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Main Stories
o House Passes Bill to Secure Govt. PCs from Peer-to-Peer Networks
o Vivendi Universal, GE Finalize Entertainment Merger
o AOL Launching Music Download Service in Europe
o Sony Sets $719 Price Tag for "PSX" PlayStation 2 Spin-off in Japan
o Digital Audio Amplifier Developer D2Audio Raises $15.5 Million
o Digital Video Chipmaker Techwell Raises $20 Million in Fifth Round

o Briefly Noted: TiVo - Fox, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, Movielink - Intramovies, Delphi XM "Roady," AOL - RealNetworks, Ubisoft Entertainment - Peter Gabriel, TouchTunes - Sony Music, MobiPocket - Franklin Electronic Publishers - eBookBase, Bam Entertainment - "Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo," Ascent Media Group, Magnatune, Distributed Computing Industry Alliance

Washington -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation regulating the use of peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa on government computer networks, in an effort to protect sensitive data from accidentally being exposed to millions of P2P users. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis (R.-Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Ca.), who noted that peer-to-peer networks been found in use on computers in such sensitive locations as the government's nuclear laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The law mandates that executive branch departments and agencies come up with security measures and employee training to prevent the leakage of sensitive information; both the House and Senate have already secured their own respective offices' networks. "File sharing technology is not inherently bad, and it may turn out to have a variety of beneficial applications," said Davis. "H.R. 3159 recognizes this by protecting the ability of federal agencies to pursue innovations in peer-to-peer technology on government networks, as long as they do not put government information or computers at risk."
http://tomdavis.house.gov/cgi-data/news/files/58.shtml
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O11F21526
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o Vivendi Universal, GE Finalize Entertainment Merger

Paris -- After more than six months of protracted and oftentimes dramatic negotiations, Vivendi Universal and General Electric (GE) on Wednesday signed a merger deal that will create a media giant -- NBC Universal -- with an estimated value of $43 billion. The terms of the deal that will combine Vivendi Universal Entertainment with GE's television network NBC were largely unchanged from those posted in September, with the exception that GE will assume a slightly larger debt than previously proposed. NBC will assume $1.7 billion of debt, as opposed to the $1.6 billion announced in September. Under the deal, GE will pay Vivendi Universal Entertainment shareholders about $3.8 billion in GE shares, as well as give them a 20% stake in NBC Universal.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T22342426
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o AOL Launching Music Download Service in Europe

London -- Reuters on Wednesday reported that AOL Time Warner would launch an online radio station next week and a download service by next spring in a bid to enter Europe's Internet music market. AOL will likely beat Apple's iTunes and the re-launched Napster to the European market. The download service will be available for AOL's 6.2 million British, German and French Internet access subscribers, AOL said. AOL will launch "Radio@AOL Broadband", a free radio service for its U.K. customers, on Oct. 13.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/031008/325/eak8c.html
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o Sony Sets $719 Price Tag for "PSX" PlayStation 2 Spin-off in Japan

Makuhari, Japan -- Sony Corp. announced that it will begin selling the PSX, a PlayStation 2 equipped with a satellite TV tuner, DVD recorder and hard drive, later this year in Japan with a $719 price tag. Although the company plans to launch the PSX in the U.S. and Europe sometime early next year, Sony has not announced pricing details for those regions. The $719 model features a 160GB hard drive capable of storing 204 hours of TV programs; Sony will also offer a 250GB model for about $911. "There is the game industry and game development and we are trying to fuse the consumer electronics business with games to make a new growth area," Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei told Reuters.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D28D61526 
http://us.playstation.com
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o Digital Audio Amplifier Developer D2Audio Raises $15.5 Million

Austin -- D2Audio, a developer of digital audio amplifiers for the professional and consumer markets, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $15.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the investment round; Austin Ventures and Sevin Rosen Funds also participated. Austin-based D2Audio says its "intelligent" amplifiers are capable of recognizing the speakers to which they are attached and optimizing the sound accordingly, and can take into consideration the room's characteristics and even the location of the audience in the room.
http://www.d2audio.com  _____________________________________________

o Digital Video Chipmaker Techwell Raises $20 Million in Fifth Round

San Jose, Calif. -- Techwell, a maker of digital video semiconductors, said on Tuesday that it has raised $20 million in its fifth round of funding, led by Technology Crossover Ventures. Hiro Kozato, the CEO of Techwell, said that the capital will allow his company to "significantly expand" its sales and engineering support capabilities. Founded in 1997, Techwell designs digital video chips for televisions, PCs and consumer electronics. Its semiconductors enable the conversion of analog video sources to digital form.
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=Cp4i6qeSbmdiWntGZmtm
http://www.techwellinc.com

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(San Jose, Calif.) TiVo, a provider of digital video recorder services, announced on Wednesday a promotional partnership with Fox, which will promote shows in its fall lineup including "24," "The O.C.," "Skin" and "Arrested Development" in month-long TiVo Showcases that will air in October. Fox also secured the license to utilize a TiVo recording tag during all promotions for these shows and others, which will display an ad for each program's Showcase whenever network promotions for the particular program appear during a live broadcast.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/sfw013_1.html 
http://www.tivo.com

