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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- July 31, 2000
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o Time Warner Reaches Broadband Access Agreement With Juno
o Stan Lee Media In Talks With Venture Soft For Asian Partnership
o Online Sports Network Rivals.com Cuts 40 Positions
o LockStream Technology Used By Leading Entertainment Companies
o Nielsen/NetRatings: Napster Usage Soared Last Week
o Briefly Noted: Ereo, Wannago, Sweet16.com, Acclaim Entertainment,
Sportsline.com - NFL.com, Pioneer New Media Technogies,
NeTune Communications, Freeinternet.com - Go.com, Stephen King,
Political Conventions, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment,
Digital Camera Usage, UnderGroundOnline
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o Time Warner Reaches Broadband Access Agreement With Juno
New York -- In a move that may placate government regulators examining the
proposed AOL Time Warner merger, Time-Warner Cable today announced that
Juno Online Services, a major Internet provider, will have access to Time
Warner's vast cable system. The agreement will permit Juno to offer Time
Warner Cable customers high-speed Internet services, including content,
applications and streaming video. The move may relieve some of the
pressure brought by industry executives opposing the AOL-Time Warner
merger, who have argued that the merged company would block content
providers from using its broadband network.
http://www.fool.com/news/2000/twx000731.htm?ref=yhoolnk
http://www.juno.com
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o Stan Lee Media In Talks With Venture Soft For Asian Partnership
Washington, DC -- According to an SEC filing today, Stan Lee Media, an
online comic and animation provider, is currently in talks with
Tokyo-based Venture Soft Company to form a joint venture to distribute
content over the Internet in Asia. The SEC filing showed that Venture Soft
will invest $5 million in Stan Lee Media. The filing said that the two
companies are "currently in discussions regarding the creation of a joint
venture in Japan to become the dominant distributor in Japan, Korea and
throughout Asia of globally branded entertainment content, initially over
the Internet."
http://www.stanlee.net
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o Online Sports Network Rivals.com Cuts 40 Positions
Seattle -- Rivals.com, a sports web site that has developed a network of
hundreds of affiliated web sites, said that it has eliminated 40 positions
in an effort to "reach profitability sooner than originally planned."
Seattle-based Rivals.com, which launched one year ago, has a network of
600 different sports "channels" and more than 700 writers. "In light of
today's market conditions, which value profitability more than growth and
market share, Rivals.com has strategically streamlined its operations,"
the company said in a statement. Investors in Rivals.com include Hummer
Winblad Venture Partners, Intel, News Corp.'s News Digital Media, The
Phoenix Partners and SOFTBANK Capital Partners.
http://www.rivals.com/
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o LockStream Technology Used By Leading Entertainment Companies
Redmond, WA -- LockStream, a developer of distribution technology for
multimedia companies, today announced that a number of major entertainment
companies will use its technology for the digital distribution of their
content. Seattle-based LockStream said it has reached agreements with New
Line Cinema, Harvey Entertainment, Golden Books Family Entertainment,
Spitfire Records and Artemis Records. Under the deals, LockStream said it
will provide security and branding technology for digital content
distribution that will prevent easy copying of digital content. New Line
Cinema, a division of Time-Warner, said it will use the LockStream
technology for the digital downloads of movies including, "Rush Hour,"
"Seven," and "Blade." David Goodman, a former senior executive from Warner
Bros., is the CEO of LockStream.
http://www.jlmpartners.com
_____________________________________________
o Nielsen/NetRatings: Napster Usage Soared Last Week
Redwood City, CA -- Public interest in Napster soared last week following
a federal court injunction and stay order. Nielsen/NetRatings reported
that traffic on the Napster web site rose by 71%, from 443,070 daily
visitors on July 25 -- the day before a federal judge issued an injunction
against Napster -- to 758,372 on July 28. "The Recording Industry
Association of America's (RIAA) lawsuits against Napster have only
increased interest in the San Mateo, Calif.-based startup," reported
Forbes.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/000731/mu3164.html
http://www.napster.com
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com
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o Briefly Noted:
(Westminster, CO) Colorado-based Ereo, an Internet search site for images,
audio and video files, today announced the launch of its service. Internet
holding company iBelay and FastIdeas, a Colorado-based incubator, are
financial backers of the company. The company, founded in 1999, has 35
employees in Colorado and Canada.
