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Main Stories
o Video Game Industry Funds Game Used to Capture Online Child Predators
o AOL Launches Revamped Service for Hispanics
o Group Creates Patent Pool for Digital Rights Management Technologies
o PBS, Colleges to Offer Joint Distance Learning Courses Online
o SeaChange, Nielsen to Provide Video-on-Demand Audience Measurement
o Game Developer Acclaim to Raise Funds in Private Offering
o Streaming Services Provider VitalStream Raises $900,000

o Briefly Noted: Sirius Satellite Radio - NHL, Bell Canada - Microsoft TV, Netflix - 1.3 million subscribers, Movielink - Road Runner, STMicroelectronics - XM Satellite Radio, Sony PlayStation 2 - Atlantic Records' P.O.D., Yahoo Games on Demand - Microsoft Game Studios, Italian mobile operator - TV handsets, Activision Value Publishing - Airborne Entertainment, Mercora

Washington -- The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a trade group made up of the major video game developers and publishers, announced that it has made a $200,000 grant to Web Wise Kids, a program that uses a PC game called "Missing" to help teach kids online safety and catch online child predators. The game, developed by Vancouver-based Livewires Design, is now used in 25 states and has led to the apprehension of three child predators by authorities. "This game helps parents and kids recognize the warning signs that there may be a problem," said ESA president Douglas Lowenstein. "As a result, we've seen children saved and online predators brought to justice." The new grant will be used to support the existing statewide programs in California, Oregon and Massachusetts, expand programs in six additional states, and provide additional kits for pilot programs in new states throughout the country.
http://www.theesa.com 
http://www.webwisekids.org
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o AOL Launches Revamped Service for Hispanics

Dulles, Va. -- Trying to better tap into the growing pool of U.S. Hispanics while boosting its dwindling subscriber base, America Online has launched a broader, retooled version of its AOL Latino service, which features an array of Spanish-language news, sports and entertainment content. The service also includes Spanish versions of AOL staples, such as instant messaging and e-mail. The company is hoping to give a jolt to its dwindling base of dial-up subscribers in the U.S. The company reported a subscriber base of 25.3 million at mid-year, down from 26.7 million last fall. The Hispanic population in the U.S. is estimated at 39 million.
http://free.aol.com/tryaolfree/index.adp?350166
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o Group Creates Patent Pool for Digital Rights Management Technologies

Denver -- MPEG LA, a group of patent holders pooling their resources to offer licensing of various companies' patents on a single technology, on Thursday announced a call for patents relating to digital rights management technology, which may be used to track and secure the release of digital media over the Internet. The group, which hopes to have gathered all applicable patents by early next year, said a patent portfolio license will accelerate market development by providing ready access to the essential technology, and also aid in the development of digital rights management standards. "With DRM's ability to make myriad new products available to the digital information marketplace one consumer at a time, this is good for consumers and industry alike," said MPEG LA CEO Baryn S. Futa.
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_03-10-02_drm.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/031002/tech_digitalrights_1.html
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o PBS, Colleges to Offer Joint Distance Learning Courses Online

Alexandria, Va. -- PBS announced that it has partnered with five colleges to offer its PBS Campus online courses to any student to take for college credit, no matter where they live. The five schools -- all noted for offering distance learning programs -- are Dallas TeleCollege (TX); St. Petersburg College (FL); Strayer University (DC); Thomas Edison State College (NJ); and the Education Technology Consortium. Launched in March, PBS Campus is a joint effort of PBS, local public TV stations and colleges to provide course materials provided by college instructors via TV, video and the Internet.
http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/aboutpbs_news_article.html?20030925_Anytime
http://www.pbs.org/campus
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o SeaChange, Nielsen to Provide Video-on-Demand Audience Measurement

Maynard, Mass. -- SeaChange, a provider of digital video systems used to deliver video-on-demand programming, announced that it has partnered with Nielsen Media Research to create an audience measurement service for video-on-demand. The service will allow advertisers and programmers to understand video-on-demand consumer habits, resulting in more targeted ad insertions and emerging ad formats like video-on-demand tier sponsorship. The measurement system will encompass only SeaChange video-on-demand systems, which are deployed in over 100 markets by cable TV operators including Adelphia, Cablevision, Comcast, Rogers and Time Warner Cable.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030929/295500_1.html 
http://www.nielsenmedia.com 
http://www.schange.com
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o Game Developer Acclaim to Raise Funds in Private Offering

Glen Cove, N.Y. -- Video game developer and publisher Acclaim Entertainment announced on Thursday that it expects to shortly complete a financing through the sale of its convertible subordinated promissory notes, to a limited group of private investors. Acclaim did not say how much it intends to raise through the sale, but said the proceeds will be added to the company's working capital and used for general corporate purposes. New York-based Acclaim this week also announced the repayment of a $5 million loan from its lender GMAC.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031001/nyw177_1.html 
http://www.acclaim.com
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o Streaming Services Provider VitalStream Raises $900,000

