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Main Stories
o Report: Online Ad Sales Grow 42% to $4.6 Billion in First Half of 2004
o McCain Bill Would Put $1 Billion Toward Digital TV Transition by 2009
o Report: Yahoo to Launch Own Music Player, Independent of Musicmatch
o Lawsuit Seeks More Public Domain Works for Internet Archive
o Napster Parent Roxio Ups Revenue Forecast for Second Quarter
o Home Entertainment Networking Software Firm Mediabolic Raises Funds
o EasyJet Founder Haji-Ioannou to Launch Music Download Service

o Briefly Noted: Interactive Advertising Bureau - pop-up ad guidelines, BT - video-on-demand, Macrovision - Lions Gate Entertainment, Vodafone Sweden - English Premier League, OpenTV - UnitedGlobalCom, Financial Times - Sony Ericsson, Mobile 365, Sega - "The Matrix Online" delay, Telcogames Japan, Electronic Arts, THQ, Square Enix, Aspyr Media, CityXpress, Movie theaters - camcorder detection technologies
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New York -- Online ad sales grew 42.7% in the first half of 2004, to $4.6 billion, compared to the same period in 2003, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The most successful online ad sector was once again paid search placements on sites like Google and Yahoo, which accounted for 40% of the entire market and saw revenues grow 97% from 2003 totals to $947 million for the quarter. "Display" ad revenues also rose from $382 million in the second quarter last year to $474 million this year, while rich media ad sales rose to $189 million from $149 million. "Internet advertising is without question taking share from the other media at this time and for good reason--marketers have figured out that online advertising is often the most cost-effective medium for influencing both branding and sales results," said IAB president Greg Stuart.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W21E53459 
http://www.iab.net 
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o McCain Bill Would Put $1 Billion Toward Digital TV Transition by 2009

Washington -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is drafting a bill that would put up to $1 billion towards a full transition to digital television by 2009, Reuters reported. The draft legislation would help consumers without costly digital TV sets purchase a device that would convert digital signals to a format viewable on their analog sets. Under the bill, the $1 billion would come from the sale of the prime airwave space currently used to broadcast TV signals to wireless network carriers, one of the major incentives the government has cited in connection with a rapid transition to digital TV. The government is now also saying the freed spectrum could be used by law enforcement and other agencies for emergency communications. "The nation cannot risk the further loss of life due to public safety agencies' first responders' inability to communicate effectively in the event of another terrorist act or national crisis," the McCain legislation states. The bill is expected to be considered by the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J56C21459 
http://mccain.senate.gov 
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o Report: Yahoo to Launch Own Music Player, Independent of Musicmatch

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo plans to launch its own internally-developed digital music player software later this year, despite its recent $160 million acquisition of Musicmatch, which offers an already-popular player software, CNET News.com reported. Yahoo will launch the player -- which will offer songs for download from MusicNet -- by the fourth quarter, alongside Musicmatch's existing service, before eventually migrating users from Musicmatch to the Yahoo-built service, sources told News.com. Yahoo's purchase of Musicmatch may have been motivated by the Musicmatch's more digital music-savvy subscriber base, its proprietary technology, and the desire to keep these assets out of the hands of its rivals, sourced told News.com.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?R21C34459
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040915/yahoo_musicmatch_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040914/145534_1.html 
http://www.musicmatch.com 
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o Lawsuit Seeks More Public Domain Works for Internet Archive

San Francisco -- An Internet archivist and film collector have filed a lawsuit hoping to change copyright laws so that "orphaned" copyrighted works, or works that are out of print and not commercially viable but still protected by copyright, would be moved to the "public domain," where they could be used freely, Wired News reported. Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle and film collector Rick Prelinger filed the suit -- Kahle v. Ashcroft -- in March; since then the government has filed a motion to dismiss, and the plaintiffs an opposition to that motion. The plaintiffs want to digitize orphaned copyright works such as films to add to a free online library. "Because of the indiscriminate nature of copyright today, the burden of copyright regulation extends to work whether or not the original author has any need for continuing protection," the Kahle lawsuit reads. "That unnecessary burden blocks the cultivation of our culture and the spread of knowledge." The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will hear arguments on Oct. 29.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64494,00.html 
http://www.archive.org 
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o Napster Parent Roxio Ups Revenue Forecast for Second Quarter

