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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 9, 2001
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com

o Music Publishers Reach Accord with RIAA on Subscription Services
o Supreme Court Sides with Freelancers in National Geographic Case
o Wireless Device Security Technology Firm NTRU Raises $26.1 Million
o Sony Invests $124 Million in "Final Fantasy" Game Developer Square
o Sonicblue Licenses ReplayTV Technology to Electronics Maker Matsushita
o Macrovision Invests in Digital Content Delivery, Security Firms
o Digital Media Software Developer Anark Raises $5.8 Million
o Media Distribution Software Firm ESynch Lays Off 50% of Staff
o Corporate Web Publishing Software Firm Vodium Raises $1 Million
o Briefly Noted: Uprizer, GameCube pre-orders, Ecast - Midway Amusement
Games, TDK Mediactive - Aquaman, MSNBC.com - Hispanic Broadcasting
Corporation
_____________________________________________

> Job Postings: Dance Music Mktg/BizDev, General Mgr., Ad Sales Mgr.

> Events/Services: "Office Space - L.A.," "SHORTSPAN Film & Video
Festival, OCTOBER DATES "Digital Media Revolution in the Americas"

Full Job/Event/Services descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section
or at http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html
To Post an Event/Service: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
_____________________________________________

o Music Publishers Reach Accord with RIAA on Subscription Services

Washington -- The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), a group
that represents songwriters and music publishers, announced on Tuesday
that it has reached a landmark agreement with the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) over the licensing of songs offered through
digital music subscription services. "This agreement removes a major legal
roadblock for the new online subscription services," said RIAA CEO Hilary
Rosen. "This landmark agreement confirms that the streaming of music on
demand requires a mechanical license under the U.S. Copyright Act," said
NMPA CEO Edward P. Murphy. "We are pleased to have reached a consensus
with the record industry on this key issue, enabling us to move forward on
the matter of determining what the royalty rate for such streaming will
be." The agreement calls for the RIAA to pay music publishers a $1 million
advance to license songs for their new services -- including MusicNet and
Pressplay -- and if the two sides are not able to agree on a set royalty
rate within two years, $750,000 per month will be paid by RIAA label
members to NMPA songwriters and publishers. The agreement does not cover
music released by independent labels, but according to the two parties
does cover 90 percent of music produced and sold in the U.S.
http://nmpa.org/pr/subscription_10_09_01.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7461343.html?tag=tp_pr
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,47401,00.html
_____________________________________________

o Supreme Court Sides with Freelancers in National Geographic Case

Washington -- In refusing to hear an appeal Tuesday on behalf of National
Geographic, the U.S. Supreme Court in effect sided with freelance
photographers in a case that sought to determine if freelancers should be
paid when their work is used as part of digital archives. The case
centered around a CD-ROM that National Geographic produced which contained
pictures that were originally published in print. The magazine argued its
contract with photographers included use of pictures in digital archives.
A lower court judge will now determine how much the magazine must pay
plaintiff and freelance photographer Jerry Greenberg, whose photographs
appeared both in the magazine and on the CD-ROM. A similar judgment was
awarded to freelance journalists in a case that pitted National Writers
Union president Jonathan Tasini and other freelancers against The New York
Times; there, the Supreme Court ruled that freelancers should be paid when
their articles re-appear in the digital archives of newspapers or
magazines.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47422,00.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/cdrom/complete/
_____________________________________________

o Wireless Device Security Technology Firm NTRU Raises $26.1 Million

Burlington, Mass. -- NTRU, a developer of cryptography security technology
used in wireless and multimedia devices, announced on Tuesday that it has
raised $26.1 million in its second round of venture capital financing.
Investor AB led the round; Texas Instruments, Sony, Macrovision, Lehman
Brothers Venture Capital, Greylock, Granite Ventures and 3i also
participated. Massachusetts-based NTRU develops "public key" cryptography
that can secure digital media delivered over wireless networks to cell
phones and handheld devices. The company claims its technology works
between 20 and 2,000 times faster than alternatives. NTRU will use the
funds for further product development.
http://www.ntru.com/pressroom/pressreleases/announce_funding.htm
http://www.ntru.com/technology/index.htm
_____________________________________________

o Sony Invests $124 Million in "Final Fantasy" Game Developer Square

Tokyo -- Sony has invested $124 million in Square, the game developer
responsible for the "Final Fantasy" line of roleplaying games, Reuters
reported on Tuesday. In exchange, Square will issue new shares to Sony
Computer Entertainment, making it the second-largest shareholder in the
company with an 18.6 percent stake. Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia
Pictures released the recent digitally animated feature film based on the
"Final Fantasy" games. "We are not necessarily obligated to Sony because
of this deal," Square president Hisashi Suzuki told Reuters. "But we can
gauge the situation in the future and offer software to the best-selling
hardware maker. And at this time, there is no doubt that Sony is the
best."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-7458933.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.squaresoft.com
_____________________________________________

