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November 24, 2003 -- About Us | Advertise | Events | Publications | Subscribe

Main Stories
o Warner Music Acquired By Bronfman Group for $2.6 Billion
o Vivendi Planning to Offload $21 Billion in Assets, CFO Says
o Senators Ask File-Sharing Services to Self-Regulate, Filter Illicit Content
o Yahoo to Buy Chinese Search Firm for Up to $120 Million


 > DMW Announcements: DMW Publications
 --Digital Media Law Report
 --Game Industry Quarterly

 > Featured Advertisement:
 --MIDEMNET
 --Complete Information for Department of Homeland Security
 

o Briefly Noted: Movielink - SBC, OMT - CBC-Galaxie, Rainbow Media Holdings - World Picks On Demand, A&E Television Networks - Trusted Media Networks, Yahoo yodelers - Guinness Book, Thomson - LYRA Audio/Video Jukebox, Atari - "Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu" - "Beyblade: Ultimate Blader Jam," Midway Games - "SpyHunter 2," THQ - "Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon," Astraware - MumboJumbo, Gaming Industry News, MP3.com's million-song library - Archive.org

 
> Job/Event/Marketplace Classifieds:
 --
Media Buyers
 --TECORE Wireless, Software Development Engineer - MD
 --Tallan, Account Executive - New York City
 --Public Relations Manager - Woburn, MA
 --The Secure Trusted Operating System Consortium (STOS) 2003
 --Get a Jump on Fourth Quarter Sales Generation
 


o Warner Music Acquired By Bronfman Group for $2.6 Billion

London -- Time Warner on Monday confirmed that it has agreed to a $2.6 billion takeover of its Warner Music division by a consortium led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., the former Seagram CEO who engineered that company's acquisition of Universal Music Group during the 1990's. Other backers included Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston, Providence Equity Partners and Bain Capital. "While we do not foresee an immediate upturn in the overall market for recorded music, we believe opportunities are emerging that bode well for the long-term future of the business and that Warner Music will continue to be in the forefront of capitalizing on these opportunities," said Thomas H. Lee managing director Scott M. Sperling. Earlier in the day, EMI Group announced that it had withdrawn its own $1.64 billion offer for Warner Music. Eric Nicoli, chairman of EMI Group, said: "We have concluded that it is no longer possible to reach an agreement on terms which would be acceptable to both parties and in the interests of EMI's shareholders."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031124/245318_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/031124/media_warnermusic_6.html
_____________________________________________

o Vivendi Planning to Offload $21 Billion in Assets, CFO Says

Barcelona -- French media and entertainment conglomerate Vivendi Universal plans to offload nearly $21 billion in assets over the next two years, according to CFO Jacques Espinasse. Speaking in Barcelona, Espinasse said that Vivendi planned to pay a dividend by as early as 2005 and that the company hoped to make as much money from its media assets as from its telecoms. He also confirmed that the ongoing deal to sell Vivendi's entertainment assets to General Electric is going smoothly.
http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/vu/en/home/index.cfm
_____________________________________________

o Senators Ask File-Sharing Services to Self-Regulate, Filter Illicit Content

Washington -- A group of six U.S. Senators has written the heads of the major file-sharing software firms, asking them to self-regulate by providing warnings to their users on the risks of file-sharing software, installing filters for copyrighted and pornographic material, and altering the default settings on their programs so that users don't automatically share files on their PCs with others, CNET News.com reported. Firms including Grokster, BearShare, Blubster, eDonkey2000, LimeWire and Streamcast Networks received the letter, which was sent by a group of lawmakers including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.). "Purveyors of peer-to-peer technology have a legal and moral obligation to conform to copyright laws, and end the pornographic trade over these networks," Sen. Graham said in a statement. "These programs expose our children to sexually explicit materials and provide an anonymous venue for child pornographers to hide behind the veil of technology."
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5110785.html
____________________________________________

o Yahoo to Buy Chinese Search Firm for Up to $120 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- The Hong Kong unit of Yahoo said on Friday that it will buy 3721 Network Software, a Chinese developer of keyword search engines on the Internet, for as much as $120 million over two years, Reuters reported. After the completion of the deal early next year, 3721, which specializes in online search technologies, will become a unit of Yahoo Holdings. Yahoo is planning to use the technology to incorporate small- and medium-sized Asian businesses into its search listings.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/031121/tech_china_yahoo_2.html
http://www.3721.com/english/about.htm

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 > DMW Publications:

> Digital Media Law Report
Must-read publication on legal and policy matters related to digital media. Law Report includes case summaries, news and analysis, policy updates, court filings, and exclusive interviews with legal counsel and business leaders. Published monthly. Subscriptions - Order

Available Now - October Law Report - 42 pages - Order

> G
ame Industry Quarterly
- Subscriptions - Order
The Game Industry Quarterly features news about key business, legal and finance developments impacting the game industry. Each issue includes sections on current industry research, financings, law and policy matters, game releases, business deals and other industry events.