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Roxio, a provider of CD burning software and parent company of Napster, announced on Monday that it expects to exceed its prior revenue predictions for both of its businesses for the second quarter. The company said it expects Napster to report $9 million in revenues, up from a prior estimate of $8 million, while Roxio will report revenues of $18 million, up from $17 million; Roxio also expects its loss for the quarter to be narrower than analyst forecasts. "The strength of Napster's results reflects increasing traction in the online music market and a favorable mix toward subscribers," said Napster chairman and CEO Chris Gorog. "We are excited by numerous near-term business catalysts for Napster including the upcoming consumer launch of, and device support for, the 'Napster To Go' portable subscription service, along with the full implementation of our partnership with Best Buy." Santa Clara, Calif.-based Roxio previously announced the sale of its Roxio CD burning software unit to Sonic Solutions, a deal the company says is slated to close in the fourth quarter.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040920/sfm044_1.html 
http://www.roxio.com 
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o Home Entertainment Networking Software Firm Mediabolic Raises Funds

San Francisco -- Mediabolic, a provider of home entertainment networking technology, announced on Monday that it has closed on an oversubscribed round of venture capital financing for an undisclosed amount. New investor AsiaTech Management led the funding, with participation by the Intel Digital Home Fund and earlier investors Spinnaker Ventures and Aurora Ventures. San Francisco-based Mediabolic offers an embedded software platform that can connect PCs, PC peripherals, and consumer electronics products like DVD players, stereos and televisions. The company will use the funds to further expand global market penetration, application support efforts, and future product development.
http://www.mediabolic.com 
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o EasyJet Founder Haji-Ioannou to Launch Music Download Service

London -- Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of discount airline EasyJet, announced on Friday that he plans to launch a music download service in the coming weeks. Haji-Ioannou said the new www.easyMusic.com service would make its debut this fall re-selling the catalogue of Wippit, a music download company based in London. Wippit currently boasts a catalogue of nearly 200,000 songs from EMI, Sony-BMG and a number of independent labels. The easyMusic service will be available worldwide for Wippit and easyGroup customers, who can download songs at 0.25 pence (0.45 cents) apiece and some songs of unsigned artists for free, Haji-Ioannou said.
http://www.easymusic.com 
http://www.wippit.com 

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((New York) The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a consortium of leading online advertisers, announced on Monday its final guidelines for the use of the much-maligned pop-up ad format. The group said that its survey participants favored keeping proposed guidelines issued by the IAB in April, which support a cap of one pop-up ad for each visit to an online site. In addition, the voluntary guidelines state that all pop-ups and pop-unders must display a close box and that audiovisual elements must be user-initiated.
http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2004_9_20.asp 
http://iab.net/standards/popup.asp

(London) According to a report published in The Sunday Telegraph, U.K. telecommunications giant BT is holding advance talks with British Sky Broadcasting, ITV and the BBC, among others, to provide a new video-on-demand service. The service will be offered through a broadband phone line, and customers will need a set-top box to view it, BT said. BT said it made the decision in order to diversify away from its traditional telephone operations. "This is the next step in the delivery of broadband Britain," BT executive Andrew Burke told The Sunday Telegraph. "It is right up our street in terms of the technology and the relationship with the consumer."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J50A21359

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a provider of CD and DVD copy-protection technologies, announced on Monday that motion picture studio Lions Gate has signed a multi-year agreement to extend its use of Macrovision technology to include its DVD movie releases. Recent Lions Gate releases include "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Open Water" and "The Cookout." Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision's technology is designed to prevent copying of DVD content onto DVD recorders, digital video recorders and VCRs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040920/205496_1.html 
http://www.lionsgatefilms.com 
http://www.macrovision.com

(Stockholm) Vodafone, the largest mobile operator in the world, announced on Monday that 3G customers for the U.K. firm's Swedish subsidiary can now follow English Premiership soccer on their mobile phones. The service will give Vodafone Sweden exclusive rights to show video footage of Premier League goals and round-ups on mobile phones. "English league football has a special place in the hearts of Swedish football fans, and our services enable customers to follow the progress of their favorite teams even when there's no TV within reach," said Vodafone Sweden's Anders Jensen.
http://www.vodafone.se/430.jsp

(San Francisco) OpenTV, a provider of interactive television software and services, announced on Monday that European cable TV operator UnitedGlobalCom (UGC) has signed a multi-year licensing agreement to use OpenTV's middleware for set-top boxes and other products. UGC already uses San Francisco-based OpenTV's middleware on a digital TV service in France, and plans to expand use of its products -- including the company's interactive TV games and betting services -- on its satellite services in Central and Eastern Europe.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040920/205445_1.html 
http://www.unitedglobal.com 
http://www.opentv.com

