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Main Stories
o Source Code of Anticipated "Half-Life 2" PC Game Stolen, Posted to Web
o Federal Court Decision Could Mean More Cable Internet Competition
o Student Claims Holding "Shift" Key Can Break BMG CD Copy-Protection
o America Online Expands Search Deal with Google
o Game Developer Acclaim Raises $11.8 Million in Private Placement
o U.K. ISP Group Calls for Changes in Libel Laws
o Twenty Top Editors and Managers Quitting Reuters

o Briefly Noted: Gemstar-TV Guide - Time Warner Cable, Nokia - exploding cell phones, MusicMatch - indie labels, TDK - MOJO MP3 players, Loudeye - Cellus USA, MLB.com - pregame shows, Airborne Entertainment - Dr. Deepak Chopra, THQ - Nickelodeon, Infinium Labs - Riverdeep, Google search counter

Bellevue, Wash. -- The source code for the highly anticipated PC game "Half-Life 2" was stolen from Washington-based developer Valve Software's internal computer network last week, and has been distributed across the Internet. Valve managing director Gabe Newell confirmed the leak in a posting on Half-Life2.net. The thief or thieves apparently used keystroke-logging spyware to record passwords entered by Valve employees on company PCs, and were able to access the company's internal network in this way -- also possibly causing a number of recent denial-of-service attacks on the company's servers. However, those searching for the finished game will be disappointed with what they find, according to a post from Valve on Half-Life2.net. "It contains a map… you can walk around in it, unfortunately the fairy tale ends there. There are no sounds, no models, no official textures and you can't even read the console as there are no font files. The leaked source is only that; the source."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W49B26226
http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-5087698.html
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,60701,00.html
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o Federal Court Decision Could Mean More Cable Internet Competition

Washington, D.C. -- In a ruling that potentially opens the floodgates for competition in the cable Internet arena, a federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that cable operators should not be the only ones allowed to offer high-speed Internet access through cable TV systems. The ruling reverses a regulation put into place by the Federal Communications Commission in March 2002. The three-judge panel said that the FCC erred when it effectively blocked out competition by classifying cable Internet as an "information service," instead of a "telecommunications service." The change in terminology could have huge implications, forcing cable companies to give competing providers access to their infrastructure, just like telephone companies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/031007/internet_access_3.html
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o Student Claims Holding "Shift" Key Can Break BMG CD Copy-Protection

Los Angeles -- A Princeton grad student has discovered a method -- which consists of simply holding down a PC's "Shift" key when inserting a CD -- that he claims breaks the CD copy-protection technology recently used on a commercial CD released by major label BMG, Reuters reported. Princeton's John Halderman wrote on his website that, in addition to depressing the "Shift" key, Arizona-based SunnComm Technologies' MediaMax CD3 software may also be defeated by disabling the driver the CD installs when it is first inserted into a PC. The technology is intended to prevent users from ripping the encrypted tracks on an album to a PC, enabling their upload to file-sharing systems or mass copying via a CD burner. "SunnComm's claims of robust protection collapse, when subjected to scrutiny, and their system's weaknesses are not only academic," Halderman wrote on his website. BMG spokesman Nathaniel Brown told Reuters the company was "fully aware" of the Shift key circumvention, but said the company "erred on the side of playability and flexibility" with its choice of copy-protection technology.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T51713226 
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5087875.html 
http://www.sunncomm.com
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o America Online Expands Search Deal with Google

Dulles, Va. -- Expanding an ongoing relationship between the two companies, America Online said on Tuesday that it has extended its deal with search engine giant Google. Under the multi-year agreement, AOL users will have increased access to Google's index of billions of documents, helping to expand the service's search capabilities. Among the new features will be enhanced localized searches, which help users find local businesses, services or national chain stores, and "Hot Searches," which present search topics gaining in popularity on the AOL service.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?P6F223226
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o Game Developer Acclaim Raises $11.8 Million in Private Placement

Glen Cove, N.Y. -- Video game developer and publisher Acclaim Entertainment announced that it has raised $11.8 million through the placement of its shares with a group of private individual investors. New York-based Acclaim, which recently released its "NBA Jam" arcade title for consoles, announced last week that it had repaid a $5 million loan to its lender GMAC. The company said the proceeds from the new financing have been added to its working capital and will be used for general corporate purposes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031006/nym121_1.html 
http://www.acclaim.com _____________________________________________

o U.K. ISP Group Calls for Changes in Libel Laws

London -- The Internet Service Providers' Association has called for changes to libel laws to ensure that liability falls squarely on the creators of libelous material and those who deliberately disseminate it, rather than on carriers. "ISPs are conduits, carriers of information like the postal service," said an ISPA spokesman. "An ISP is not a publisher -- it does not have editorial control over content posted on its servers by a third party." The group's call for a change in the law follows a frenzy of e-mails and Internet postings on message boards in the past week claiming to identify the Premiership football players alleged to have raped a woman.
http://www.ispa.co.uk
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o Twenty Top Editors and Managers Quitting Reuters