o Sonicblue Licenses ReplayTV Technology to Electronics Maker Matsushita

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Consumer entertainment device maker Sonicblue
announced on Tuesday that it has granted Matsushita, which makes
Panasonic-brand products, a seven-year license to create devices that use
its ReplayTV technology. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Personal video recorder (PVR) devices -- such as TiVo -- allow viewers
pause and record live television. Santa Clara-based Sonicblue also
recently licensed ReplayTV to Motorola, which will incorporate ReplayTV
into its PVR-enabled set-top boxes for digital cable television.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011009/90171_1.html
http://www.replaytv.com
_____________________________________________

o Macrovision Invests in Digital Content Delivery, Security Firms

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Macrovision, a developer of digital rights management
and copy-protection technologies, said on Tuesday that it has made
investments in several companies working on security technology for
video-on-demand, streaming media and online gaming. The company invested
$3 million in video-on-demand security technology firm Widevine
Technologies. Digital Fountain, a developer of cost-effective streaming
media technology, received $4 million from Sunnyvale-based Macrovision.
The company also invested $1.5 million in NTRU, a provider of cryptography
that secures digital media transmitted over wireless networks. These new
investments add to Macrovision's existing portfolio, which includes stakes
in video-on-demand developer IVast, CD copy-protection firm TTR
Technologies and digital music distribution provider RioPort. "Working
with these companies we are developing best-of-breed digital rights
management system solutions that support highly secure, high quality and
reliable delivery of content to digital set-top boxes, PCs, personal video
recorders, handheld devices and other entertainment appliances," said Bill
Krepick, president and COO of Macrovision.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011009/90043_1.html
http://www.macrovision.com 
_____________________________________________

o Digital Media Software Developer Anark Raises $5.8 Million

Boulder, Colo. -- Anark Corp., a developer of digital media content
creation and streaming software, announced on Tuesday that it has raised
$5.8 million in the first closing of its second round of funding. New
investors Wolf Ventures and Murphree Venture Partners led the investment
round; a group of both new and previous investors also participated. The
company is looking to raise a total of at least $8 million for the round.
Colorado-based Anark's software is targeted at content developers, ISPs
and Web hosting providers that want to integrate 3D and 2D graphics,
video, audio, text and data and deliver them to users through a single
application. Anark said its software will be released in December. The
company will use the funds for marketing and sales efforts, staff
expansion and continued product development.
http://www.anark.com/news/get-press-release.php3?newsid=30
_____________________________________________

o Media Distribution Software Firm ESynch Lays Off 50% of Staff

Tustin, Calif. -- ESynch, a provider of digital media distribution and
rights management software, announced on Tuesday that it will lay off 50
percent of its staff as part of a cost reduction plan that the company
says will allow it to become profitable in three months. Tustin-based
ESynch will also relocate to a smaller office, saving $25,000 per month.
The company has laid off most of the engineering staff that developed its
software, and will now focus its efforts on sales and marketing its
products. "If companies in our industry are to become successful we need
to drive the revenues to profitability immediately," said Tom Hemingway,
CEO of ESynch.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011009/92213_1.html
http://www.esynch.com
_____________________________________________

o Corporate Web Publishing Software Firm Vodium Raises $1 Million

Washington, D.C. -- Vodium, a developer of Web publishing software for
businesses and the government, announced on Tuesday that it has raised
approximately $1 million in its second round of funding. Broadsword
Partners led the investment round; several new and existing investors also
participated. Washington-based Vodium provides software that synchronizes
audio, video, transcripts, slides, graphics, reports and Web content for
use in sales and training, distance learning, conferencing and
announcements. The company will use the funds to expand its marketing and
sales efforts both nationally and in Europe.
http://www.vodium.com/pressreleases/seriesb.html
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Uprizer, a developer of peer-to-peer networking
technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has named Dave Scantling as its
president and CEO. Previously, Scantling served as Hewlett-Packard's
general manager of E-services management, and has also consulted for the
Dept. of Defense, designing fiber-optic and communications networks. Santa
Monica-based Uprizer was founded by programmer Ian Clarke, who also
created Freenet -- an open source, encrypted file-sharing application on
which Uprizer's technology is based.
http://www.uprizer.com

(San Francisco) Pre-order sales for Nintendo's GameCube video game console
sold out in minutes at online retailers such as Toysrus.com and
Amazon.com, CNET reported on Tuesday. Some retailers repeated the practice
initiated with Microsoft's Xbox pre-orders and bundled the GameCube
console with a selection of games, in some cases increasing the total
price from $200 to $400. Nintendo's GameCube goes on sale at retail stores
on Nov. 18.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-7451402.html?tag=mn_hd

