Main Stories
o Sony, Bertelsmann Agree to Landmark Merger of Record Labels
o EMI Close to Raising $1-Billion for Bid for Warner Music
o Friendster Online Community Site Raises $13 Million in Venture Capital
o Penn State to Offer Premium Napster Service Free to All Students
o FarStone Software Defeats PC Game Copy-Protection to Allow Backup Copies
o Vivendi Universal Games, Interplay Settle Dispute, Resume Distribution Pact
o Samsung to Release Camcorder Phone With 2-Hour Recording Capacity

o Briefly Noted: Sun Microsystems - WGBH, Buzztime Entertainment - Comcast, Chartwell - Opera Telecom, Majesco Games - "Drake of the 99 Dragons," Nokia 7700 TV phone - European TV license fees, RIAA lawsuits - spike in CD sales

New York -- In a landmark agreement that will create the world's second-largest record label and reduce the five major record labels to just four, Japan's Sony Corp. and Germany's Bertelsmann have announced an agreement to merge their record label businesses. The new 50-50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group will be named Sony BMG, and will not include a merger of the companies' respective music publishing, manufacturing or physical distribution businesses. Bertelsmann CEO Gunter Thielen told Reuters he expects the deal to close within two months, assuming the agreement passes antitrust muster in both the U.S. and European Union.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031106/nyth114_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/031106/1401001504_1.html 
http://www.sonymusic.com 
http://www.bmgmusic.com
_____________________________________________

o EMI Close to Raising $1-Billion for Bid for Warner Music

London -- EMI, the world's third-largest music group, is close to lining up commitments from investment banks for up to $1 billion to fund its bid for Warner Music, the fourth-largest music group, Reuters reported on Thursday. The banks involved are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland. Meanwhile, Sony Music and Bertelsmann's BMG, the second- and fifth-largest record companies, respectively, announced on Thursday plans to merge. If EMI does buy Warner Music, it will create a global music giant second only to Universal Music.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C24B32576
http://www.emigroup.com
_____________________________________________

o Friendster Online Community Site Raises $13 Million in Venture Capital

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Friendster, an online community network that links friends and friends of friends for dating and general networking purposes, has raised $13 million in new financing. A spokeswoman for Benchmark Capital confirmed that the venture capital firm co-led the round along with Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers; Battery Ventures also participated. Founded in 2002 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jonathan Abrams, the site now boasts nearly two million members for its service, which is currently free to use. The San Jose Mercury News recently reported that Friendster had turned down a $30 million acquisition offer from search engine giant Google, which it said was less than the reported $53 million valuation set by Benchmark and Kleiner Perkins.
http://www.benchmark.com
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7148749.htm
http://www.friendster.com
____________________________________________

o Penn State to Offer Premium Napster Service Free to All Students

Anaheim, Calif. -- The new Napster service has reached a deal with Penn State University to offer students access to Napster for free, charging students only when they choose to make permanent downloads or burn songs onto CD. Penn State president Graham B. Spanier announced the deal on Thursday at an educational conference in Anaheim, Calif. "This will be the first step in a new, legal approach designed to meet student interest in getting extensive digital access to music," said Spanier. The cost for the Napster Premium Service will come out of the information technology fee included in the tuition paid by the school's 83,000 students, although exact figures were not given. An initial roll-out in January for Penn State's 18,000 on campus residents will be followed by a full launch in the fall of 2004 for all students and faculty. The school also intends to explore offering the service to its 150,000 dues-paying alumni. University president Spanier also serves as co-chair of the Committee on Higher Education and the Entertainment Industry, along with Recording Industry Association of America president Cary Sherman.
http://live.psu.edu/story/4586 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C1CF24676 
http://www.napster.com
____________________________________________

o FarStone Software Defeats PC Game Copy-Protection to Allow Backup Copies

Irvine, Calif. -- In a move likely to draw scrutiny from lawyers in the video game industry, security and CD/DVD software developer FarStone Technology has released a program that defeats the copy-protection technology on PC video games so that users may make back-up copies of the CD or DVD discs. Irvine, Calif.-based FarStone says its GameCopy software does not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it a crime to circumvent the copyright protections on a digital device, such as video game software. Similar software from 321 Studios that allows users to defeat protections and make backup copies of DVD movies drew a lawsuit from the major Hollywood movie studios. "It's the only program of its kind on the market. I think consumers will be excited to save hundreds of dollars in replacing lost or damaged game discs by protecting their investment with backup copies," said FarStone CEO Thomas Lin. However, the company says that GameCopy "works with all four of the major copy protections," allowing users to bypass Macrovision's SafeDisc and SafeDisc 2, Sony's SecuROM and MLS LaserLock. A copyright disclaimer on the company's website reads: "GameCopy may be used only to make the one archival copy permitted under section 117 of the Copyright Act and for no other purpose." Founded in 1993, FarStone claims partnerships with technology firms including Intel, Toshiba, NEC and Acer.
http://www.farstone.com/home/en/shtml/announce/GameCopy8_PR.shtml
http://www.farstone.com/home/en/shtml/gccopyright_disclosure.shtml
____________________________________________

