archives

o Video Game Sales Jump 28% in 2001; New Consoles Could Bring Sales Record
o Congressman Looks to Amend Digital Millennium Copyright Act
o RealNetworks Lays Off 15% of Employees
o Digital TV Technology Firm TeraLogic Raises $17.5 Million
o Ziff-Davis Closes Family PC Magazine, Streaming Video Site Zcast.tv
o Online Film Marketplace Reelplay Acquires Competitor FilmBazaar
o Digital Asset Management Firm NxN Software Raises $7 Million
o Shareholder Class Action Suit Filed Against Tickets.com
o Digital Asset Management Provider MediaMine Raises $2.2 Million
o Briefly Noted: Viewpoint Corporation - America Online, RIAA/MPAA -
Internet service providers, NTT DoCoMo
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> Job Postings: Listings Editor, Director of Sales, Sr. Director of Q/A,
Programmer/Analyst

> Events/Services: "SHORTSPAN Film & Video Festival - Pacific Northwest
Tour," "New England Tech Wire - Free Email News Service"

Full Job/Event/Services descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section
or at http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

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o Video Game Sales Jump 28% in 2001; New Consoles Could Bring Sales Record

Port Washington, N.Y. -- Retail sales of U.S. video game hardware,
software and accessories jumped 28 percent in the first half of 2001,
bolstered by Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance,
according to a report published Thursday by research firm NPD Group. The
report notes that typically over 50 percent of total sales happen in the
fourth quarter, during the holiday shopping season -- and that new game
consoles from Nintendo and Microsoft are still to be released this year.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the industry is on target for a
record-breaking year of over $7 billion in sales.
http://www.npd.com/corp/content/news/releases/press_010726.htm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/605270.asp?0dm=B14MT
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o Congressman Looks to Amend Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rick Boucher, a democrat from Virginia, said he
plans to introduce a bill that would amend the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act to remove the provision that makes it a crime to circumvent
any anti-piracy technology placed on copyrighted content, Wired News
reported on Thursday. Boucher's action was triggered by the arrest of a
visiting Russian programmer who was apprehended by the FBI under the
provision after publicizing his software that can remove security
technology from Adobe's e-book reader. "It's a broad overreach to have a
person arrested under the federal criminal laws simply because they made
software that circumvents a technological measure," Boucher told Wired
News. Boucher realizes he will face vocal opposition from the content
providers and software companies like Adobe and Microsoft that lobbied for
the provision in the first place, and said he will likely wait until next
year to introduce the bill.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45548,00.html
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o RealNetworks Lays Off 15% of Employees

Seattle -- RealNetworks, a provider of digital media delivery technology,
said on Thursday that it will lay off 15 percent of its staff, or 140 of
its 950 employees. The company said the cuts will accompany major
reductions in spending to keep costs in balance during the current market
downturn. Seattle-based RealNetworks will take a charge of between $4-5
million during the third quarter to accommodate costs associated with the
cost reduction plan.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010726/sfth102.html
http://www.realnetworks.com
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o Digital TV Technology Firm TeraLogic Raises $17.5 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- TeraLogic, a developer of circuits and software
for digital television, announced that it has raised $17.5 million in its
latest round of venture capital financing. Citicorp led the investment
round; Levensohn Capital, the Mayfield Fund, Mitsubishi, NY Life, Samsung
Electronics, Sony Corp., TopSpin Partners and Vertex also participated.
Mountain View-based TeraLogic develops software used in digital set-top
boxes and personal video recorders. The company will use the funds for
research and development.
http://www.teralogic-inc.com
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o Ziff-Davis Closes Family PC Magazine, Streaming Video Site Zcast.tv

