Main Stories
o Senate Bill With Bipartisan Support Would Ban P2P Networks in U.S.
o Apple: U.K., French, German iTunes Stores Sell 800,000 Tracks in First Week
o DVD Creation Software Maker Sonic Solutions Raises $23.8 Million
o Popularity of Mobile Phones Gives Rise to "M-Agers"
o Hollywood Media Acquires Studio Systems for $4.75 Million
o Digital Newspaper Distributor NewsStand Raises $7.2 Million
o Mobile Giants Unite to Improve Wireless Interoperability

o Briefly Noted: COMDEX - cancelled, IRIS Distribution - indie record labels, Naropa University - Internet Archive, OverDrive - most-borrowed e-books, T-Mobile - music services, Art Institute of Phoenix - video game degree, Reaxion - 3SYM, Vivendi Universal Games - "Robots" - "Ground Control II: Operation Exodus," Electronic Arts - NHL's Markus Naslund, Atari - "Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors," Nokia - "Colin McRae Rally 2005," Wilco - Irdial Records - "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" sample _____________________________________________

Washington -- A Senate bill that has gained key bipartisan support would, if approved, effectively ban peer-to-peer file-sharing networks in the U.S., CNET News.com reported on Wednesday. Introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 would effectively overturn the landmark ruling in MGM v. Grokster, currently under appeal, that found that peer-to-peer file-sharing software is legal and any copyright infringement liability rested with end-users. "This bill remedies a threat to the security of copyrights as well as to our citizens and children," said Hatch. "Because about half of the users of this software are children, this for-profit piracy scheme mostly endangers children who are ill-equipped to appreciate the illegality or risks of their acts." Hatch noted that supporters of the bill include Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G33A122A8 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G14A422A8
http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster    
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o Apple: U.K., French, German iTunes Stores Sell 800,000 Tracks in First Week

Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple announced on Wednesday that its new iTunes Music Stores in the U.K., France and Germany sold a combined 800,000 songs in their first week of operations. "After selling over 800,000 songs during its first week, iTunes is Europe's top online music store," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "In the U.K. alone, iTunes sold more than 450,000 songs in the last week -- 16 times as many as OD2, its closest competitor." OD2 (On Demand Distribution), the digital music firm co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel that distributes tracks for European digital retailers including HMV, Virgin, MSN and Tiscali, was acquired on Tuesday by Seattle-based Loudeye Technologies. Napster, which launched in the U.K. on May 20, has not yet released sales figures for its U.K. store.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040623/sfw035_1.html 
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o DVD Creation Software Maker Sonic Solutions Raises $23.8 Million

Novato, Calif. -- Sonic Solutions, a provider of DVD creation and editing software, announced on Wednesday that it will raise $23.8 million through a public offering of 1.3 million shares of its stock at $19.48 per share. Novato, Calif.-based Sonic Solutions' products have been licensed by firms including Adobe, AOL, Microsoft and Sony, and ship on PCs and disk drives from makers such as Toshiba, Sharp, Pioneer, TDK, Memorex and Philips. The company will use the proceeds of the stock sale for general corporate purposes and to fund general working capital requirements.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040623/235290_1.html 
http://www.sonic.com   
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o Popularity of Mobile Phones Gives Rise to "M-Agers"

London -- Mobile phones have become so widespread in the U.K. that they have come to define an entire generation -- the so-called "M-Ager" -- according to an ongoing behavioral study of more than 1,400 mobile phone users. The "Me, My Mobile and I" survey, conducted over the last four years by the Teleconomy Group, found that more than 26% of British children between the ages of 10 and 14 are so emotionally attached to their mobile phones that they say they could not live without them. The study also found that M-Agers were by far the most sophisticated users in the U.K., demanding increasingly functional phones that allow a high degree of personalization. "These are a group of people who have never known life without a mobile phone and therefore can't imagine functioning without it," said Teleconomy Chairman Michael Hulme.
http://www.teleconomy.com/waves/prog/mobile.htm  
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o Hollywood Media Acquires Studio Systems for $4.75 Million

