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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- November 7, 2002
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Arbitron Acquires License for MeasureCast Streaming Audio Ratings
o Report: Top Broadband ISPs Add 1.68 Million Subscribers In Third Quarter
o Sikh Group Calls Eidos' "Hitman 2" Video Game Racist, Demands Recall
o Electronic Privacy Information Center Urges Colleges Not to Monitor P2P
o FT: Reuters To Cut Editorial Staff
> Digital Media Wire Event: "iTV Visions" | NYC | Nov. 14
> Digital Media Wire -- New Publications
> Featured Company: Etronica
o Briefly Noted: Loudeye - Amazon.com, "BMX XXX" contest - Howard Stern,
ADV Films - The Anime Network, FYE - sampling stations, Mobile Games
Interoperability Forum, Nokia Game, "Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!", Princeton
scientist - CD copy-protection
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> Jobs: East Coast Sales Rep.
> Events: GasPedal VIP Dinner
> Marketplace: Homeland Security Directory, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
To post a Classified Ad:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/mainpostingpage.html
or contact David Peebler at david@digitalmediawire.com
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o Arbitron Acquires License for MeasureCast Streaming Audio Ratings
New York -- Media audience measurement firm Arbitron announced on Thursday
that it has acquired a license to the streaming audio audience measurement
system and related assets from Portland, Ore.-based MeasureCast. New
York-based Arbitron is also purchasing the "MeasureCast" trademark and
other assets necessary to produce and maintain a streaming audience
measurement service. Financial terms of the transaction were not
disclosed. Other MeasureCast customers like Nielsen and NetRatings will
retain certain rights to the service. "This is a significant step forward
in our efforts to establish an industry standard currency for measuring
streaming media audiences," said Bill Rose, vice president and general
manager of Webcast Services for Arbitron. MeasureCast said it will
continue to develop technologies and services with its strategic partners,
under a new and as of yet unannounced name.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021107/72456_1.html
http://www.measurecast.com
http://www.arbitron.com
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o Report: Top Broadband ISPs Add 1.68 Million Subscribers In Third Quarter
Durham, N.H. -- Major U.S. cable and DSL high-speed Internet access
providers added a combined 1.68 million subscribers during the third
quarter of 2002, brining the total number of subscribers to 15.6 million,
according to data released on Thursday by New Hampshire-based Leichtman
Research Group (LRG). The top cable-based broadband providers accounted
for 68 percent of net additions for the quarter, adding over 1.1 million
subscribers, compared to 540,000 added by major DSL providers. According
to LRG, the top cable operators now account for over 10 million broadband
Internet subscribers, maintaining a 65 percent share of the market.
http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/press/1107release.html
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o Sikh Group Calls Eidos' "Hitman 2" Video Game Racist, Demands Recall
London -- Video game developer Eidos Interactive has come under fire for
its "Hitman 2" title by a group called The Sikh Coalition, which claims
the game depicts racist violence against the religious sect and an
oppressed group in India, the Dalits. A letter sent from the organization
to Eidos states that the game "glorifies violent altercations of turbaned
Sikh game characters inside a Gurdwara, a Sikh house of worship," and
"portrays Dalits as followers of an evil cult leader." The Sikh
Coalition has demanded that Eidos recall all shipped copies of the game
and remove all content that depicts violence against Sikhs and Dalits.
London-based Eidos responded in a statement. "Eidos apologizes that
certain members of the Sikh community are concerned at images and
references within the game. Although the game is already on general
release, all images and content depicting Sikhs in the game have been
removed from the website. Eidos takes all consumer and public views
seriously and will take them into account when moving forward and
developing future games."
http://www.sikhcoalition.org/petitioneidos_background.asp
http://www.eidosinteractive.com/games/info.html?gmid=118
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o Electronic Privacy Information Center Urges Colleges Not to Monitor P2P
Washington -- The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public
interest research center focused on the right to privacy and emerging
civil liberties issues, yesterday sent a letter to the presidents of major
colleges and universities, urging them not to adopt "invasive"
peer-to-peer (P2P) network monitoring systems. Entertainment industry
trade groups the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) recently sent their own
letters to university presidents, asking them to implement such monitoring
to combat copyright infringement among students. EPIC argues in its letter
that, "the surveillance of individuals' Internet communications implicates
important rights, and raises questions about the appropriate role of
higher education institutions in policing private behavior," adding that
the practice "can have a chilling effect on the marketplace of ideas."
http://www.epic.org/privacy/student/p2pletter.html
http://www.epic.org/privacy/student/
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-964908.html?tag=cd_mh
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o FT: Reuters To Cut Editorial Staff
London -- Reuters, the world's largest news and financial information
group, will shortly announce cuts in its editorial staff, according to
reports by various financial news sources. Reuters has been hit by a drop
in spending by banks and brokers and faces increasing competition from New
York-based Bloomberg.
http://www.sltrib.com/11072002/business/14209.htm
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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
Sponsors: Etronica | World Gate | iTV Marketer | 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
driving these technologies into the marketplace will gather to show how
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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NEW PUBLICATIONS: Digital Media Wire Release...
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DMW is proud to announce the release of two cutting-edge reports:
2002 Game Industry Report | Digital Media Law & Policy Report (Oct.
Edition)
The following are excerpts from the reports:
"In the past, I have been told that the problem with those of us in the
entertainment industry is that our businesses are run on old business
models, and I have to remind people that our industry has done a lot to
promote new technologies and has always been active in pursuing Internet
distribution."