o Vivendi Universal Games, Interplay Settle Dispute, Resume Distribution Pact

Irvine, Calif. -- Video game publisher Interplay Entertainment announced that it has settled a contractual dispute with Vivendi Universal Games that had caused the company to break the contract and consider legal action, and will re-commence using Vivendi as a distributor for its game titles. Interplay announced in September that it would terminate the agreement, in particular for Vivendi's "refusing to pay Interplay certain monies due following our latest release, 'Lionheart.'" The companies on Thursday said they resolved all disputes and will honor the August 2002 contract, whereby Vivendi will distribute all Interplay titles in North America and Asia-Pacific through August 2005. "We are pleased to have come to an understanding with Interplay and look forward to the upcoming launch of 'Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel,'" said Philip W. O'Neil, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Vivendi Universal Games.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031105/law080_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030926/def025_1.html 
http://www.vugames.com 
http://www.interplay.com
____________________________________________

o Samsung to Release Camcorder Phone With 2-Hour Recording Capacity

Seoul, Korea -- Consumer electronics firm Samsung announced that next week it will release its SCH-V410, a cell phone capable of recording and editing up to two hours of video. The camcorder phone can also hold up to 30 downloaded songs, in addition to functioning as a remote control that can change channels or adjust volume on a TV, DVD player, VCR, karaoke machine or set-top box. Korea-based Samsung said it will also release a PCS version of the phone, and that the camcorder phone will retail for under $600.
http://www.samsungelectronics.com

Top

Top

____________________

> Division VP - Legal Affairs

Online division of global entertainment company seeks VP of Legal Affairs based in New York to handle commercial transactions (content licensing, traffic, marketing and distribution deals) and other legal counsel, as well as to be responsible for ensuring compliance with editorial standards and intellectual property license terms.  Looking for 6 - 8 years' of experience.  A strong Internet background is required with in-house experience preferred. Please send resume, cover letter and salary requirements to legalres58@yahoo.com
 

Top

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Networking equipment and software firm Sun Microsystems said that it has teamed with Boston PBS network WGBH to launch its first iForce center for digital asset management. The new center provides proof-of-concept testing facilities designed to help broadcast networks, television stations and other digital media-intensive businesses, as well as governmental and educational institutions, to better manage their digital assets.
http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2003-11/sunflash.20031104.3.html

(Carlsbad, Calif.) Buzztime Entertainment, a subsidiary of NTN Communications that provides interactive TV and wireless trivia games, said on Thursday that cable TV operator Comcast will test its Buzztime Trivia Channel with Comcast Digital Cable customers in Maryland's Harford and Howard Counties beginning later this month. Carlsbad, Calif.-based Buzztime's interactive TV trivia channel is also available for some subscribers of Time Warner Cable and Susquehanna Communications.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031106/lath012_1.html 
http://www.comcast.com
http://www.buzztime.com

(Edison, N.J.) Video game publisher Majesco Games has released its "Drake of the 99 Dragons" title for Microsoft Xbox to retailers. Developed by Stockholm-based Idol FX, the game is billed as an interactive comic book.
http://www.majescogames.com 
http://www.idolfx.se

(Calgary, Canada) Chartwell, a provider of gaming software systems and entertainment content to the online and mobile gambling industry, said on Thursday that it will provide online and mobile casino games to U.K.-based Opera Telecom. Opera provides its premium SMS services to firms including British Telecom and Orange.
http://www.operatelecom.com 
http://www.chartwelltechnology.com 
http://www.playerselectcasino.com

(Helsinki) Reuters on Thursday reported on the license fees that many European users of cell phone maker Nokia's new 7700 TV handset may have to pay in order to legally view television programming on the phone. Most European nations charge TV viewers a license fee to cover the costs of producing public television programming, although in many cases one fee covers all sets within a household. "If you can pay that for that kind of telephone I think you can afford to pay the TV fee," Esko Kotilainen, director of television fee administration for Finnish communications watchdog Ficora, told Reuters.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L43132776
http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,47550,00.html

(San Francisco) Online magazine Salon.com on Thursday reported on the purported correlation between the launch of the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) legal campaign against individual users of music file-sharing services, and a recent upturn in CD sales. The article weighs a number of factors, including quality of releases, Universal Music's decision to cut CD prices, the launch of iTunes and other legitimate services, and the RIAA's lawsuits in trying to determine the cause for a sales surge around the last week in September, when U.S. album sales rose 16% over the corresponding week in 2002.
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/11/06/cd_sales

Top

Top

Copyright 2003 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.