Available Now - Q3 Game Industry Quartertly - 105 pages - Order

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> Featured Advertisement:


> Now Available: Complete Information for Department of Homeland Security

The new Department of Homeland Security is still an evolving government body. But the 2003-2004 Directory of Homeland Security provides a department-wide organizational chart as well as descriptions and contact information for all key personnel, their newly established positions and core responsibilities. The 2003-2004 edition also includes complete information on other federal agencies, a comprehensive state section and 532 companies selling technologies and services for homeland security. To order, go to http://www.tech-directories.com/dmw.htm
 

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o Briefly Noted:

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Movielink, an Internet video-on-demand joint venture between a number of Hollywood movie studios, announced on Monday that it has partnered with Internet service provider SBC Communications to launch a co-branded version of its service. Under the terms, the SBC-Movielink service will be promoted to SBC Yahoo's 3.1 million DSL subscribers. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Movielink, which has a similar deal with Time Warner's Road Runner broadband service, is a joint venture of MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.
http://sbc.movielink.com

(Winnipeg, Canada) OMT, a provider of digital music services announced on Monday that it has partnered with CBC-Galaxie -- the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's digital audio network -- to launch an online commercial music service in December. Last week, Winnipeg-based OMT purchased the 375,000-track online music library of Musicmusicmusic. The subscription-based service will primarily be marketed in Canada, and will include English and French content.
http://www.omt.net 
http://www.galaxie.ca

(New York) Cable TV network operator Rainbow Media Holdings announced on Monday the launch of several new multi-language video-on-demand channels. World Picks On Demand will consist of 20 hours of programming per month each in Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin and Russian. Content will include movies, musical performances, series, religious and spiritual programs, children's shows, documentaries and language instruction series.
http://www.rainbow-media.com/rainbow/media/release_release.jsp?nodeid=4099

(New York) A&E Television Networks, a cable TV network group joint venture between the Hearst Corporation, ABC and NBC that operates A&E, The History Channel and The Biography Channel, announced on Monday that it will use Seattle-based Trusted Media Networks' technology to deliver video on its websites. Trusted Media Networks will provide media delivery technology for A&E programming including show trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, director's commentary and special offers.
http://www.aetv.com 
http://www.trustedmedia.com

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Yahoo, which uses a signature yodel in its ads, said that it has broken the Guinness world record for the largest simultaneous yodel. The company said that 1,773 yodelers gathered last Wednesday at its corporate headquarters to accomplish the feat.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031120/205648_1.html

(Indianapolis) Consumer electronics maker Thomson announced on Monday the release of its RCA-branded LYRA Audio/Video Jukebox, a 20GB portable video and audio player. The $449 RD2780 plays video and audio in MPEG-4, MPEG-1, mp3, Windows Media Audio and mp3PRO formats, and can hold up to 80 hours of video, 5,000 songs or 100,000 digital photos.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031124/245113_1.html
http://www.rca.com/content/viewdetail/1,,EI700537,00.html

(Beverly, Mass.) Video game publisher Atari announced on Monday the release of "Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu" and "Beyblade: Ultimate Blader Jam" for Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Developed by Illinois-based WebFoot Technologies, the Dragon Ball Z title is based on a license of the animated children's TV series from FUNimation; the Beyblade title, developed by U.K.-based Full-Fat, is based on a license of the Japanese anime TV series and trading card game from d-rights.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031124/245470_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031124/245607_1.html 
http://www.webfootgames.com 
http://www.full-fat.com

(Chicago) Midway Games announced on Monday that its "SpyHunter 2" sequel to the classic arcade and NES title, developed for PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, has shipped to retailers. Universal Pictures obtained the rights to create a movie version of "SpyHunter," which will star pro wrestler The Rock and is scheduled for release in the summer of 2005.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031124/245204_1.html 
http://www.midway.com

