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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 23, 2002
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Optical Discmaker DataPlay Files for Ch. 11 Bankruptcy
o CNET: Berman to Revise Controversial P2P Hacking Bill for Next Congress
o Two Way TV U.S. Gets New CEO, Hires Advisor to Explore Alternatives
o Interactive TV Firm Liberate Technologies Gets Nasdaq Delisting Notice
o Vivendi Selling European, Latin American Publishing Units
> Digital Media Wire Event: "iTV Visions" | NYC | Nov. 14
> Featured Event: Tablet PC Digital Publishing Event, M-Commerce Event
o Briefly Noted: Microsoft - Smartphone, Ecast - DreamWorks Records,
CinemaNow - NHL, E.Digital - in-flight entertainment, Mad Catz - Xbox
light gun, Terayon - NCube - HDTV ads, "Counter-Strike," Hobbyist
webcasters - Small Webcaster Amendments Act of 2002
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> Jobs: East Coast Sales Rep.
> Events
> Marketplace: DeskTop Author, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o Optical Discmaker DataPlay Files for Ch. 11 Bankruptcy
Boulder, Colo. -- DataPlay, a company that raised $120 million to develop
a new quarter-sized optical disc format that could hold 500MB of music and
other media, has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy, the Associated Press
reported. The company laid off all 80 of its employees last week following
a brief period during which they had been furloughed. "We're still talking
with potential buyers," DataPlay founder Steven Volk told AP. "It was
inevitable that we needed to file Chapter 11 just to protect the assets of
the company." Several record companies were prepared to release
pre-recorded albums on DataPlay discs, and the first devices capable of
playing the recordable discs had already hit the market. In its bankruptcy
filings, the company claimed assets of between $1 million and $10 million
and debts of between $10 million and $50 million.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4343569.htm
http://www.dataplay.com
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o CNET: Berman to Revise Controversial P2P Hacking Bill for Next Congress
Washington -- A controversial bill that would allow entertainment
companies to hack into peer-to-peer file-sharing networks and use
technological countermeasures to combat the free trade of their
copyrighted works will be revised before it is reintroduced in the next
Congressional session, CNET News.com reported on Wednesday. Rep. Howard
Berman's (D-Ca.) P2P Piracy Prevention Act drew ire from consumer groups
and technology firms including the Consumer Electronics Association when
it was introduced. "[Berman] plans to significantly redraft the bill to
accommodate reasonable concerns before reintroduction in the 108th
(Congress)," said Alec French, an aide to Rep. Berman. News.com reported
that French also said Berman "welcomes suggestions" on how to address
objections to the bill while maintaining its intended goal.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-963087.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.house.gov/berman/pr072502.htm
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o Two Way TV U.S. Gets New CEO, Hires Advisor to Explore Alternatives
Los Angeles -- Two Way TV US, the U.S. arm of the U.K.-based interactive
TV content producer, announced on Wednesday that it has appointed company
chairman Bruce W. Bauer to the additional position of CEO. Bauer was
chairman and CEO of Interactive Network when the company merged with Two
Way TV US in May 2002. Los Angeles-based Two Way TV US also announced it
has hired the investment bank Watertower Group to explore "strategic
alternatives related to the raising of equity financing, strategic
partnering, and merger options." The company develops interactive
television programming such as TV games. "I believe that when the U.S.
reaches commercial deployment of enhanced interactive television services
that viable revenue models will follow and the value of these assets can
be realized," said Bauer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021023/230358_1.html
http://www.twowaytvus.com
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o Interactive TV Firm Liberate Technologies Gets Nasdaq Delisting Notice
San Carlos, Calif. -- Liberate Technologies, a provider of interactive TV
software and services, announced on Wednesday it has received notice from
the Nasdaq that its shares are in danger of being delisted from the
exchange. The Nasdaq said Liberate currently does not comply with the
"timely filing requirements" for required listing; the company recently
announced it had found an accounting error and would restate results for
its fiscal year ended May 31, 2002 and delay issuing results for its first
quarter of 2003. San Carlos, Calif.-based Liberate said it requested and
was granted an appeal before a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021022/sftu171_1.html
http://www.liberate.com
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o Vivendi Selling European, Latin American Publishing Units
Paris -- As part of its plan to cut its high debt levels, cash-strapped
Franco-American media giant Vivendi Universal said on Wednesday that it
has sold its non-U.S. publishing assets to French publisher Lagardere for
about 1.25 billion euro ($1.22 billion). The deal will not include
Houghton-Mifflin, the Boston-based educational publisher, because Vivendi
said the offer prices were too low. Vivendi is selling off assets to
reduce its 19 billion euro ($18.6 billion) debt.
http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/vu2/en/news/00001084.cfm
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EVENT -- DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE Presents...
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iTV Visions: Technology Transforming Entertainment
New York City | Thurs. November 14 | 1:30-7:30 PM
In association with the Interactive Television Alliance
Sponsors: Etronica | ITA | Filter Media | AIM
This half-day executive forum will present views on the future of
entertainment based on next generation interactive television technologies
emerging today. Thought leaders from leading edge companies that are
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entertainment is on the verge of yet another radical transformation.