Hollywood, Calif. -- Hollywood Media Corp., a provider of online information and ticketing services for movies and theatre, announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Los Angeles-based Studios Systems, a provider of database and information services to the entertainment industry, for $4.75 million in cash and stock. Studio Systems will be integrated with Hollywood Media's Baseline/FilmTracker subsidiary, a database of global film and television data such as script tracking and box office data. "Studio Systems' and Baseline's respective customers are poised to reap tremendous benefits from the synergies spawned by this transaction," said Studio Systems president and CEO Gary Hiller. "Bringing these assets together under one roof at Hollywood Media will enable those worldwide who are involved in the development, production, distribution and financing of film and television projects to harness the combined, preeminent strength of these impressive resources."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040623/nyw042_1.html 
http://baseline.hollywood.com 
http://www.studiosystemsinc.com 
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o Digital Newspaper Distributor NewsStand Raises $7.2 Million

Austin, Texas -- NewsStand, a provider of distribution for digital "exact replica" versions of newspapers, magazines and other print media, announced that it has raised $7.2 million in a recent round of financing. Adams Capital led the investment round; Noro-Moseley Partners, SSM Ventures and The New York Times Company also participated. Austin-based NewsStand currently delivers over 100 digital versions of print publications to customers in 120 countries. "NewsStand will use proceeds from the new round of funding to expand marketing and sales initiatives that will increase its market penetration worldwide and will continue to perfect its digital reading experience through Web and print integration," said NewsStand president and CEO Kit Webster.
http://www.newsstand.com/corporate/release.cfm?PRESS_RELEASE=71 
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o Mobile Giants Unite to Improve Wireless Interoperability

London -- Some of the world's largest mobile operators on Wednesday agreed to work together to improve interoperability between wireless devices and allow users to better access new services such as picture messaging. Led by mmO2, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SMART Communications, Telefonica Moviles, TIM, T-Mobile and Vodafone, the so-called OMTP Alliance said it would begin to define the requirements for an open mobile terminal platform (OMTP). Amena, Hutchinson/3, KPN, One Austria, SFR and Telenor are also interested in joining the group, OMTP said. The group aims to work with mobile handset makers to resolve a number of problems that have arisen when users send pictures between phones, and especially between networks.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W596321A8 

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(San Francisco) MediaLive International announced on Wednesday that it has cancelled its mammoth COMDEX convention this year, to return in 2005. Last year's event drew 550 exhibitors and 40,000 information technology professionals. "While we could still run a profitable COMDEX this year, it does not benefit the industry to do so without broader support of the leading technology companies," said MediaLive CEO Robert Priest-Heck. "In order to give the Advisory Board the time and opportunity necessary to partake in the redesign of COMDEX, we thought it best to postpone this year's show."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?R1B9152A8 
http://www.comdex.com

(San Francisco) IRIS Distribution, a provider of digital music distribution services for digital retailers, announced on Wednesday that independent record labels including Fat Possum Records, K, Megaforce Records, Projekt Records, Monolake/Imbalance Computer Music, Orthlorng Musork and the Agriculture have chosen the company to distribute their tracks to retailers including iTunes, Napster and Musicmatch. San Francisco-based IRIS currently negotiates licensing terms and distributes on behalf of over 60 labels, representing artists including Modest Mouse, Black Keys and R.L. Burnside.
http://www.irisdistribution.com

(Boulder, Colo.) Naropa University, the liberal arts school that combines Eastern and Western educational traditions, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with the Internet Archive, a nonprofit seeking to create a permanent archive of Internet data, to provide online access to its renowned collection of audio recordings. The collection includes 30 years of lectures and readings from participants in Naropa's writing programs, who have included Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, William Burroughs, Robert Duncan and Harry Smith. The project was funded with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Save America's Treasures and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
http://www.naropa.edu 
http://www.archive.org

