archives

o WSJ: Paid Multiuser Web Games Draw Profits For Manufacturers
o CinemaNow Launches Pay-Per-View Movie Downloads
o Judge Rules EBay Not Liable For Bootlegged Music Auctions
o Broadband Sports Lays Off 20 Percent Of Staff
o Filmmaker Site Eveo Launches Business Division, Eveobiz.com
o Briefly Noted: Listen.com Radio, NEO 35 MP3 Player, Sony Playstation 2
Sales, ComedyWorld - Ahmet Zappa/Kennedy, 100percentSports.com, MediaBay - eSplice, NetPace - TotallyTrivia.com, "UK Media Forum"
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o WSJ: Paid Multiuser Web Games Draw Profits For Manufacturers

New York -- Web-based video games that charge users a monthly subscription
fee are gaining in popularity and producing profits for manufacturers, The
Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Games such as Sony's EverQuest
and Electronic Arts' Ultima Online charge a subscription fee to interact
with other players while exploring constantly updated, elaborate 3D
civilizations on their PCs. The games are modern versions of older
roleplaying games such as the popular "Dungeons and Dragons," where
players took on the role of a character in a fantasy world, battling
dragons and accruing different weapons, magic and riches. EverQuest and
Ultima Online both boast hundreds of thousands of subscribers, who each
pay around $10 a month to have access to the online fantasy worlds.
Keeping content fresh and storylines, and providing technical support for
players is an expensive undertaking. Sony said that it employs a number of
"volunteer" users to help its 100-member game master and tech support
team. The company said that the cost of operating EverQuest is
approximately $1.5 million per month. However, while declining to give The
Journal profit figures for the game, Sony Online Entertainment CEO Kelly
Flock did say, "It's a very profitable game -- no question."
http://www.station.sony.com/everquest/
http://www.ea.com/worlds/games/pw_ultima00/home.jsp
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o CinemaNow Launches Pay-Per-View Movie Downloads

Marina del Rey, Calif. -- Entertainment site CinemaNow announced on
Thursday the launch of its pay-per-view feature-length movie streaming
program. The first film to be released through the program will be Lions
Gate Films' "Heaven's Burning," starring Russell Crowe. Marina del
Rey-based CinemaNow is majority-owned by Lions Gate Entertainment. The
films will be offered for $2.99 on CinemaNow's web site, and will be
available for unlimited viewings for 48 hours. Movies will be streamed to
consumers in Microsoft'sWindows Media format, which has added security and
digital rights management features to prevent films from being copied and
re-distributed. Microsoft said that its technology will deliver
near-VHS-quality for broadband users who stream the film at 300 Kpbs, and
near-DVD quality to those who stream at 750 Kpbs. Sunnyvale-based iBEAM
will provide the e-commerce technology to process payments for the films.
In addition to films from Lions Gate, CinemaNow will also offer selection
from its 800-film library from Trimark Pictures, Allied Artists, Tai Seng
Home Video and Salvation Films.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001109/ca_microso.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001109/ca_ibeam.html
http://www.cinemanow.com
http://www.ibeam.com
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o Judge Rules EBay Not Liable For Bootlegged Music Auctions

San Francisco -- A Superior Court judge in San Francisco dismissed a
lawsuit against online auction site eBay on Tuesday, saying that the
company cannot be sued for allowing users of its web site to offer
bootlegged music CDs in auctions, the Associated Press reported. The judge
cited the Communications Deceny Act in his ruling, which does not let
computer service providers be punished for the speech of others.
"Plaintiff's attempt to impose responsibility on eBay as the seller of
items auctioned over its service is no different from the unsuccessful
attempts that have been made to hold computer service providers liable as
distributors rather than publishers of defamatory or pornographic
materials," the judge said in the ruling. The suit was filed by a Grateful
Dead fan who hoped to get illegal live concert recordings of the band
removed from eBay auctions -- the Grateful Dead were known for allowing
fans to freely record their live performances, but frowned upon people
then selling the homemade recordings for profit.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001109/tc/ebay_music_2.html
http://www.ebay.com
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o Broadband Sports Lays Off 20 Percent Of Staff