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events/itv_visions_111902.htm
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FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
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Briefly Noted:
(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft announced that the first cell phone to utilize
its Smartphone Windows-based operating system will be available next week
in the U.K. Wireless network operator Orange will offer the $278 Orange
SPV handset, featuring "Pocket" versions of Microsoft programs like Office
and its Windows Media Player. Wireless entertainment developer Versaly
created ringtones and a number of music "themes" for the device, while
PacketVideo is providing streaming video technology. Manufacturers of
Smartphone-powered handsets will include Samsung, Sendo, Compal
Electronics and HTC Corp. The Orange SPV will become available in France,
Denmark and Switzerland in coming weeks, while AT&T Wireless said it will
offer Smartphone-based handsets in the U.S. by mid-2003.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021022/sftu104x_1.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/824310.asp?0dm=C14LT
http://www.versaly.com
(San Francisco) Ecast, a provider of content delivery technology to
Internet-connected devices like digital jukeboxes, announced it has signed
a licensing agreement with DreamWorks Records to distribute songs from
DreamWorks artists to devices on its network. San Francisco-based Ecast
recently merged with RioPort, a provider of secure music download
technology, and raised $14 million in new financing.
http://www.ecastinc.com
http://www.dreamworksrecords.com
(Marina del Rey, Calif.) CinemaNow, a provider of video-on-demand content
and delivery technology, announced on Wednesday that the National Hockey
League's Internet business, NHL Interactive CyberEnterprises, has licensed
its video-on-demand delivery technology for use on NHL.com. The site
recently launched a subscription video-on-demand package offering
up-to-date streaming video highlights as well as full-length video of
classic games from its library. Marina del Rey, Calif.-based CinemaNow's
system uses Microsoft's digital rights management technology.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/222950731&ticker=lgf|lgf.to
http://www.cinemanow.com
http://www.nhl.com
(San Diego) E.Digital, a manufacturer of digital entertainment devices,
announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Aircraft Protective
Systems (APS) to develop a hard drive-based device for playing movies,
music and other in-flight entertainment. The two companies are working
under contract for an undisclosed U.S. airline. Passengers will be able to
reserve one of these units when they book their flight and use it while
waiting for their flight at the gate as well as on board the plane. San
Diego-based E.Digital said the device ought to be completed in the first
quarter of 2003.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021023/230088_1.html
http://www.edig.com
(San Diego) Mad Catz Interactive, a developer and manufacturer of video
game peripherals, announced on Wednesday that it has completed the first
light gun controller for Microsoft's Xbox video game console. This Mad
Catz Blaster, in development for over a year with Microsoft, will be
available for $39.99 in stores beginning this month. Sega's "The House of
the Dead III," the first title to utilize the light gun, will be released
on Oct. 29.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021023/232399_1.html
http://www.newstream.com/cgi-bin/preview_asset.cgi?32212%2020021023BW6860
http://www.madcatz.com
(Santa Clara, Calif.) Terayon, a provider of digital video management
hardware, announced on Wednesday that it partnered with video-on-demand
and digital ad technology provider NCube to develop a system for inserting
high-definition ads into HDTV content. The technology will allow cable TV
operators to offer local companies the opportunity to advertise on their
growing number of HDTV channels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021023/sfw052_1.html
http://www.terayon.com
http://www.ncube.com
(New York) Business technology publication Business 2.0's online edition
recently featured an article on Minh Le, who at 23 developed
"Counter-Strike," currently the most popular massively multiplayer online
game. Le created an entirely new game using the basic code for
"Half-Life," which was freely given away by its developer,
Washington-based Valve. The company later acquired Le's creation for an
undisclosed sum. The article reports that Le is currently working on a
sequel to "Counter-Strike," in the basement of his parents' home.
http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,43489,FF.html
http://www.counter-strike.net
(Los Angeles) The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday reported on why some
small webcasters are opposed to the Small Webcaster Amendments Act of 2002
-- which recently failed in the Senate. The bill would give a certain
group of small webcasters a break on the royalties they pay record labels
and artists to stream music online. "The practical effect of what [the
bill] was going to achieve is that a huge Webcaster with 1,000 listeners
may pay as much as one with 20, and that doesn't strike me as fair,"
hobbyist webcaster Brian Hurley told The Times. "I can't fault [the
Webcasters who negotiated the bill] for trying to get better rates, but it
was at the expense of everyone else in the industry." Hurley's station,
which plays Detroit-based industrial and electronica music, reaches an
average of 30 listeners.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-webcast23oct23001429,0,
1901644.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.5469:
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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East Coast Sales Rep - Imaging and Music Software Firm
Imaging and music software firm is seeking an independent, East Coast
sales representative. We have great products - you have strong
relationships with camera and computer hardware manufacturers and
marketers. Significant OEM experience strongly preferred. Position offers
a retainer and generous commissions. Interested parties should forward
their resume to David McKie at: david@simplestar.com
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CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
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