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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- August 10, 2000
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o Adobe Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Macromedia
o AOL Removes MP3 Search Engine From Music Player
o ZebraPass Launches Wireless Ticketing Service With $6.5 Million
o "Napster-like" Program Uses AOL Instant Messaging Service
o ABCNews.com To Offer Content on ScreamingMedia
o Former Disney Internet Executive Sentenced
o Electronic Arts Wins Gaming Rights To Harry Potter
o Briefly Noted: Prince – Napster, Virginia – Internet ruling,
IntellectualCapital.com, Flipside.com, Uproar.com, Showstar Online
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o Adobe Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Macromedia
San Jose, Calif. -- In a dispute between two digital media software
giants, Adobe Systems, a developer of web publishing software, today
announced that it has filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against
Macromedia, a leading streaming media software developer. San Jose-based
Adobe alleged today that Macromedia infringed on its "tabbed palette
patent," which allows users to work with multiple sets of information on
the same computer screen. "Adobe will not be the R&D department for its
competitors," said Bruce Chizen, president of Adobe. San Francisco-based
Macromedia strongly denied the allegations. "Macromedia believes the
claims made in the Adobe lawsuit are without merit," the company said in a
statement. "The company believes that (the patent) is invalid and
unenforceable and that Macromedia does not violate the patent."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/wr/adobe_macromedia_dc_2.html
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o AOL Removes MP3 Search Engine From Music Player
Dulles, Va. -- America Online removed a search engine from its Winamp
music player today because it provided links to web sites that allow users
to illegally download copyrighted MP3 files. "We saw we didn't have an
efficient process for distinguishing between legal and illegal MP3s. So we
took the search function down until we can figure out how to address
this," the Associated Press quoted Jim Whitney, a spokesman at AOL, as
saying. Virginia-based AOL is expected to merge with Time Warner, which
owns a number of leading record labels and has been a strong critic of
online file-sharing services such as Napster. Other sites that have
developed MP3 search engines include Lycos, which has been warned by the
Recording Industry Association of America to end its service, and
MP3Board.com.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000810/wr/aol_winamp_dc_2.html
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o ZebraPass Launches Wireless Ticketing Service With $6.5 Million
Washington, DC -- ZebraPass, a company backed by a number of high profile
investors including director Steven Spielberg, today announced the launch
of its wireless movie ticketing service. DC-based ZebraPass said it has
raised a total of $6.5 million, including $5 million from Nokia Venture
Partners. Sue Spielberg, the sister of the director, is an executive of
the company. ZebraPass’ technology allows users to buy movie tickets from
wireless devices.
http://www.zebrapass.com
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o "Napster-like" Program Uses AOL Instant Messaging Service
Troy, NY -- A new "Napster-like" program has been developed that uses
America Online’s instant messaging service for music file exchanges. The
program, called Aimster, uses buddy lists from the AOL instant messaging
service to creat select groups of "authorized" people who can trade files
with one another. The developers of the service, based in Troy, New York,
said they are trying to create a more secure file-sharing service that
does not open up users’ hard drives to people they do not know. "Unlike
Napster, Aimster gives users significantly more control over who can
access their shared files and computers, and also lets users share not
only music but any personal content," the company said. Aimster said its
service will be available for other instant messaging programs – including
ICQ, Yahoo Messenger and MSN – by October 1.
http://www.aimster.com/news.html
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o ABCNews.com To Offer Content on ScreamingMedia
New York – ABCNews.com, the Internet division of ABC News, and
ScreamingMedia, an aggregator and distributor of content on the Internet,
today entered into a content distribution alliance. Under the terms of the
agreement, ABCNews.com’s content will be syndicated to ScreamingMedia’s
network of over 1,000 web site and wireless services. ABCNews.com is part
of the Walt Disney Internet Group, which was formerly called GO.com.
http://www.screamingmedia.com
http://www.abcnews.com
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o Former Disney Internet Executive Sentenced
Los Angeles, Calif. – Putting an end to an embarrassing chapter in
Disney’s online operations, former Disney Internet executive, Patrick
Naughton, who was arrested for attempting to meet a 13-year-old girl, was
sentenced today. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie sentenced
Naughton to nine months of home detention with electronic monitoring, five
years of probation, and a $20,000 fine. Naughton was arrested in September
1999 for arranging to meet an email correspondent, who was actually an FBI
agent posing as a 13-year-old girl. Naughton avoided charges that could
have added up to 20 years in prison by writing a computer programs over
the last few months that helps police track Internet sex offenders.
Naughton was fired by Disney last year after being charged. He claims that
he thought his email was with an adult woman and not a 13-year-old girl.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/10/internetexecutive.ap/index.html
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o Electronic Arts Wins Gaming Rights To Harry Potter
Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts, a UK-based software developer,
announced today that it has won the rights to design games based on Warner
Brothers’ Harry Potter book series and film. The terms of the deal were
not disclosed. The games will be designed for video game consoles and the
Internet. Currently, all four of the Harry Potter series are on the New
York Times children’s bestseller list.
http://news.excite.com/news/r/000810/07/media-britain-potter
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o Briefly Noted:
(New York) The musician Prince released a statement on his web site this
week that supports Napster and criticizes the music industry for
exploiting artists. "From the point of view of the music lover, what's
going on can only be viewed as an exciting new development in the history
of music," Prince said about Napster.
http://www.npgonlineltd.com
(Charlottesville, Va.) The Associated Press reported today that a federal
judge has blocked the state of Virginia from enforcing a law aimed at
protecting children from "harmful" Internet material. The state law, which
was passed last year, makes it a crime for anyone to use the Internet to
sell or provide "harmful" sexually explicit pictures or written material
to juveniles. U.S. District Judge J. Harry Michael ruled yesterday that
the law violates the First Amendment. A number of Internet groups and
civil liberties organizations challenged the law, arguing that it was too
broad and could result in the censorship of art and adult material.
(Washington, DC) IntellectualCapital.com, a public policy web site founded
by former Delaware governor Pete DuPont, today announced that it would
cease operation in response to the acquisition of VoxCap.com, its parent
company. SpeakOut.com, a DC-based political web site, announced today that
it would acquire VoxCap.com. Rare Medium and Constellation Ventures, a
Bear Sterns affiliate, have backed Speakout.com.
http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue399/item10302.asp
(Berkeley, Calif.) Flipside.com, a Internet game company, today announced
a technology licensing agreement with instant messaging service ICQ, which
will enable flipside.com users to play online games using instant
messaging technology. The service will allow players to initiate games
through instant messages and then "chat" with their opponents.
Flipside.com expects the new gaming system to launch in the fall.
http://www.flipside.com
(New York) Uproar.com, an online game web site, today announced an
agreement with Telewest Communications Group, a UK-based broadband
communications company. Under the deal, Uproar.com will provide
interactive games and game shows for users on Telewest’s interactive
digital television network. Telewest will offer Uproar’s games to nearly
200,000 cable television subscribers.
http://www.uproar.com
(New York) Showstar Online.com, Inc., a web developer, today announced
the addition of over 7500 listing from the American Art Directory to the
ArtStar.com art search engine. ArtStar.com is an search engine for artists
and the art trade.
http://www.artstar.com
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