New York -- Ziff-Davis, a publisher of technology-related magazines and
websites, has shut down operations at its Family PC magazine, as well as
streaming video news site Zcast.tv, the New York Post reported Thursday. A
total of 25 employees were laid off as a result of the closings, which
were attributed to not being able to find a buyer for the magazine, and
the lack of advertising revenue for technology-related publications. A
note on Zcast.tv's website reads, "As some of you know, the business model
for streaming media remains murky." Despite the closings, Ziff-Davis is
currently launching three new publications -- Expedia Travels, CIO Insight
and Net Economy -- with a fourth called Baseline to begin publication in
October.
http://www.nypost.com/business/35953.htm
http://www.zcast.tv/content/0,1346,type=article;id=1527,00.html
http://www.ziffdavis.com
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o Online Film Marketplace Reelplay Acquires Competitor FilmBazaar

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Reelplay, an online marketplace for the sale of
film and television rights, announced on Thursday that it has acquired
FilmBazaar, a competitor in its space. Financial terms of the all-stock
transaction were not disclosed. Santa Monica-based Reelplay will take on
FilmBazaar's clients and integrate the company's technology into its own.
FilmBazaar founder and CEO Kyle Scrimgeour will join Reelplay as a senior
vice president of sales and marketing. Reelplay said it is actively
looking towards further acquisitions in its space. "There are a number of
companies out there, with complementary services to ours, that might not
have the financial wherewithal to go forward," said Reelplay co-president
Dennis Young. "We intend to explore opportunities with these companies
over the coming year."
http://www.reelplay.com
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o Digital Asset Management Firm NxN Software Raises $7 Million

Munich, Germany -- NxN Software, a developer of digital asset and
production management software for video game developers, has raised $7
million in its third round of venture funding. Target Partners led the
investment round; 3i, Technonord, and TechnoStart also participated.
Munich-based NxN's technology is used by video game developers such as
Infogrames, Electronic Arts, Sony Online Entertainment and Sega to manage
the hundreds of thousands of files that go into a video game's design. The
company will use the funds to enter additional entertainment industry
markets, such as the film industry.
http://www.nxn-software.com
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o Shareholder Class Action Suit Filed Against Tickets.com

Little Rock, Ark. -- A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of
shareholders against online retailer Tickets.com, in connection with the
company's November 1999 initial public offering. Charged in the suit are
officers of the company as well as investment banks Credit Suisse First
Boston, Morgan Stanley, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Online. The suit
claims that brokers received excessive commissions for helping to
artificially inflate the value of Tickets.com stock. Many Internet
companies and investment banks are facing similar charges in association
with their IPOs, including Liquid Audio, MP3.com, InterTrust and
DoubleClick. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010725/daw062.html
http://www.classlawyer.com/pr/tickets.pdf
http://www.tickets.com
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o Digital Asset Management Provider MediaMine Raises $2.2 Million

Hasselt, Belgium -- MediaMine, a provider of digital asset management
services for media companies, announced that it has raised $2.2 million in
its second round of funding. Participating in the investment round were
NIB Capital Private Equity, P3 Technology Partners and Ubimedia.
Belgium-based MediaMine allows companies to house their marketing
materials digitally in a central location, where they can then be sent to
appropriate parties in a variety of formats. The company will use the
funds for product development and expansion into France, Germany and the
Netherlands.
http://212.113.64.90/mmwebservlets/HTTP?actionSheet=getid.txt&styleSheet=Company/MM_PressEvents
Detail.xsl&id=webstore:NewsItem_26&databasename=mmweb&language=en
http://www.mediamine.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Viewpoint, a provider of rich media marketing technology, on
Thursday entered into a broadcast and licensing agreement with AOL. Terms
of the agreement were not disclosed. New York-based Viewpoint's technology
provides integrated playback of interactive 3D, Flash, audio and video on
webpages without the need for a special media player.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010725/2688.html
http://www.viewpoint.com