-Doug Lowenstein, President, IDSA (2002 Game Industry Report)
"We promise to return when there is an environment in which an independent
company such as ours is allowed to compete for your business. Whether the
current environment of increasing media concentration is good for our
Democracy is, of course, the ultimate question."
-Jonathan Taplin, CEO, Intertainer (Digital Media Law & Policy Report)
2002 Game Industry Report (15 pages): $19.00
October Issue - Digital Media Law & Policy Report (25 pages): $49.00
Information and orders: http://www.digitalmedialawreport.com/order.htm
Article submissions & inquiries: lawreport@digitalmediawire.com
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
Meet Etronica at "iTV Visions" in NYC on Nov. 14th.see you there!
Meet us at iTV Visions to learn about the vision of the future for
"Interest Based Navigation" of digital content. Jim Cantalini, CEO of Gist
Communications, will be on the panel. Gist is the leading independent
developer of electronic programming guides (EPGs) and related
applications. Gist has partnered with Etronica to offer a unique new EPG
experience. Our mutual goal is to help MSO's increase revenues (through
one-click purchases of premium content, targeted ads, and commerce.)
Additionally, the compelling navigation experience can help reduce
customer churn.
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Briefly Noted:
(Seattle) Loudeye, a provider of webcasting and streaming audio samples
for online retailers, announced on Thursday that Amazon.com will use its
service to stream audio samples for its website customers. The company won
the contract over from New York-based rival Muze, whose MuzeTunes service
had previously powered Amazon.com's samples. Seattle-based Loudeye has
licenses from all five major record labels and provides over 3 million
total samples from 250,000 CDs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021107/sfth032_1.html
http://www.loudeye.com
(Glen Cove, N.Y.) Game developer Acclaim on Thursday announced a promotion
for its controversial upcoming "BMX XXX" title, banned by some leading
retailers for its nudity and profanity, which will be featured on "The
Howard Stern Show." Women wishing to be crowned "Ms. BMX XXX" may submit
pictures online that will be voted on by website visitors; the winner and
a guest will be flown to New York City for a night on the town with Howard
Stern regulars Gary and K.C.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021107/70117_1.html
http://www.bmxxxx.com
(Houston) ADV Films on Thursday announced the creation of The Anime
Network, a 24-hour cable channel that will feature the Japanese animation
genre. The company is the largest producer and distributor of anime in the
U.S., and holds the rights to titles including "Spriggan," "Sailor Moon,"
"Samurai X," "Medabots" and "Robotech." Houston-based ADV said it will
soon announce carriage agreements with cable TV operators.
http://www.advfilms.com
(Albany, N.Y.) Trans World Entertainment's FYE (For Your Entertainment)
chain of retail movie and music stores announced it has deployed over
12,000 audio and video sampling stations in FYE stores nationwide. The
audio service lets shoppers scan the bar code of any CD to access
30-second clips of every song on the disc; the stations will also offer
movie and video game trailers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021107/nyth049_1.html
http://www.fye.com
(Piscataway, N.J.) The Mobile Games Interoperability Forum (MGIF), an
industry trade group, announced on Thursday that mobile games services
provider In-Fusio and Symbian, a developer of operating systems for mobile
handsets, have joined the group as sponsor members. The MGIF was formed in
July 2001 by Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens to define mobile games
interoperability specifications and application programming interfaces
(APIs) for network-based servers.
http://www.in-fusio.com
http://www.symbian.com
http://www.mgif.org
(Helsinki) Cell phone and wireless technology developer Nokia said on
Thursday that a record over one million Nokia phone owners have registered
to participate in this year's Nokia Game, the company's annual game
challenge. Finland-based Nokia said that beginning Nov. 11, players will
receive a mission that they must complete using clues and information
provided via the Internet, SMS, chat, interactive voice response calls and
mini-movies distributed over the Web.
http://press.nokia.com/PR/200211/880617_5.html
http://www.nokiagame.com
(Redmond, Wash.) Nintendo of America has released "Hamtaro: Ham-Hams
Unite!" for its Game Boy Advance handheld. The game is based on the
popular Japanese children's TV series "Hamtaro," featuring an animated
hamster, which currently airs on Cartoon Network in the U.S.
http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=7571
(London) NewScientist.com recently featured commentary from John
Halderman, a computer scientist from Princeton University, on why the
recording industry's plans to place copy-protection on music CDs to
prevent unauthorized copying is "fundamentally misguided." "Software
upgrades can be delivered easily using the Internet," Halderman told
NewScientist.com, "and this will permanently undermine the usefulness of
audio CD copy prevention."
http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99993020
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
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
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm
Feast For Smart Marketers: Little Italy, NYC, 11/18/2002
1000 CEOs and SVPs have attended! Join the best marketers in the business
as we do a few deals, reconnect with old friends, and meet new people with
new opportunities. Our guarantee: No speeches, no PowerPoint, no posers.
"I left with a "wow" and I'm really looking forward to the next one." --
Ron Kovas, CEO, i-traffic
For more information: http://www.gaspedal.net/feast
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CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================
To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
Only 55 copies remaining of Directory of Homeland Security
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To purchase the directory, go to: http://www.homeland-directory.com
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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