(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ said on Monday that it has released "Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon" for Nintendo Game Boy Advance. The game was developed by San Rafael, Calif.-based LucasArts, the video game unit of director George Lucas' production company.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031120/205617_1.html 
http://www.thq.com

(The Midlands, England) Astraware, a developer of video games for PDAs, said on Monday that it has partnered with Dallas-based game developer MumboJumbo, to port several of the company's game titles to the Palm OS and Pocket PC platforms. U.K.-based Astraware will release versions of MumboJumbo's "Equilibria," "Chainz" and "Snowball Run" in January.
http://www.astraware.com
http://www.mumbojumbo.com

(New York) Publisher Ziff Davis Media on Monday announced the launch of Gaming Industry News, a monthly newsletter and a weekly e-mail covering the video game industry. Former Industry Standard editor Jimmy Guterman was named editor-in-chief of the publication, which will cost $995 annually.
http://www.ziffdavis.com

(San Francisco) U.K. news site TheRegister reports that MP3.com founder and current Lindows.com CEO Michael Robertson is negotiating with Vivendi Universal to salvage the enormous digital song library housed at MP3.com. Vivendi sold MP3.com last week to CNET Networks, and said that the archive, which contains over one million songs submitted by more than 250,000 artists, would be deleted sometime in December. Brewster Kahle, the founder of Archive.org -- a site that aims to store all of the webpages ever posted to the Internet for posterity -- has offered to host the files. "Our approach is to provide unlimited bandwidth forever for free," Kahle told TheRegister. "There's no amount of material that frightens us. MP3.com's collection is five terabytes. No sweat. We've been adding forty terabytes a month."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/34143.html
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=59551 
http://www.mp3.com 
http://www.archive.org

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> Classifieds:

> Media Buyers

This position reports to the European Marketing Manager. Responsibilities: localization of website and advertising creative, negotiate and purchase online media, manage and coordinate online marketing campaigns, administer and execute customer acquisition and retention programs, acquire, maintain and grow relationships with large portals, email marketing providers etc. Bachelor's degree in business reqd. 1-3 yrs marketing or sales exp. required. Must have in-depth knowledge and understanding of British or Spanish (Spain) online market. Excellent interpersonal skills, and superior Negotiation skills. Detail oriented, able to work independently. Send resumes to jobs@vistaprint.com
___________________

> TECORE Wireless, Software Development Engineer - MD

Real-Time Engineers to develop real-time telecom software for mobile switching platform. Must have OOA/OOD and C++/C#, ability to develop, integrate and debug in a multi-tasking, multi-threaded environment & knowledge of call processing, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, AMPS, GPRS, SS7 & IP protocols. Must have BS in Computer Science, EE or equivalent. Send resumes to HR@tecore.com Visit http://www.tecore.com
____________________

> Tallan, Account Executive - New York City

The AE position will be responsible for generating and sustaining profitable revenue streams from the sale of software development projects. The AE establishes relationships with strategic buying influences at client organizations in order to monitor and maintain customer satisfaction levels and to uncover new opportunities. Send resumes to lisa.albis@tallan.com  Visit http://www.tallan.com
____________________

> Public Relations Manager - Woburn, MA

Lois Paul & Partners, a nationally known public relations agency is currently seeking a proven PR Manager. Manages client accounts providing daily PR and editorial support. Directs media relations, writing or editing news releases, articles, speeches and presentations. Manages tours, product launches, editorial calendars and interviews. Manages team members directly or indirectly. Participates in new business prospecting including the development of pitches, presentations and proposals. Require project mgmt skills, media relations, analytical and PC skills. College degree reqd. Previous mgmt and PR exp. in high-tech reqd. Send resume with salary requirements to careers@lpp.com
____________________

> The Secure Trusted Operating System Consortium (STOS) 2003

Symposium STOS holds its 5th annual symposium Dec 1-5, at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. The symposium features tutorials, paper presentations and BOF sessions regarding creating and deploying secure and trusted systems and applications that run on them. Topics include Wireless Security, Secure OS, Open/Closed Source, Forensics, Advanced Firewall Techniques, and Authentication Solutions, but also a Darwin Kernel Hack-a-thon and Urban Wireless Challenge. Fees are $695. http://www.stosdarwin.org/dc03/
____________________

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Detailed company descriptions
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For more information and to purchase, visit http://www.tech-directory.com

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