archives

o Appeals Court Upholds Ruling: DVD-Cracking Code May Not Be Published
o EFF Asks Calif. Court to Throw Out 'DeCSS Is Trade Secret' Argument
o BMI Sets Temporary Rate For Radio Stations to Stream Online
o Nintendo Reports 500,000 GameCube Consoles Sold In First Week
o Digimarc Settles Patent Infringement Case Against SESAC
o AT&T Broadband Purchases 200,000 New Motorola Set-Top Boxes
o Online Ad Firm DoubleClick to Create Interactive TV Ads for Liberate
o IBeam Asset Sale to Williams Communications for $25 Million Approved
o Briefly Noted: OpenTV - Macromedia, IBiquity Digital, AOL Time Warner -
Artel, Excite@Home - cable TV operators, CosTune
_____________________________________________

> Job Postings: Technology Agent, Online Ad Sales Mgr., Web Research
Assistant, Web Designer

> Events/Services: "Music Videos and Movie Trailers on CD-ROM,"
"Avail. for Hire," "Shortspan Film & Video Festival,"
"Office Space - L.A.," "Digital Media Revolution in the Americas"

Full Job/Event/Services descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section
or at http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html
To Post an Event/Service: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
_____________________________________________

o Appeals Court Upholds Ruling: DVD-Cracking Code May Not Be Published

New York -- The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower
court ruling on Wednesday, which said that DeCSS, a code that can be used
to crack the encryption security on DVDs, may not be published. Plaintiff
Eric Corley, along with his hacker publication 2600, were sued by the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for posting links to the code
on the Web, under a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) that prohibits circumventing security technology on copyrighted
material. In a 71-page ruling, the 2nd Circuit did accept the argument by
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) -- which headed 2600's defense --
that code should be considered "speech," but said that DeCSS is "content
neutral," and does not deserve the same level of First Amendment
protection as does literature. The court also denied the EFF's argument
that using DeCSS to de-crypt a DVD should be considered a "fair use" of
the copyrighted material. "The arguments against this law [the DMCA] are
preposterous," MPAA attorney Charles Sims told Wired News. "Four judges
have looked at the challenges and said, 'There's no there there.'"
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48726,00.html
http://vorlon.mit.edu/~declan/dmca/appeals.decision.112801.pdf
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8011238.html?tag=mn_hd
_____________________________________________

o EFF Asks Calif. Court to Throw Out 'DeCSS Is Trade Secret' Argument

San Jose, Calif. -- In another case involving the controversial DeCSS
code, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a motion to
dismiss a lawsuit brought by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA)
against several website owners, saying that so many public copies of the
code are already available that it may no longer be considered a trade
secret. Part of the EFF's argument states that in addition to the
defendants in the case, publications from The Wall Street Journal to Wired
magazine to MIT's Technology Review have published versions of DeCSS.
Because California's trade secret law prohibits injunctions once a trade
secret becomes generally known to the public, the EFF says that the DVD
CCA "seeks to put the Court in the impossible position of trying to put
the genie back into the bottle." The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently
ruled to overturn an injunction against the plaintiff website owners in
the case, which prohibited them from publishing the DeCSS code while the
trial is ongoing.
http://www.eff.org/effector/HTML/effect14.37.html#II
http://www.eff.org/Cases/DVDCCA_case/20011128_bunner_sum_judg_motion.pdf
http://www.eff.org/Cases/DVDCCA_case/20011101_bunner_appellate_decision.html
_____________________________________________

o BMI Sets Temporary Rate For Radio Stations to Stream Online

New York -- Broadcast Music International (BMI), a performance rights
organization that represents the interests of songwriters, composers and
publishers, announced that it has set a temporary rate that radio stations
must pay to stream their signals on the Internet. Under the agreement,
radio stations will pay the same 1.605 percent of the revenue generated
from streaming online that they must pay to broadcast music over the
airwaves. The rate will also be retroactively applied to all streaming
done by radio stations since 1997. The rate will apply to the
approximately 1,800 stations currently simulcasting their signal over the
Internet, according to BRS Media. A definitive rate will be determined
pending the outcome of a U.S. District Court proceeding between BMI and
the Radio Music License Committee.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.112801/213322534
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8017642.html?tag=mn_hd
http://www.bmi.com 
http://www.radiomlc.com
_____________________________________________

o Nintendo Reports 500,000 GameCube Consoles Sold In First Week

Redmond, Wash. -- Nintendo of America announced on Thursday that it sold
500,000 of its new GameCube video game consoles at U.S. retailers last
week, making it the largest first-week launch of a video game console ever
in the U.S. The company said last week that it sold almost $100 million in
consoles, games and accessories last Sunday alone. Nintendo had initially
promised 700,000 units to U.S. retailers for its launch date, but recently
said it will ship an additional 200,000 GameCubes by the end of the year,
making for a total of 1.3 million consoles available to U.S. consumers for
the holidays.
http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=5454
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8018623.html?tag=mn_hd
_____________________________________________

o Digimarc Settles Patent Infringement Case Against SESAC

Tualatin, Ore. -- Digimarc, a developer of watermarking technology for
digital media, announced on Thursday that performance rights organization
SESAC has agreed to discontinue promoting and distributing rival
watermarking firm Verance Corp.'s technology. As a result, Oregon-based
Digimarc has agreed to dismiss its patent infringement suit against SESAC.
"This case demonstrates our resolve not to permit unlicensed use of our
technology," said Digimarc CEO Bruce Davis. Two of the claims asserted
against SESAC are among the six patents that Digimarc has sued Verance for
infringing. Verance CEO Bob Cerasoli responded to the settlement in a
statement. "We view this only as a temporary suspension of SESAC's use of
our products, pending resolution of the ongoing patent dispute between
Verance and Digimarc," said Cerasoli.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011129/290185_1.html
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/213330299&ticker=
http://www.digimarc.com
http://www.sesac.com
http://www.verance.com
_____________________________________________

