Main Stories
o Following Court's Ban on Game Copying Software, 321 Studios Shuts Down
o U.S., Australia Sign Trade Pact on Tariffs, Copyright Issues
o Europe to Wait until 2005 to Impose Digital TV Standards
o U.K. Video Games Maker Eidos Confirms Buyout Talks
o Yahoo Launches Local Search Engine Service
o AOL Completes $435 Million Deal to Acquire Advertising.com
o Sega Forms Chinese Unit to Launch Online Game Titles in China

o Briefly Noted: XM Satellite Radio - Starbucks, NDS - DirecTV, Nokia - Major League Baseball, RealNetworks - Linux, Index Corporation - 123 Multimedia, DEMO - Apple iTunes, CodeWeavers - Linux - iTunes, NBC Olympics - Zap2it, Mazda - PhatNoise, id Software - "Doom 3," 989 Sports - "Gretzky NHL 2005," "EA Sports NASCAR Web Racing," Midway Games - "Mortal Kombat: Deception," Majesco - "Cartoon Network Block Party," eBay - slow digital music sales, Kennedy assassination audio recording - digital restoration
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St. Louis -- Following a federal court's ruling last week banning sales of its software that let users make copies of video game discs, St. Louis-based 321 Studios has ceased operations, according to a note on the company's website. 321 was sued by game developers including Electronic Arts, Atari and Vivendi Universal Games for its GamesXCopy software; a judge issued an injunction against the sale of the application on Thursday. The company also lost two publicized lawsuits filed by the major movie studios over its DVDXCopy software, which allowed consumers to defeat copyright controls to make copies of DVD movies. "Despite 321 Studios' best efforts to remain in business, injunctions entered against 321 Studios by three US Federal courts earlier this year has resulted in 321 Studios no longer being able to continue operating the business," reads a note on the company's website. The company is holding an online close-out sale for its remaining inventory, save for those products whose sale is banned by court order.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040802/media_321_games_1.html
http://www.321studios.com 
http://www.theesa.com       
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o U.S., Australia Sign Trade Pact on Tariffs, Copyright Issues

Washington -- The U.S. has signed a trade agreement with Australia that will export some U.S. intellectual property laws, including software patents and controversial provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, CNET News.com reported. President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard signed the agreement on Tuesday, with Bush touting the agreement both for eliminating tariffs on manufactured goods and agricultural products, and for its copyright-related provisions. The agreement will extend the duration of copyrights in Australia and also outlaw the circumvention of copy-protection schemes on digital devices. "The agreement strengthens protections for intellectual property and promotes electronic commerce," said Bush. "Our two nations are committed to the reduction of trade barriers and other restrictions that are keeping too much of the world from the kind of prosperity and opportunity that the developed world takes for granted."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D19C216F8          
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o Europe to Wait until 2005 to Impose Digital TV Standards

Brussels -- The European Commission (EC) said late Monday that it will postpone until the end of next year its decision on whether to mandate a single digital TV standard for all of Europe. While the Commission encouraged member states to continue to promote "open and interoperable standards" for interactive digital TV on a voluntary basis, it said there was "no clear case for imposing technical standards at present." The Commission said it would let the industry develop interoperable standards on its own, at least for the time being. However, the EC also strongly advocated the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP), a standard used by German TV group, RTL, a unit of Bertelsmann. Industry experts said the decision would come as a relief for most digital TV equipment makers, but that consumers would continue to face a highly fragmented application programming interface (API) market.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B127365F8     
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o U.K. Video Games Maker Eidos Confirms Buyout Talks

London -- U.K.-based video game developer Eidos on Tuesday confirmed that it is in preliminary discussions with a small number of parties interested in buying the company. Previously, the company had denied rumors and press reports indicating it was in possible takeover negotiations. Known for its "Tomb Raider" franchise, Eidos is the largest video game publisher in the U.K., with publishing operations across Europe (France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.) and in the U.S., Japan and Australia. The company recently said that sales of its "Hitman: Contracts" title would be far fewer than expected, and also pushed back the release of its "ShellShock: Nam '67" title until next year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040803/35450_1.html 
http://www.eidos.com   
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o Yahoo Launches Local Search Engine Service