(Orlando, Fla.) OverDrive, a provider of e-book lending technology to libraries, said on Wednesday that, according to statistics from checkout information of tens of thousands of titles for the first half 2004, author and documentarian Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country?" was the most-borrowed e-book in the first half of the year. Moore's book was followed by "The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People," "The Low-Carb Comfort Cookbook" and James Patterson's "The Big Bad Wolf."
http://www.overdrive.com

(Frankfurt) T-Mobile, the wireless unit of German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, on Wednesday said it planned to launch a new range of music for mobile phones. In partnership with Universal, Warner Music, Sony Music and BMG, T-Mobile will unveil on Wednesday evening a new selection of pop, rock, dance, classical and jazz songs from a number of top American and British artists. T-Mobile rivals Vodafone Group and mmO2 have already launched similar services this year.
http://www.t-mobilepressoffice.co.uk

(Phoenix, Ariz.) The Art Institute of Phoenix announced on Wednesday a new bachelor's degree program in Visual & Game Programming, which will help prepare students for entry-level positions in the video game industry. The curriculum was developed with input from industry professionals from the International Game Developers Association, Electronic Arts, Pixar, Microsoft and other developers and publishers.
http://www.aipx.edu

(Seattle) Mobile game developer Reaxion announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Belarus-based developer 3SYM. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 3SYM is credited with the "Brain Game" multiplayer franchise for PlayStation and Game Boy Advance, and develops for BREW, Symbian and J2ME platforms. The company's developers will be integrated into Seattle-based Reaxion's Russian development team.
http://www.reaxion.com

(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games said on Wednesday that it will release "Robots," based on the upcoming 20th Century Fox film of the same name, simultaneously with the film's release in theaters in March 2005. The title is currently being developed for PlayStation 2, Xbox and the PC by U.K.-based Eurocom Entertainment Software. VU Games also announced that its "Ground Control II: Operation Exodus," developed by Sweden-based Massive Entertainment, has shipped to North American retailers. The company said the game has also been localized in over 12 languages and will be released in Europe and Asia on June 25.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040623/law040_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040622/latu117_1.html
http://www.vugames.com 
http://www.eurocom.co.uk 
http://www.massive.se

(Redwood City, Calif.) Game developer Electronic Arts announced that it has named Markus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks as the cover athlete and spokesman for its "NHL 2005" hockey title. The game is currently being developed at EA Canada for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and the PC for release in the fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040622/225347_1.html 
http://www.nhl05.com

(Beverly, Mass.) Video game publisher Atari on Wednesday shipped its "Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors" title for Game Boy Advance to retailers. Developed by Japan-based Banpresto, the game is based on the wildly popular Japanese animated children's series.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040623/235039_1.html 
http://www.banpresto.co.jp 
http://www.dragonballz.com

(Espoo, Finland) Nokia said on Wednesday that a version of U.K.-based developer Codemasters' "Colin McRae Rally 2005" is currently in development for its N-Gage hybrid cell phone/handheld game deck. London-based Ideaworks3D is creating the N-Gage version for release in the fourth quarter of 2004.
http://www.n-gage.com 
http://www.codemasters.com 
http://www.ideaworks3d.com

(San Francisco) Wired News on Wednesday reported on a copyright tussle between alt-country band Wilco and an obscure record label over a sample of shortwave radio broadcast signals used on Wilco's last album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." London-based Irdial-Discs, which put out a four-CD set of shortwave broadcasts believed to be sent by the world's intelligence agencies, sued Wilco for sampling a recording of a woman's voice repeating the phrase "yankee…hotel…foxtrot" that was featured on the Irdial release. Despite the questionable copyright ownership for sound recorded over the free airwaves, Wilco paid Irdial an undisclosed settlement amount and a reported $27,300 in legal fees for use of the sample.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,63952,00.html 
http://www.irdial.com 
http://www.wilcoweb.com/records/yhf.html 
 
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