(San Francisco) CNET is currently featuring a story on the increased
pressure that ISPs are receiving from the RIAA and MPAA regarding
customers of theirs who are trading copyrighted content on their servers
using Gnutella-based networks. The ISPs are receiving many more requests
from labels, studios and copyright violation monitors like Copyright.net
to have customers' Internet accounts suspended who are transmitting movies
or music. Compliance with the requests is different with each provider;
Adelphia has terminated multiple users' accounts, Excite@Home is sending
warnings, and Verizon refuses to terminate its users' accounts based on
such claims.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-6674297.html?tag=mn_hd

(Tokyo) Japanese cell phone firm NTT DoCoMo said that it has fixed most of
the bugs in the video phones it is using in a test of its third-generation
wireless service, CNET reported Thursday. The company had planned a full
roll-out of the service but then limited it to a test with 1,000
customers. DoCoMo had to recall the first phones it sent out after reports
that 50 percent of data connections were being lost. It now says that
about 90 percent of data transfers are occurring smoothly.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-6685410.html?tag=cdshrt
http://www.nttdocomo.com/top.shtml

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

> America Online, Listings Editor - New York City

Get a start in shopping journalism with Digital City, America Online's
local city guide. We're looking for full-time freelance editorial
assistants to help curate our shopping listings and program our shopping
pages. You should be a web-savvy college graduate with good writing
skills. Journalism background and/or Photoshop experience is a plus.
Send resumes in the body of an email to: doctorvas@aol.com
http://www.home.digitalcity.com
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> H2O Networks, Director of Sales - New York City

Must have the ability to sell products & services ranging from a twenty
thousand dollar fixed price solution sale to a several hundred thousand
dollar integrated services sale. Background in Web Development,
Advertising, Affinity Marketing, Agency experience or other related fields
is a necessity. Ideal candidate will have a network of contacts that can
be leveraged to effect immediate sales. Steady commission possible.
Send resumes to: jon@h2onetworks.net
http://www.h2onetworks.net
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> Aether Systems, Sr. Director of Quality Assurance - McLean, VA

Provide leadership and mentoring in component based, mobile and wireless
enterprise-wide software development environment. Proven track record to
lead several QA teams in various geographic locations. Member of core
development team responsible for Object Oriented, iterative, use-case
driven rapid software development. Manage 60+ and integrate QA initiatives
throughout the development organization.
Send resumes to rcronin@aethersystems.com
http://www.aethersystems.com
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> Music Reports, Inc., Programmer/Analyst - Los Angeles

Duties include database & software design, development, coding & testing
for business applications, as well as trouble-shooting & maintenance of
existing systems. Must have extensive coding experience in a complex
relational database/data warehouse environment that includes title
matching for large volumes of data from various sources designing &
implementing technical solutions for research, data retrieval, delivery
and reporting. Send resumes to: Dbrainin@musicreports.com
http://www.musicreports.com 

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

> 9th Annual SHORTSPAN Film & Video Festival - Pacific Northwest Tour: Aug. 3-13

SHORT MOVIES! Dreamspan presents the 9TH Annual Short Attention Span Film & Video Festival. Shortspan is a non-stop two hour program of ALL NEW
two-minute-or-shorter films, including Michael Moore's "Testify," Canadian
David Weir's collaboration with Douglas Coupland, "Night Shift"-- and 57
more shorts! The tour kicks off in the Pacific Northwest and will travel
to 30 North American cities! Pac NW tour dates are:

VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Blinding Light Cinema - August 3rd and 4th - 8:30PM
SEATTLE, WA: 911 Media Arts Center - August 9th and 10th - 8PM
PORTLAND, OR: Northwest Film Center - August 12th and 13th - 7:30PM
http://www.dreamspan.com/shortspan
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> New England Tech Wire - Free Email News Service

New England Tech Wire is a free daily email service that summarizes the
most important technology, venture capital, and Internet stories from
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and
Vermont. Every business day, readers rely on us for a quick, objective
briefing of the region's top technology and venture capital stories.
Sign up for free at http://www.newenglandtechwire.com
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Copyright 2001 Digital Media Wire