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo on Tuesday launched a test of a new local search engine service, which will offer advertisers the opportunity to target users searching for local businesses. The company cited Kelsey Group data indicating that as many as one in four of all Internet searches have a local intent. The local search service will index the 14 million businesses found on Yahoo's Yellow Pages listings, and allow users to search by zip code and provide reviews and ratings for local businesses. Yahoo rival Google launched a similar local search service in March.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040803/yahoo_local_4.html 
http://local.yahoo.com 
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o AOL Completes $435 Million Deal to Acquire Advertising.com

Dulles, Va. -- America Online said late Monday that it has completed its $435 million acquisition of Baltimore-based Advertising.com, a provider of interactive marketing services. The deal, first announced in late June, will allow AOL to increase the services that it offers to its advertisers, adding more branding, paid placement and multimedia capabilities. Advertising.com works with more than 800 advertisers and 1,500 online publishers to optimize the performance of online marketing campaigns. More than 300 employees of Advertising.com will remain in Baltimore, with the unit being managed as a separate company.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T287125F8 
http://www.advertising.com  
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o Sega Forms Chinese Unit to Launch Online Game Titles in China

Tokyo -- Japanese game developer Sega on Tuesday announced plans to enter the Chinese online gaming market, establishing a new branch office in Shanghai to oversee the launch of titles including "Phantasy Star Online," "CTRacer" and "Shenmue Online" in the country. Sega provided Zarva Digital Entertainment with a license to operate "Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst," while Korea's Joyzone Networks will launch "CTRacer" and JC Entertainment Corp. will co-develop and co-publish "Shenmue Online," set to launch in 2005. Sega Shanghai Software counts 80 employees and is headed by Sega managing director Hideki Okamura.
http://www.sega.com 

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(Washington) XM Satellite Radio announced on Tuesday a multi-year marketing alliance with Starbucks. Under the terms, XM will launch the "Starbucks Hear Music" channel on its satellite radio service in the fall, while beginning next year, Starbucks will broadcast the channel in 4,000 of its nationwide locations. Starbucks opened its first Hear Music Coffeehouse earlier this year in Santa Monica, where customers can browse selections and create their own personalized CDs. The CD-burning service will be launched in other select stores in the fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040803/dctu030_1.html 
http://www.xmradio.com

(London) NDS, a unit of News Corp. that manufactures digital TV products, announced that it will begin providing satellite TV firm DirecTV with digital video recording technology in the first quarter of 2005. Rival TiVo still holds a contract to provide similar technology to DirecTV through 2007, although the satellite company has sold its stake in TiVo and removed its director from TiVo's board. DirecTV told Reuters that it plans to offer TiVo as well as "a new DVR product."
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040802/media_tivo_stocks_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040802/25378_1.html 
http://www.nds.com

(Espoo, Finland) Cell phone maker Nokia announced on Tuesday an agreement with Major League Baseball that will bring real-time scoring and statistics, as well as live audio game broadcasts, daily video highlights and more to compatible phones. The content will be added to Nokia Sports, available for $7.99 per month to owners of the Nokia 6600 and 6620 model handsets. The company also said it partnered with THQ Wireless and Jakks Pacific to developer "WWE Aftershock," a game title for its N-Gage hybrid cell phone/mobile game deck. The title, which features local multiplayer gaming via Bluetooth wireless connectivity, will be released in the fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040803/datu016_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040803/uktu005_1.html

(Seattle) RealNetworks, a developer of media delivery technology, has released versions of its RealPlayer and Helix Player software for the Linux operating system. The company said Linux software developers Red Hat, Novell, TurboLinux and Sun Microsystems will incorporate the software into their products.
http://www.realnetworks.com

(Tokyo) Index Corporation, a Japanese provider of mobile and media services, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired French mobile content provider 123 Multimedia. Under the terms, Index will acquire 67% of 123 Multimedia's outstanding common stock. The companies said the deal will allow them to enter new markets and mutually leverage their distribution networks and content libraries.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040803/36132_1.html
http://www.indexweb.co.jp/english/index.php 
http://www.123multimedia.com

(Cupertino, Calif.) The New York-based Digital & Electronic Music Organization (DEMO), a provider of online music sales certifications, said on Monday that it has granted the first Titanium Certification Award to Cupertino-based Apple's iTunes Music Store. The award commemorates iTunes' recent achievement of 100 million legal digital music downloads.
http://www.d-e-m-o.com/pr07.htm