http://www.ereo.com/
(Munich, Germany) Wannago, a Swedish online ticket company, said that it
has raised over $7 million in its second round of venture capital. The
round included investments from NeSBIC CTe Fund, Skandia Liv, Taube Hodson
Stonex Partners Ltd, and Startupfactory. Wannago focuses on concerts and
cultural performances.
http://www.wannago.com/
(New York) Sweet16.com, a teen-oriented online media company, launched its
web site on Monday. Britney Spears is a major shareholder in the company.
http://www.Sweet16.com
(Glen Cove, New York) Acclaim Entertainment, a developer of software for
video companies, announced today that its stock will trade on The Nasdaq
SmallCap Market starting on Tuesday, August 1. Acclaim operates five
software development studios in the U.S. and the U.K.
http://www.acclaim.com
(New York) Sportsline.com, a Fort Lauderdale-based Internet sports media
company, and the National Football League today announced that they have
entered into an expanded partnership. Under the terms of the agreement,
Sportsline.com will produce the Superbowl.com site and be the exclusive
provider of the NFL's official fantasy football products. The companies
said Superbowl.com will launch in September and the fantasy football
products will be available on NFL.com in early August.
http://www.sportsline.com
http://www.nfl.com
http://www.superbowl.com
(Burbank, CA) Pioneer New Media Technologies, a Long Beach-based provider
of cable TV set-top terminals, today announced an agreement with Time
Warner Cable. Under the terms of the deal, Time Warner Cable will
purchase 350,000 of Pioneer’s Voyager digital set-top units.
http://www.pioneerbroadband.com
(Los Angeles, CA) NeTune Communications, a Los Angeles-based digital
satellite communications company, today announced that it has begun
testing its ShowRunner product, a private satellite network offering
filmmakers a range of communications services. The services include
transmitting film "dailies" from remote locations, film imaging, and video
conferencing. The company said the service will provide a communication
link between productions being filmed from remote locations and studio
executives. NeTune has signed partnerships with Hughes Electronics,
PanAmSat, IBM, Lucent, and Creative Artists Agency.
http://www.netune.com
(Seattle, WA) Freeinternet.com, a Seattle-based provider of free Internet
access service, today announced that it will feature content from Disney’s
GO.com network. Under the deal, Freeinternet.com will integrate content
from GO.com's websites including, ABCNEWS.com, ESPN.com, and
MrShowbiz.com.
http://www.go.com
http://www.freeinternet.com
(Santa Clara, CA) Internet distribution of Stephen King’s novel, "The
Plant," reached 100,000 downloads in the first two days of its launch,
which may set a new trend in the digital delivery of books. Visitors to
King’s site reported little trouble downloading each installment, with
dial-up modem users experiencing a two-minute delay and broadband users
experiencing a 15-second delay.
http://www.stephenking.com
(Philadelphia, PA) As television networks cut back their coverage of this
year's political conventions, a number of Internet companies have moved
into the space. CNET reports that gavel-to-gavel coverage of the
conventions is now being carried by major political web sites such as
voter.com.
http://yahoo.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2399618.html?pt.yfin.cat_fin.txt.ne
(Culver City, CA) Patrick Kennedy has been promoted to senior
vice president of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE). In this
position, he will focus on the delivery of online and interactive
entertainment for broadband. Mr. Kennedy was previously vice-president of
corporate development for Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).
(Los Angeles, Ca.) The Gartner Group reported that 5.4 million homes in
the U.S. now have digital cameras and that 12.7 million households plan to
buy a digital camera by the end of the year. Citing a new survey from the
Gartner Group, CNET reported that higher picture quality, lower prices,
and the widespread availability of inexpensive high-powered PCs are the
primary reason for the growth of digital cameras.
http://yahoo.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-2397706.html?pt.yfin.cat_fin.txt.ne
(New York) UnderGroundOnline, a New York-based entertainment web site,
organized a rally on Friday to protest the injunction that would have shut
down the Napster service. Signs at the rally read, "Down with Metallica"
and "The Day the Music Died." An appeals court stayed the injunction late
in the afternoon on Friday.
http://www.ugo.com
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