archives

o RIAA Files Motion to Dismiss Suit From Princeton Researcher
o Forrester Eliminates 111 Jobs; First Layoffs in 18 Years
o Anti-Piracy Technology Developer SunnComm Raises $10 Million
o EchoStar Partners with CBS to Deliver High Definition TV
o Entertainment Network EUniverse Gets Investment from Sony Unit
o Streaming Video Services Provider Vendaria Raises $5.1 Million
o Video-on-Demand Firm E-Video TV Raises $1 Million
> Pepper Hamilton Legal Update
> Digital Media Wire Seminar: Interactive TV | Los Angeles | July 25
o Briefly Noted: Salon Premium, LivePlanet, Comparing audio codecs,
Download-only song - Billboard charts
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> Job Postings: Lead Program Manager, Content Database Specialist,
Acct. Executive, Web Developer/Programmer, Sales Associate,
Senior Director

> Events/Services: "Web Hosting Expo"

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 RIAA Files Motion to Dismiss Suit From Princeton Researcher

Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has
filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Princeton University
researcher Edward Felten. Felten's suit asks the court to declare it legal
for him to publish research on anti-piracy technology for digital music
that the RIAA and Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) developed, which
the paper claims can be defeated. Felten says the RIAA sent him a letter
threatening legal action if he published the paper as part of a
conference. In its motion, the RIAA says it does not oppose publication of
Felten's research. "Defendants RIAA and SDMI have plainly and
unequivocally stated and repeat again that they have no objection to the
publication of the Felten Paper," the RIAA wrote in its motion. Felten and
the Electronic Frontier Foundation -- which has taken on his case --
brought legal action in part to challenge the constitutionality of the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. They say that Felten's free speech right
to publish his scholarly research should supercede the law's stipulation
that any circumvention of anti-piracy technology is a criminal act.
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=431
http://www.riaa.org/pdf/memo_in_support_of_MTD_final.pdf
http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/Felten_v_RIAA/
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o Forrester Eliminates 111 Jobs; First Layoffs in 18 Years

Cambridge, Mass. - In the first round of layoffs ever in the company's
18-year history, Cambridge-based Forrester Research, a technology market
research firm, has eliminated 111 jobs, mostly in the company's sales
force. Forrester said it is restructuring its sales team into more
industry-specialized groups. "First, we're reorganizing our sales team
around a new vertical focus that addresses the need for increased
specialization in a more complex market," said George Colony, the
company's chairman. "Second, the workforce reduction is a move driven by a
slower economy."
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Investor/PR/0,1309,593,00.html
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o Anti-Piracy Technology Developer SunnComm Raises $10 Million

Phoenix, Az. -- SunnComm, a developer of anti-piracy technologies for
digital media, announced on Friday that it has raised $10 million in its
latest round of financing from Bluefire Capital. An undisclosed portion of
the funding will be delivered now, with the rest coming in stages as
certain terms and conditions are met by the company. Phoenix-based
SunnComm has developed a technology that it claims makes a CD virtually
rip-proof, so that files such as songs cannot be copied and transferred
off of the storage medium. The first commercial deployment of its
technology was on an album released by country singer Charley Pride.
However, the label only released the SunnComm-protected CD in certain
markets, and other versions could be and were copied and available on
file-sharing services. The company recently signed a $1 million deal to
provide its technology to a manufacturer of Karaoke CDs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010713/0017.html
http://www.sunncomm.com
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o EchoStar Partners with CBS to Deliver High Definition TV

New York -- EchoStar Communications, a provider of digital TV through the
DISH Network, announced on Friday that CBS will make high definition
television (HDTV) signals available to its subscribers. CBS is the fourth
HDTV channel New York-based EchoStar has made available. The format offers
a much higher screen resolution than ordinary analog signals broadcast by
TV networks. "With this partnership, we are speeding the nation's adoption
of digital and high definition television," said Michael Schwimmer, vice
president of programming for EchoStar.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010712/nyth071.html
http://www.dishnetwork.com
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o Entertainment Network EUniverse Gets Investment from Sony Unit