(San Francisco) CodeWeavers, a developer of Windows-to-Linux conversion software, announced on Tuesday that its CrossOver Office 3.1, which enables Windows programs including Office, Internet Explorer and Flash to operate on machines running the Linux operating system, will now include support for Apple's iTunes. The new release will allow Linux users to purchase songs from Apple's iTunes store, as well as transfer songs to an iPod.
http://www.codeweavers.com

(Los Angeles) NBC Olympics said on Tuesday that it partnered with Tribune Media Services' Zap2it TV listings website to provide updated listings of the 1,210 hours of Olympics programming that will air on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Bravo, USA and NBC-HDTV.
http://www.zap2it.com 
http://www.nbcolympics.com

(Irvine, Calif.) Japanese automaker Mazda announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with digital audio manufacturer PhatNoise, to make its PhatBox Digital Media Player a dealer-installed accessory on all Mazda vehicles. The $800 device can be trunk-mounted and features a removable 20GB hard drive. Some Mazda models will also support voice-assisted browsing of audio tracks.
http://www.phatnoise.com/products/digitalmediaplayers/index.php

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer id Software and publishing partner Activision on Tuesday released their anticipated "Doom 3" PC game. The BBC reported that copies of the game appeared on file-sharing networks and newsgroups over the weekend; the game is not due for release in Europe until next week.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040803/latu068_1.html 
http://www.idsoftware.com 
http://www.doom3.com

(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America's 989 Sports development studio announced on Tuesday that it has signed a three-year contract with Wayne Gretzky to be the cover athlete and spokesperson for a new hockey game franchise. "Gretzky NHL 2005" for PlayStation 2, developed by San Francisco-based Page 44 Studios, will be released in the fall. The title will feature online play and also allow gamers to insert their own faces into the game via the EyeToy USB camera accessory for PlayStation 2.
http://www.us.playstation.com/pressreleases.aspx 
http://www.page44.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Electronic Arts on Tuesday launched "EA Sports NASCAR Web Racing," a free NASCAR-licensed online racing game. The title features real NASCAR tracks and drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040803/35381_1.html 
http://www.easports.com/free

(Chicago) Game developer Midway Games said on Tuesday that it will release five distinctively packaged versions of its "Mortal Kombat: Deception" title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, scheduled for release on Oct. 4. The Limited Editions will each feature a different character from the game on its box, as well as bonus DVD video and a playable version of the original arcade release of the game.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040803/35255_1.html
http://www.mortalkombatdeception.com

(Edison, N.J.) Video game publisher Majesco on Tuesday shipped its "Cartoon Network Block Party" title for Nintendo Game Boy Advance to retailers. Developed by One Man Band, the title features Cartoon Network characters including Johnny Bravo, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cow and Chicken.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040803/35265_1.html 
http://www.majescogames.com 
http://www.onemanband.com/home.html

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Tuesday reported on the slow start for online auctioneer eBay's recent foray into digital music sales, as well as the likelihood that other retailers like Amazon will begin selling digital music. EBay told News.com that it has pre-approved a number of sellers, but so far none have sold any songs via online auction. The company added that one label has signed on to trial the service, which is currently in a six-month trial, and said it has also had to remove several unauthorized song auctions. "We may look at the results of this and say, 'Alright, this didn't work, the community didn't like that,'" eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told News.com. "We have no idea, honestly."
http://news.com.com/Bidding+on+Bach/2100-1027_3-5293921.html

(New York) The New York Times on Tuesday reported on new efforts to digitally analyze the only known audio recording of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The badly deteriorating wax cylinder, which was recorded from a mic on a police motorcycle in the motorcade onto a Dictaphone at police headquarters, was originally used to support the 1979 Congressional investigation's conclusion that there was a second gunman -- which was discredited three years later. Currently, Berkeley scientists are digitally mapping the cylinder's surface, and will attempt to edit out extraneous noise to produce a cleaner version. "Scientists have studied these sounds for 25 or 30 years and have still reached different conclusions," National Archives archivist Leslie C. Waffen told The Times. "But with today's technology, we can get a better reading and answer the question, one way or the other."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/national/03tape.html 

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