(Stockholm) The Financial Times newspaper announced that it has entered into a partnership with Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp., to bring global business and financial news, as well as comment and analysis, from FT.com to customers' mobile phones. London-based Sony Ericsson said the service, which will be sold over the joint venture's Fun & Downloads portal as a 30-day subscription package for 5 euro ($6), would be available starting Sept. 22. The service will initially be available on Sony Ericsson T610, T630, Z600, K500, K700, P800, P900, P910 and Z1010 handsets, the company said.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/fun/portal/HM1.jsp?esi=true

(Chantilly, Va.) InphoMatch, a provider of mobile messaging interoperability and wireless data services, and U.K. counterpart Mobileway said on Monday that they have completed an extensive rebranding effort following their merger and have relaunched under the name Mobile 365. The Virginia-based company, which specializes in the delivery, billing and settlement of mobile messaging services, had been known as Mobileway-InphoMatch since the merger in early August.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040920/dcm016_1.html

(San Francisco) Sega of America has announced that it will delay the release of its "The Matrix Online" collaboration with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment from its planned November launch until Jan. 18, 2005. The companies said they need the extra time to allow various co-publishers to prepare for a simultaneous launch in the U.S. and Europe. Sega said it will launch a pre-order program next week that will invite gamers to participate in a closed beta test of the title scheduled to launch on Nov. 18. The game is being developed by Monolith Productions.
http://thematrixonline.warnerbros.com/web/news.jsp?nocache=true

(Tokyo) Former Sega Europe and Atari Japan CEO Kazutoshi Miyake has been hired by U.K.-based mobile entertainment publisher Telcogames Limited to launch a Japanese subsidiary, Telcogames Japan. Miyake will serve as a director and board member of the Tokyo-based unit, which will be headed by Takeshi Shimizu, a former executive at game developer Opus Corporation. The unit will distribute Telcogames' products in the Japanese mobile market.
http://www.telcogames.com/IDMT-TCG-Telcogams_Japan.pdf

(Redwood City, Calif.) Game developer Electronic Arts on Monday shipped its "Def Jam Fight for NY" title for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube to retailers. Developed by EA Canada and Japan's AKI Corporation, the game is a collaboration between Electronic Arts and hip-hop record label Def Jam, and features a cast of over 40 hip-hop artists and a soundtrack featuring their music. The title also features clothing brands including Ecko, Phat Farm, Rocawear and Brand Jordan. Separately, EA said it launched "All-Star Football Challenge," a free, two-player online football game.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040920/205861_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040920/205313_1.html
http://www.eagames.com/official/defjam/fightforny/us/index.jsp
http://www.easports.com/free/home.jsp

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Video game publisher THQ on Monday shipped its "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War" PC game to retailers. Developed by THQ's Relic Entertainment studio, the game is based on the board game from Games Workshop.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040920/205299_1.html 
http://www.relic.com 
http://www.dawnofwargame.com

(Los Angeles) Japanese game developer Square Enix announced on Monday that it will release its "Dragon Quest VIII" title for PlayStation 2 in Japan on Nov. 27. The game franchise has sold over 35 million units worldwide since debuting in 1986.
http://www.square-enix.co.jp

(Austin) Game developer Aspyr Media on Monday shipped its Macintosh version of publisher LucasArts' "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" to retailers.
http://www.aspyr.com 
http://www.swkotor.com

(San Francisco) Wired News reported on Monday on Vancouver-based CityXpress, a software firm that it helping newspapers counter competition from eBay and offer their own online auctions to local retailers. The company currently has 200 clients in the U.S., Canada and Europe, including the San Jose Mercury News and Houston Chronicle, which have so far created $50 million in revenues for the newspapers. "It's certainly a response to the pressure that eBay and other online providers like craigslist are putting on the newspapers in terms of their private party classified business," Phil Dubois, chief executive of CityXpress, told Wired News. "Newspapers have suffered rather dramatically at the hands of online competitors like eBay."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65006,00.html
http://www.cityxpress.com

(Los Angeles) The Los Angeles Times recently reported on a number of firms offering technology to the movie industry that could potentially scan movie theaters for camcorders that viewers bring in with the goal of pirating a film. While installing such technology for tens of thousands of individual screens may be prohibitively costly, and the solution lacks a means for theaters to apprehend camcorder-toting patrons, firms including Trakstar and Sentek Consulting have developed advanced sensors and software that can scan moviegoing crowds for camcorder lenses as small as 1-inch in diameter.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-camcorder19sep19.story 
 
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