Los Angeles -- EUniverse, a network of entertainment websites and email
newsletters, announced on Friday that 550 Digital Ventures -- a subsidiary
of Sony Broadband Entertainment -- will make up to a $17 million equity
investment in the company. The Sony unit will make an initial $5 million
equity investment in EUniverse. Additionally, EUniverse will acquire
InfoBeat, a personalized news and entertainment email service with 8
million subscribers, from 550 DMV for $9.94 million in EUniverse equity.
Finally, EUniverse may receive another $2.1 million if certain future
conditions are met. The acquisition of InfoBeat's subscribers brings the
total number of EUniverse newsletter subscribers to 50 million.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010713/0057.html
http://www.euniverse.com
http://www.550dmv.com
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o Streaming Video Services Provider Vendaria Raises $5.1 Million

Seattle -- Vendaria, a provider of streaming video services for sales and
marketing purposes, announced on Friday that it has raised $5.1 million in
its first round of venture capital financing, led by FBR CoMotion.
Seattle-based Vendaria offers manufacturers, online retailers and
advertising and marketing companies the ability to add interactive video
content to their websites. The company will use the funds for development
of its services and to pursue strategic partnerships.
http://www.vendaria.com/news/releases/release.asp?rID=12
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o Video-on-Demand Firm E-Video TV Raises $1 Million

New York -- E-Video TV, a provider of video-on-demand (VOD) technologies,
announced on Friday that it has received a $1 million investment from The
Lazarus Group. New York-based E-Video TV said that the venture firm is
also considering further investments for the purpose of marketing the
company's "store and forward" VOD patent, which it recently licensed to
USA Video Interactive. E-Video TV is also the exclusive licensee of
Macrovision's copy protection technology for VOD. The current funding will
allow the company to complete several planned acquisitions, move into
foreign markets and continue to build its portfolio of VOD-related
intellectual property.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010713/0073.html
http://www.e-videotv.com
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|||||||||||||||||| Pepper Hamilton Legal Update ||||||||||||||||||

> Print Media Industry Faces the Digital Tsunami:
New Cases Challenge Old Licensing and Rights Transfer Forms

In the 20th century, the music and film industries faced the sometimes
unanticipated legal consequences of technological innovations that
provided alternative means of delivering "content" to consumers. Now, in
the context of digital media and the Internet, the print media industry is
also being forced to face some very difficult legal issues. Three
significant cases, Tasini v. New York Times Co., Greenberg v. National
Geographic Society, and Random House, Inc. v. Rosetta Books LLC all raise
issues as to whether a print media publisher's licensing agreements confer
the rights to re-publish printed works in digital contexts, such as
searchable databases and CD-ROMs. Both the New York Times Co. and the
National Geographic Society found that their earlier, standard license
agreement terms were not broad enough to encompass these new digital
forms. Random House also received a strong message that its earlier,
standard agreement terms are not broad enough to encompass re-publishing a
literary work in e-book format. On July 11, the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York denied Random House's request for a
preliminary injunction against Rosetta Books LLC, an e-publisher who
republished, in e-book format, such Random House staples as Kurt
Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" and William Styron's "Sophie's
Choice." These three critical cases demonstrate that reliance on standard
but outmoded contract terms in the print media industry can be potentially
disastrous for publishers of literary, technical, news or other printed
media content.

http://www.pepperlaw.com/pepper/calendar1.cfm?RID=214.0

Look for this regular legal update, written and produced by the law firm
of Pepper Hamilton, every other week in Digital Media Wire.
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> Digital Media Wire Presents a Panel Discussion:
"iTV: Defining the New Face of Television"

Los Angeles | Wednesday, July 25th at the Four Seasons Hotel

SPONSORS:
Deloitte Consulting
Jones Day Reavis & Pogue

This panel of players ranging from content providers to hardware
developers 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=15540&Referrer_id=4074

MODERATOR:
Michael Kline - Senior Manager | Deloitte Consulting

SPEAKERS:
Amy Friedlander - SVP Business & Legal Affairs | Intertainer
Arthur Orduna - VP Marketing | Canal Plus Technologies
Erik Smith - Director of Content Partnerships | Liberate Technologies
***Additional Panelists TBA***

For more information and to register:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=15540&Referrer_id=4074
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(San Francisco) Online magazine Salon.com said that over 10,000 people
have signed up to pay for its premium service since the company launched
the offer on April 25. The subscriptions -- priced at $30 for one year or
$50 for two years -- give readers access to Salon content not available on
the free site. "These initial results track with our goal to convert 1 to
2 percent of our 3,500,000 user base in year one," said Salon CEO Michael
O'Donnell. "It also reaffirms our decision to move Salon's business to a
hybrid model -- continuing to allow access to most of our content at no
cost within an advertising sponsored environment akin to network TV and
also providing a premium subscription version with exclusive content and
services, much like cable TV."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010712/sfth091.html
http://www.salon.com