Irvine, Calif. -- VitalStream, a provider of audio and video streaming, Web conferencing, advanced media hosting, payment processing and consulting services, announced on Thursday that it has raised $900,000 in new funds through a private placement of its stock with Dolphin Equity Partners and its management team. The company also said that it has restructured the $1.1 million in outstanding notes to Dolphin. Irvine, Calif.-based VitalStream's president and CEO Paul Summers called the financing and note restructure "the first step in accomplishing our goal of moving the company onto a major exchange such as the NASDAQ or the AMEX."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031002/25140_1.html 
http://www.vitalstream.com

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(New York) Sirius Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered digital radio programming, announced on Thursday that it has become a corporate marketing partner of the National Hockey League (NHL), and will air up to 40 NHL games each week throughout the NHL season, beginning Oct. 8 and continuing through the Stanley Cup Finals. The NHL and SIRIUS will also produce a live, daily, two-hour call-in hockey talk show.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031002/nyth026_1.html 
http://www.nhl.com 
http://www.sirius.com

(San Francisco) CNET News.com reported on Thursday that Microsoft has partnered with telco Bell Canada to test its software that can deliver video over telephone lines. A trial of the service will be conducted at several apartment complexes in Toronto, where residents will be given a set-top box that includes Microsoft TV's Interactive Program Guide (IPG), as well as video-on-demand and other services.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5085202.html?tag=nefd_top
http://www.bell.ca 
http://www.microsoft.com/tv

(Los Gatos, Calif.) Netflix, provider of an online DVD rental service that delivers movies through the U.S. mail, announced on Thursday that it ended the third quarter of 2003 with approximately 1,291,000 total subscribers, a 74% increase over its total from a year ago. Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix also said that its household penetration rate in the San Francisco Bay Area is now 5.4%, while nationwide its penetration rate sits at 1.2%.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031001/sfw087_1.html 
http://www.netflix.com

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Movielink, an Internet video-on-demand joint venture between a number of Hollywood movie studios, announced on Thursday that it has signed a multi-year agreement to create a co-branded online movie delivery service with Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed cable Internet service. Road Runner currently serves over 3 million broadband homes.
http://www.rr.com 
http://www.movielink.com

(Geneva) Chipmaker STMicroelectronics said on Thursday that it has now shipped 2 million of the chips it provides for XM Satellite Radio's satellite receivers. Additionally, the company said it delivered to XM a new one-chip solution to replace its current two-chip offering. Washington-based XM said yesterday that it is on track to have 1.2 million subscribers by the end of the year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031002/nyth004_1.html 
http://www.st.com 
http://www.xmradio.com

(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that it has partnered with Atlantic Records act P.O.D., and will include a DVD along with the band's upcoming album that is playable only on the PlayStation 2. When P.O.D.'s "Payable On Death" is released on Nov. 4, the first one million copies sold will come with a DVD containing the band's song contribution to the "Amplitude" PlayStation 2 title, as well as a behind-the-scenes video on the band.
http://us.playstation.com/news/PressReleases/D015657.asp
http://www.payableondeath.com

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo announced on Thursday that Microsoft Game Studios will contribute fifteen online games to its Yahoo Games on Demand subscription games site. Included in the agreement are Microsoft Game Studios' "Age of Mythology," "Combat Flight Simulator 3," "Dungeon Siege" and "Zoo Tycoon." Yahoo said its Games on Demand service now offers over 100 PC game titles.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031002/25535_1.html
http://www.microsoft.com/games 
http://gamesondemand.yahoo.com

(Milan) Italian mobile operator TIM announced on Thursday that it has launched a new device that will allow customers to watch TV on their GPRS handsets. The company says that it plans to offer the service to its roughly 26 million subscribers free of charge for the rest of the year. The television partners currently joining the initial experimental phase of TIM's project include La 7, MTV, CFN/CNBC (Class Financial Network) and Coming Soon.
http://www.tim.it

(Minneapolis) Activision Value Publishing, the discount-priced PC game publishing unit of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer, announced on Thursday an agreement with wireless game publisher Airborne Entertainment, to publish several of its titles for cell phones and other wireless devices. Montreal-based Airborne will create versions of Activision Value's "Tough Trucks," "Skateboard Park Tycoon" and "Cruise Ship Tycoon" for use with mobile devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031002/25375_1.html 
http://www.activisionvalue.com 
http://www.airborne-e.com

(Los Angeles) Wired News on Thursday reported on Mercora, a start-up founded by former McAfee.com CEO Srivats Sampath, which plans to launch an online music service where users can swap songs for a fee and view what is on one another's hard drives. Members will also be able to trade songs or albums earmarked as free promotions by record labels; otherwise, the company plans to charge $0.99 per song and take a small cut of the revenue from each transaction. The initial version of Mercora, set to launch in November, will distribute songs in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60660,00.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5085182.html 
http://www.mercora.com

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