San Francisco -- Sports entertainment site Broadband Sports has laid off
20 percent of its 250 employees, TheStandard.com reported on Thursday.
Santa Monica-based Broadband Sports said that the 50 layoffs came in its
e-commerce and IT divisions, where the company will now outsource the work
to other companies and individuals. The company creates web sites for
major athletes, and employs a number of respected sports writers. It
currently provides content to sites including AOL and Yahoo.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,20070,00.html
http://www.broadbandsports.com
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o Filmmaker Site Eveo Launches Business Division, Eveobiz.com

San Francisco -- Eveo, an online community site for amateur filmmakers,
announced on Thursday that it is moving into the business-to-business
sector with the launch of a new site called Eveobiz.com. The site will let
businesses aggregate content created by the Eveo community of filmmakers,
and pay the filmmakers for using their creations. iSyndicate, Maverick
Records, StreamSearch, Away.com, Timbuk2 Designs and IUMA have signed on
as potential buyers of Eveo films. "We've cultivated a worldwide network
of over 1,400 talented filmmakers, built a library of over 2,500 videos,
devised a robust video platform, and now we're building on that foundation
to introduce a unique business to business solution," said Eveo CEO
Olivier Zitoun. "Now talented filmmakers can generate revenue for their
efforts, while e-businesses can showcase fresh, original video content."
http://www.eveobiz.com
http://www.eveo.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(San Francisco) Listen.com, an online music search site, announced on
Thursday that it has launched a new radio feature on its site. Seventeen
web radio stations were created for the site using technology from
WiredPlanet, which was acquired by Listen.com in September. The radio
feature also includes 46 stations from the company's affiliate network of
web sites. San Francisco-based Listen.com said the radio feature is part
of the company's effort to syndicate more of its content.
http://www.listen.com

(Piscataway, N.J.) SSI, an electronics manufacturer, announced on Thursday
that it will be displaying its NEO 35 MP3 player, capable of holding up to
81GB of storage, or 34,000 songs, at the upcoming Comdex convention. New
Jersey-based SSI said the portable player can be interchanged between a
car, a home stereo and a PC, allowing users to carry their music
collections with them. The 81GB version of the product is currently costs
$599; a 10GB version is available for $389.
http://www.ssiamerica.com/products/neo35/pictures.html

(Port Washington, N.Y.) Marketing information provider NPD Group said on
Thursday that in its first three days of sales, Sony's Playstation 2 game
console brought in $165 million in sales for the company. NPD said that
most sales occurred on Oct. 26, the first day the game was available, when
it was sold out at almost all retail outlets. Demand for the units was
heightened due to Sony's announcement that only 500,000 of an anticipated
1 million units would be shipped to the U.S., due to a parts shortage.
http://www.npd.com

(Los Angeles) ComedyWorld, an online entertainment site, announced on
Thursday a new web radio show featuring current and former MTV
personalities. Ahmet Zappa, son of musician Frank Zappa and host of MTV's
interactive program WebRiot and former MTV veejay Kennedy will host the
new show, titled "The Future," which will be webcast live daily from 6:00
- 9:00 a.m. LA-based ComedyWorld also webcasts radio shows featuring
comedienne Sandra Bernhard and Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the
Hall.
http://www.comedyworld.com

(Reston, Va.) Virginia-based 100percentSports.com, an international sports
information company, announced that heavyweight boxer David "Tuaman" Tua
will endorse and market the company's products and services.
100percentSports.com focuses on providing in-depth coverage of
foreign-born athletes competing in the US. Tua will box against Lennox
Lewis in a heavyweight championship bout on November 11.
http://www.100percentsports.com/

(Cedar Knolls, N.J.) MediaBay, a provider of spoken word audio content,
announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Minneapolis-based
eSplice, a developer of online entertainment stores. Under the deal, New
Jersey-based MediaBay will develop a spoken word download channel for
eSplice's online stores. The company will also fulfill orders spoken word
content for CD and cassette to eSplice.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001108/nj_mediaba.html
http://www.mediabay.com
http://www.esplice.com

(Union City, Calif.) NetPace, a provider of wireless Internet software,
announced on Thursday that it has partnered with interactive game site
TotallyTrivia.com. Under the deal, the companies will develop
TotallyTrivia.com's head-to-head trivia contest games for use over
wireless networks.
http://www.netpace.com
http://www.totallytrivia.com

(London) Internet analyst firm Forrester will host its "UK Media Forum" on
November 13 and 14 at Le Meridien Piccadilly in London. The forum will
explore the future of media online in the UK.
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Events/Upcoming/Overview/0,1550,182,FF.html
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