,
larta
_____________________________________________

> Digital Media Wire Presents a Panel Discussion:
"iTV: Defining the New Face of Television"

San Francisco | Wednesday, June 27th at The City Club

SPONSOR: UBS Warburg

This panel of players ranging from content developers to investment
bankers will discuss the new face of television, which will include an
amalgam of services like email, IPGs (interactive program guides), PVRs
(personal video recorders), enhanced TV, etc., and what it means for
Hollywood, the tech industry and most importantly, the consumer.
For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=14770&Referrer_id=4074

MODERATOR:
Michael Kline - Senior Manager | Deloitte Consulting

SPEAKERS:
David Higley - Exec. Director Technology Investment Banking | UBS Warburg
Bill Niemeyer - Director of Strategic Development | Spiderdance
Jonathon Spatz - Chief Financial Officer | Wink Communications
Nicholas Wodtke - SVP Interactive Television | Sony Pictures Entertainment
***Additional panelists TBA***
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o Briefly Noted:

(Seattle) Loudeye Technologies, a provider of encoding and song sample
services to the music industry, said on Tuesday that it will provide song
samples to Microsoft's MSN network of Internet services. Seattle-based
Loudeye has licensing deals with all five major record labels, as well as
over 800 independents, to provide short song-samples to websites. The
company announced last week that it will provide song samples to America
Online's music services; earlier this week Napster said it would use the
company's song identification technology to help filter copyrighted songs
from its file-sharing service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010612/sftu064.html
http://www.loudeye.com

(Pasadena, Calif.) Gemstar-TV Guide, a provider of interactive program
guides for digital cable and interactive television, said that it has
signed a 20-year contract to provide program guides to cable TV operator
Adelphia Communications. Pennsylvania-based Adelphia will carry
Pasadena-based Gemstar's guides on 85 percent of its cable systems
nationwide, which cover 5.7 million subscribers. Adelphia will also offer
Gemstar's TVG Network, a horseracing channel that offers interactive
wagering, in states where such services are legal.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010611/0026.html
http://www.tvguideinc.com/
http://www.adelphia.com

(Los Gatos, Calif.) Netflix, a provider of an online DVD rental service
that delivers movies by mail, said on Tuesday that it has entered into
revenue sharing agreements with a number of new film studios that will
allow it to offer new release DVDs to its subscribers more quickly.
Dreamworks SKG, Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios join existing
Netflix revenue sharing partners Artisan Entertainment, Columbia Tri-Star
Home Video, Lion's Gate Films, USA Films and Warner Home Video. Los
Gatos-based Netflix's 300,000 subscribers pay about $20 a month for the
rental delivery service.
http://www.netflix.com

(San Diego) DivXNetworks, a developer of Internet video technology based
on its proprietary DivX video codec, announced on Tuesday the launch of
Divx.com, a site offering news, information and downloads related to the
technology. San Diego-based DivXNetworks claims its technology can offer
DVD-quality video over the Internet in small file sizes, comparable to
what the MP3 codec did for digital music. DivX.com offers sample video
files using the codec, which users can view after downloading the codec
and a compatible media player.
http://www.divx.com
http://www.divxnetworks.com

(Seattle) Digital media delivery provider RealNetworks said on Tuesday
that Sony will use its RealPlayer 8 software as the audio and video player
technology in Sony's eVilla Network Entertainment Center. The $500 device
enables email and connects to the Internet for Web browsing and accessing
audio and video.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010612/sftu037.html
http://www.evilla.com/html/index.html

(Framingham, Mass.) Digital asset management provider Cold North Wind has
struck a deal with the National Newspaper Association to digitize the
archives of 20,000 community newspapers going back as far as the 17th
century. The project could result in as many as 500 million pages of
archives, the company said. Massachusetts-based EMC Corp. will provide
data storage technology for the project.
http://www.coldnorthwind.com/frameset.html

(Vancouver, Wash.) Rio, a manufacturer of portable MP3 players and
division of Sonicblue, announced on Tuesday that retail chain Wal-Mart
will carry its Rio 600 MP3 player in 1,300 of its stores. "It shows that
mainstream consumers and retailers are further embracing the digital audio
format," said Tony Storino, vice president of Merchandising for Rio.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010612/0109.html
http://www.riohome.com/products/rio600.htm

(Boston) Public Interactive, a provider of software and technology to
public radio and TV stations, announced on Tuesday that it has named Gina
Maniscalco to the newly created position of CEO. Previously, Maniscalco
served as executive director and general manager of Boston.com, the Boston
Globe website which she also co-founded.
http://www.publicinteractive.com

(London) The Register featured an article on Tuesday that examines the
implications of diminished support for the MP3 audio format in Microsoft's
new XP operating system. By promoting its own Windows Media Player
instead, the article says that Microsoft is doing what it can to make
consumers use its proprietary format instead of the currently more-popular
MP3 format.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19603.html

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

> MediaHippo, Sr. Interactive Web Designer/Art Director - Los Angeles

E-services company seeks a Sr. Web Designer to conjure well-architected
multi-media concepts. Candidate must be comfortable designing Web,
Interactive CD, DVD and Kiosk interfaces. Corporate branding & logo design
a must, plus a minimum of 4-6 yrs. of professional web design experience
and an excellent grasp of large-scale site design, navigation, and
architecture. Send resumes to: monica@mediahippo.com
http://www.mediahippo.com
______________________

> CCBN, New Media Designer - Boston

Designer needed to conceptualize, design and develop visual interfaces
utilizing user-centered design principles. Ideal candidate will be
detail-oriented, extremely organized, highly creative and aware of tight
deadlines. BA or BFA -or- 2-4+ yrs. exp. in related field. Proficiency in
Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, DreamWeaver, as well as graphic design
principles. Send resumes to: jobs@ccbn.com
http://www.ccbn.com
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> About.com, Director of Product Management - New York City

The ideal candidate will be responsible for managing product design,
planning, testing, documentation and implementation of company products
and sales integrations. This person will report to the SVP of Product
Development and will be managing a team of top notch dedicated HTML
Producers, Project Managers and Designers.
Send resume and cover letter to Kevin Donovan at kdonovan@about-inc.com
http://www.about.com

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Events/Services Postings:
===================================================
To Post Events/Services: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Wireless 2001, June 13-14 - New York City

PLATORMS * PARTNERSHIPS * CAPITAL: Wireless 2001 - NYC speakers include James Balsillie, RIM; Thomas Dolby Robertson, Beatnik; Ikuo Nishioka,
Mobile Internet Capital (Japan); and James Brailean, Packet Video. SAVE
$100: REGISTER ONLINE TODAY! Visit www.wireless2001.com/register.asp  and enter "EMKTRCOMB2" for an exclusive $100 discount.
http://www.wireless2001.com
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> Loyola Marymount University, International MBA in Media - Los Angeles

Loyola Marymount's International MBA in Media is a unique 1-year program
for individuals who are interested in the business aspect of the growing
entertainment and media industries. In cooperation with the Center for
Asian Business at LMU, this innovative program is offered through LMU's
famous College of Business Administration and the School of Film and
Television.
For more information, please visit: http://www.lmu.edu/acad/cab/immba/
______________________

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