(Los Angeles) LivePlanet, a Web and TV production company co-founded by
actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, said that it has named David Haddad as
its new president and chief operating officer. Previously, Haddad was
president of Mattel Media.
http://www.liveplanet.com/press/lp/2.html

(Washington, D.C.) The Washington Post on Friday offered the opinions of a
panel of audiophiles that reviewed some emerging digital audio formats,
including the open source Ogg Vorbis, Coding Technologies' MP3Pro and
Microsoft's Windows Media Audio. The expert group consisted of two members
of the National Symphony Orchestra, a high-end stereo salesman, a record
producer, a composer and two guitarists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55501-2001Jul12.html

(New York) Billboard Online reported Friday that the first download-only
song has entered its charts that tally the most frequently listened to and
purchased songs and albums in the music industry. "America the Beautiful"
-- a multi-artist track recorded during a July 4th TV special and made
available only on the Internet for downloading by Digital Generation
Systems -- debuted this week at No. 58 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles
and Tracks chart.
http://www.billboard.com/billboard/chartbeat/bonus.jsp
http://www.dgsystems.com/800/index.htm

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

> MusicNet, Lead Program Manager - Seattle

Direct & manage the overall activities of a team of program managers &
coordinate cross-group and/or cross-division projects. Projects involve
assessing new technologies & developing product development plans,
estimating resources & costs, schedules & work development plans.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent in computer science, business or related
field, plus 3 years experience in project management and software
development.
Send resumes to: resumes@musicnet.com and include the job title.
http://www.musicnet.com
______________________

> The Sharper Image, Content Database Specialist - San Francisco

Manage The Sharper Image websites. Development & maintain ongoing
production schedules, updates, content & art placement. Produce style
guides for site continuity. Manage 3-person team involved in site content
management, updates and brand presentation. 3+ yrs. experience managing
people in a production or development setting required. Send resumes to:
tsi@rpc.webhire.com
http://www.sharperimage.com
______________________

> Digital Vision, Ltd., Account Executive - New York City

Achieve sales according to agreed targets & build the Digital Vision brand
within the U.S. Responsibilities include: development of accounts via
telephone and in person; answering of all incoming calls (requests);
raising of invoices; and telemarketing. Primary role is to maintain a high
level of outbound sales activity. Salary + bonus scheme. Send resume and
salary details to: sarah@digitalvisiononline.com
http://www.digitalvisiononline.com
______________________

> TaskStream, Web Developer/Programmer - New York City

This person’s principal responsibility will be to participate in the
design, Implementation & testing of web application systems. Must be
motivated, self-driven and able to work with others in development groups.
Room for growth, as we are working on a suite of highly dynamic tools that
stretch the limits of web-based data driven applications. Requirements:
Visual Basic/Script/ASP, SQL (MS SQL Server), HTML & JavaScript.
Send resumes to: webster@taskstream.com
http://www.taskstream.com
______________________

> Walt Disney Internet Group, Sales Associate - Los Angeles

Join the ABCNEWS.com/ABC.com sales team. Responsibilities: creating
Powerpoint proposals; prospecting for leads; managing active programs;
providing tracking for existing ad campaigns; quantitive & qualitative
research; & handling clients while all sales reps are out of the office. 1
year experience at an interactive agency. Media background preferred. Send
resumes to: hr.recruiting@dig.com
http://www.dig.com
______________________

> Dittus Communications, Senior Director - Washington, D.C.

Working with the Vice President, this individual will be responsible for
developing and implementing communications programs for our high-tech
clients. Creative writing, strong media pitching, management experience,
solid marketing background as well as 5 to 8 years agency experience
required. Send resumes to karine.elsen@dittus.com
http://www.dittus.com

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

> Web Hosting Expo, August 20-22 - Washington, D.C.

Web Hosting Expo is the conference and exhibit dedicated to business &
technology of Internet infrastructure. It brings together web hosts,
ASPs/MSPs, colo/data center players for 3 days of deal making, idea
exchanges and marathon networking. Learn from 70 industry leading
exhibitors and 50+ conference sessions and panels delivered by industry
experts. Send inquiries to techwire@infotonic.com
http://www.whexpo.com
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