London -- Reuters Group confirmed on Tuesday that its global head of news, Stephen Jukes, is among 20 senior news editors and managers who are quitting the troubled news and financial information company. Reuters has been hit hard by a severe downturn in the financial services industry over the past three years. The company is shedding more than 3,000 jobs over the next three years as part of a 440-million-pound ($732 million) "Fast Forward" cost-cutting exercise announced earlier this year.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?P21752126

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(Los Angeles) Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of electronic program guides for digital television, announced on Tuesday that AOL Time Warner's Time Warner Cable has licensed its technology and TV Guide brand name and content for use on its system. The deal also includes a patent license which allows Time Warner Cable to use Gemstar technology in its own program guide, or in one supplied by a third party.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031007/75399_1.html 
http://www.gemstartvguide.com

(The Hague) The Netherlands' consumer watchdog, the Consumentenbond, on Tuesday demanded that Finland's Nokia conduct an investigation into its own phones after two handsets exploded, injuring their owners. One man's handset exploded in his pocket, while a 33-year-old woman's phone exploded mid-conversation, causing burns to her face. Nokia has denied responsibility for the second injury, claiming that the woman had not used an original Nokia battery in her phone. According to the Consumentenbond, however, the man in the first incident had been using an original battery.
http://www.consumentenbond.nl

(San Diego) MusicMatch, a provider of music jukebox software and online music subscription services, announced on Tuesday that it has signed download sale agreements with independent record labels Beggars Group, V2 Records and Koch Entertainment for its recently launched music download store. The deal brings the number of tracks available from San Diego-based MusicMatch's download store to 500,000, each available for $0.99.
http://www.musicmatch.com

(Garden City, N.Y.) Consumer electronics firm TDK on Tuesday released four new MP3 players as part of its MOJO line of digital audio devices. The new line includes the MOJO 1, a 128MB capacity, wireless all-in-one player that consists of a pair of wraparound neckband headphones with the MP3 player and FM tuner contained within the earpieces. The device is slated to go on sale later this month for $179.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031007/75408_1.html
http://www.tdk.com/cdmp3/index.html

(Seattle) Loudeye Technologies, a provider of streaming song samples and other digital media services, announced on Tuesday an agreement to provide song segments to Cellus USA, a retailer of premium mobile content in the U.S. and unit of Cellus Norway, a provider of mobile phone content in Scandinavia, Asia and Europe. Under the terms, Seattle-based Loudeye will provide licensed independent label and aggregator music tracks and sounds from its music archive, and will manage label licensing and reporting on behalf of Cellus USA and its carrier partners.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031007/sftu038_1.html 
http://www.cellususa.com 
http://www.loudeye.com

(New York) MLB.com announced that it will offer a live, free pregame video show on its website prior to every postseason baseball game throughout the World Series. Guest analysts will include former ESPN anchor Rich Eisen, All-Star player Matt Williams, major league managers Davey Johnson, Bob Boone and Tommy Lasorda, and Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak.
http://www.mlb.com

(Montreal) Wireless entertainment content publisher Airborne Entertainment said on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with holistic medicine practitioner Dr. Deepak Chopra, to develop and distribute mobile applications "that incorporate Chopra's revolutionary wisdom about the crucial connection between body, mind, spirit, and healing." Montreal-based Airborne will offer daily quotes and meditations, in addition to wallpapers, ringtones and other content.
http://www.airborne-e.com

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ announced on Tuesday the release of "SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom" and "The Fairly OddParents: Breakin' Da Rules" for PC, under license from children's TV network Nickelodeon. The company reports that 3 million "SpongeBob"-related games have already sold at retail. Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based THQ said that versions of both titles for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance will also be released in coming weeks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031007/75331_1.html 
http://www.thq.com
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_supersites/spongebob/main.jhtml
http://www.nick.com/go/supersite_fop

(Sarasota, Fla.) Infinium Labs, developer of a new PC-based video game system, announced on Tuesday that Riverdeep will distribute its catalog of video games and edutainment software on the Phantom Game System. Riverdeep titles including "Carmen Sandiego," "Clue Finders" and "Reader Rabbit" will be available on both a pay-per-play and pay-to-own basis. Infinium Labs plans to soon launch a beta test of its console.
http://www.infiniumlabs.com 
http://www.riverdeep.net

(New York) The New York Times recently reported on a new "search counter" that Google is experimenting with among the most frequent users of its search engine. The company told The Times that the experiment is simply for fun, and that it is not logging any personal information or search terms used. The counter -- which is essentially a cookie placed on the user's hard drive -- has been installed on less than 1% of Google users' computers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/06/technology/06goog.html

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