(San Francisco) Ecast, a developer of Internet-connected digital
entertainment jukeboxes, said on Tuesday that it has obtained the rights
to games and a tournament network originally developed by Midway Amusement
Games for that company's own kiosk-based entertainment offering. San
Francisco-based Ecast's jukeboxes will offer Web browsing, video chat and
a connection to digital music jukeboxes, in addition to the games obtained
from Midway.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/212820293&ticker=
http://www.ecastinc.com

(Calabasas, Calif.) Entertainment software publisher TDK Mediactive said
on Tuesday that it has acquired the rights to the Aquaman character from
DC Comics. The character will be part of a new animated series, "Justice
League," on the Cartoon Network. Calabasas-based TDK Mediactive will
release the first Aquaman game next year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011009/90058_1.html
http://www.tdk-mediactive.com

(Redmond, Wash.) MSNBC.com announced that it has partnered with Hispanic
Broadcasting Corporation to offer more Spanish-language news on its site.
The agreement will syndicate local Spanish-language content from 11 cities
covered by Hispanic Broadcasting's Netmio.com news site to MSNBC.com;
Hispanic Broadcasting will also translate English-language stories on the
Microsoft/NBC joint venture site.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011008/82099_1.html
http://www.netmio.com

===================================================
Job Postings:
===================================================
To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html

> Dance Music Marketing/Business Development Pioneer

Needed: BizDev trailblazer with experience in the independent electronic
music industry, to spearhead a unique and rapidly developing music
subscription service. Must understand what's new and good in the dance
music world, niche brand marketing, and why people still crave 12 inch
records.
Please send a short bio (including last 5 CDs purchased) to
ajobforme@mindspring.com
 
______________________

> CyberRep, General Manager- Coos Bay, OR

Lead the activities associated with the management of all departments
within the Customer Interaction Center. This includes the analysis and
review of the day-to-day operations, risk assessment planning, P&L
management, and budget review.
Send resumes to pmadison@cyberrep.com
http://www.cyberrep.com
______________________

> FierceMarkets, Ad Sales Manager - Washington, DC

Fast-growing online publisher seeks smart, creative self-starters to drive
our ad sales effort. Candidates should have a proven sales track record
with at least two years of experience. Come join the fun! Send resumes to
jeff@fiercemarkets.com

http://www.fiercemarkets.com

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Events/Services Postings:
===================================================
To Post Events/Services: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Office Space For Rent - Los Angeles

Prime Sunset Boulevard location. Approx. 588 sq ft. Second floor, spacious
two + offices with private bathroom. Convenient parking. Recently
renovated. Quiet, nice work environment. Other tenants in building are
primarily entertainment and new media companies. DSL-ready. Rent is $1,175
per month.
For more information, please call 323-363-3620.
______________________

> SHORTSPAN Film & Video Festival, OCTOBER DATES

SHORT MOVIES! Dreamspan presents the 9TH Annual Short Attention Span Film & Video Festival. Shortspan is a non-stop two hour program of ALL NEW
two-minute or-shorter films, including ultra-short documentaries like
"Peekaboo Sunday," a story about raising miniature horses or "Exotic
World," an inside look at the lives of some of America's first burlesque
performers-- and 57 more shorts! The tour will travel to 30 North American
cities.

CHICAGO, IL: Columbia College - Oct. 10 - 7PM
BOSTON, MA: Boston University - Oct. 10 - 7PM
KYONGIU CITY, SOUTH KOREA: Film & Video Dept - Oct 10
BROOKLINE, MA: Coolidge Corner Theatre - Oct. 12-18
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Lucky Bar - Oct. 23 - 8PM
SALT LAKE CITY, UT: Univ. of Utah Union Theatre - Oct. 24 - 8PM

HOLLYWOOD, CA: The American Cinematheque - Oct. 17 - 7:30PM
SAN DIEGO, CA: San Diego Museum of Art - Oct. 18 - 7:30PM
BERKELEY, CA: Fine Arts Cinema - Oct. 23-24 - 9:30PM

For more info: http://www.dreamspan.com/shortspan
______________________

> Digital Media Revolution in the Americas, 11/29-12/01 -- Pasadena, CA

Presented by the Institute of the Americas and Annenberg School for
Communication, this 2 1/2 day forum will include Sr. Exec. Networking w/ a
special focus on Latin Americas & U.S. Hispanic markets, copyright, rights
mgmt., dist., infrastructure, digital film, iTV, streaming, device trends,
content financing. Early-bird 40% off till 9/30. Keynote Steven Bandel,
Pres. - The Cisneros Group. Sponsors: JP Morgan, Motorola, Global
Crossing, Walt Disney Company, Digital Media Wire, Cahners International
TV, iHollywood, Motion Picture Assoc., National Assoc. of TV Prog. Exec.,
National Assoc. of Theatre owners. For more information:
martin@iamericas.org
Register at: http://www.iamericas.org/events
______________________

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Copyright 2001 Digital Media Wire