(Seattle) RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology, said on Wednesday that its Rhapsody streaming music subscription service streamed more than 21 million on-demand songs in September, an average rate of over 700,000 songs per day and an increase of more than 30% in subscribers' on-demand listening since August. The company also said that it has licensed new tracks for Rhapsody from San Francisco-based INgrooves, an aggregator and licensing agent for electronic music from independent artists and labels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031007/sftu086_1.html 
http://www.listen.com 
http://www.ingrooves.com

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Movielink, an Internet video-on-demand joint venture between a number of Hollywood movie studios, said on Wednesday that it has licensed content from Intramovies, an international distributor that represents the rights to several major Italian film libraries, for its service. The first 25 titles under the agreement, which include "Sirocco," "Io Amo Andrea" and "Cento Passi," will become available in coming weeks.
http://www.intramovies.com 
http://www.movielink.com

(Washington) XM Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered digital radio programming, announced on Wednesday that car audio firm Delphi's XM "Roady" sub-$120 satellite receiver is now available in retail stores. The product features a new ultra-thin XM Micro Antenna, and connects to existing car stereos through a cassette adapter; XM said a wireless receiver for the device will go on sale next month for $29.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/dcw013_1.html 
http://www.delphi.com 
http://www.xmradio.com/roady

(Dulles, Va.) America Online announced on Wednesday that it has begun to deploy media delivery technology provider RealNetworks' Helix Universal Servers as part of its streaming architecture. Additionally, AOL said it is providing enhanced support for RealNeworks' media technologies in its AOL 9.0 Optimized and AOL for Mac OS X.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/sfw077_1.html

(San Francisco) Video game developer and publisher Ubisoft Entertainment announced on Wednesday that musician Peter Gabriel has signed on to provide music for the company's "Myst" video game franchise. Gabriel will provide the song, "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" for the November release of "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst," as well as an original composition for the next game in the series. San Francisco-based Ubisoft said that the "Myst" franchise has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
http://www.ubisoft.com 
http://www.petergabriel.com 
http://www.urulive.com

(Las Vegas) TouchTunes, a manufacturer of digital jukeboxes placed in bars and restaurants, announced that it has licensed tracks from major record label Sony Music for inclusion on its Internet-connected jukeboxes. The agreement, whose financial terms were not disclosed, includes a license for tracks from Sony's Latin music unit, Sony Discos. TouchTunes now holds licenses from all five major record labels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031006/nym108_1.html 
http://www.sonymusic.com 
http://www.touchtunes.com

(Paris) MobiPocket, a developer of e-book reader software, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Franklin Electronic Publishers to launch eBookBase, a wholesale e-book distribution service exclusively targeted at mobile devices. The service will offer publishers a single point of payment, distribution and security for their e-books, which will be offered through the service in four languages in the cross-platform MobiPocket format, also using the company's digital rights management. Publishers participating in the eBookBase initially include Random House, AOL Time Warner, McGraw-Hill Professional, RosettaBooks and Fictionwise.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/phw011_1.html 
http://www.franklin.com 
http://www.mobipocket.com

(San Jose, Calif.) Game developer Bam Entertainment on Wednesday shipped its "Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo" title for PlayStation 2, based on a license of the Oscar-winning claymation series created by Aardman. The game, developed by U.K.-based Frontier Developments, will also be released for Xbox and GameCube next week. San Jose, Calif.-based Bam recently saw its share price sink when its auditors questioned the company's ability to stay in business, as a result of sustained losses and a shortage of cash.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/sfw050_1.html 
http://www.bam4fun.com

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Ascent Media Group, a unit of Liberty Media that provides digital media services, announced on Wednesday that it has named Kenneth S. Williams as its new president and CEO. Before joining Ascent as chief operating officer in August 2002, Williams held senior management positions at Technicolor Digital Cinema and Stan Lee Media.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031008/law046_1.html
http://www.ascentmedia.com

(San Francisco) Wired News on Wednesday reported on Magnatune, an independent record label started in May that offers all of its artists' songs online to download, swap and re-mix at will. With a growing roster of 50 artists splitting monthly revenues of $15,000 - $20,000 per month 50-50 with the company, albums at Magnatune are sold under a Creative Commons license, with consumers deciding to pay between $5 and $18 per album.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60732,00.html
http://www.creativecommons.org 
http://www.magnatune.com

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Wednesday reported on an open meeting held Wednesday by the Distributed Computing Industry Alliance, a group headed by Kazaa distributor Sharman Networks, during which the company outlined a plan to work with record labels to offer secure downloads though its service that would compensate artists and labels. So far, the group does not have the support of any of the major labels, which are still suing Kazaa for copyright infringement, but says its plan would provide the labels with $900 million a month in new revenue. "The goal is to begin a real discussion focusing on robust business models that have a depth of technical and practical specificity that makes them credible," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5088184.html

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