o AT&T Broadband Purchases 200,000 New Motorola Set-Top Boxes

Anaheim, Calif. -- Motorola announced on Thursday that AT&T Broadband will
purchase 200,000 of its recently-introduced DCT2500 digital set-top boxes
in 2002. Motorola debuted the device at this week's Western Cable Show, a
cable TV industry trade show in Anaheim, Calif. The new box -- which can
be used to deliver interactive television features to digital cable TV
subscribers -- offers improved graphics, programming guide enhancements,
and increased performance over earlier Motorola set-tops.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011129/hsth008_1.html
_____________________________________________

o Online Ad Firm DoubleClick to Create Interactive TV Ads for Liberate

New York -- Internet advertising technology and services provider
DoubleClick on Thursday said it will collaborate with Liberate
Technologies, a provider of operating system software for interactive TV
set-top boxes, on the delivery of ads for iTV. The companies have already
integrated DoubleClick's AdServer technology -- which is used by over
2,000 marketers -- into Liberate's software. New York-based DoubleClick
said it will work to develop new kinds of ads for services like
video-on-demand, and the "walled garden" screens that cable TV operators
deliver to subscribers that are the equivalent of a homepage for their iTV
services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011129/292333_1.html
http://www.doubleclick.com
http://www.liberate.com
_____________________________________________

o IBeam Asset Sale to Williams Communications for $25 Million Approved

Tulsa, Okla. -- Broadband Internet access provider Williams Communications
said that its bid of $25 million for the assets of bankrupt streaming
services provider IBeam has been approved by a Delaware bankruptcy court.
In addition to assuming some of IBeam's debt, $6 million of the fee will
go to repaying Williams' loan to sustain IBeam's operations during the
bankruptcy proceedings. Oklahoma-based Williams said it will offer
full-time positions to more than 200 IBeam employees. "The combination of
Williams Communications' award-winning fiber-optic network and broadband
media platform with the iBEAM assets positions us as a market leader in
streaming media," said Williams CEO Howard Janzen. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based
IBeam raised $110 million in its IPO in May 2000.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011128/daw033_1.html
http://www.ibeam.com
http://www.williamscommunications.com
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Mountain View, Calif.) OpenTV, a developer of operating system software
for interactive TV set-top boxes, said on Thursday that it has partnered
with Web software developer Macromedia to make that company's Flash Player
compatible with its operating system. The agreement will enable developers
to create programming and other iTV content using Flash. Developers can
also create programming for OpenTV-enabled devices in Java, C and HTML.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011129/290098_1.html

(Columbia, Md.) IBiquity Digital, a developer of digital radio broadcast
technology, announced on Thursday that that the Geneva-based International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) has endorsed its technology as meeting the
standards set for digital FM radio. The technology would allow radio
stations to broadcast their analog FM signals alongside a new digital FM
signal, without taking up additional broadcast spectrum. The ITU has
already approved Maryland-based IBiquity's technology for digital AM
radio.
http://www.ibiquity.com/news/news_ITU%20FM%20Endorsement.html

(Marlborough, Mass.) Artel, a provider of digital video network systems,
announced on Thursday that it will provide subscription video-on-demand
technology to AOL Time Warner's cable service in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Massachusetts-based Artel's technology can transport video from
centralized video servers out to remote network hub locations over DWDM
(dense wavelength division multiplexing) fiber optic lines.
http://www.artel.tv/HTML/press_AOLTW.html

(San Francisco) CNET reported on Thursday on the "backup plans" that cable
TV operators including AT&T Broadband, Cox, Comcast and Charter plan to
execute should a bankruptcy court judge decide that Excite@Home must turn
off services to its 4.1 million subscribers on Friday. Over a third of
Redwood City-based Excite@Home's customers subscribe through their local
cable TV company.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-8010578.html?tag=cd_mh

(New York) The New York Times offered a feature story on Thursday on
wearable musical instrument technology that responds to actual motions of
the human body with sounds from a digital device such as a synthesizer.
CosTune, one of the technologies described in the article, consists of a
wearable set of sensors that users wear and play while doing just about
anything, hearing the result on headphones. Performances can then be
shared over a wireless network. Attendees of raves around MIT have tested
similar technology, wearing sensors while dancing that transmitted data to
the DJ booth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/technology/circuits/29WEAR.html
http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~knishi/papers/IWSAWC2001.pdf

===================================================
Job Postings:
===================================================
To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html

> Ramprate - Technology Agent

Looking for people to market and manage our unique services to the
Enterprise and Major Media Markets. Streaming media, hosting, co-location,
managed services, or CDN. Duties - prospecting new business, managing
existing clients and current client overflow worldwide, Qualify business
goals. Require large deal size sales and account mgmt experience,
Bachelors degree, Target first year from 150k-1,000,000 +, FT/Half time in
our offices and or home office, Territories - LA, Austin, Seattle, New
York, DC, San Francisco. Send resumes to Scott@ramprate.com or visit
http://www.ramprate.com/about_tech_agent.php
______________________

> Internet Advertising Sales Manager, gantthead.com, Fairfax VA

Are you passionate about the Internet as a B2B advertising medium? We have
too many leads to pursue and need you if: you have 2+ yrs exp. selling
Internet advertising (required); BA/S degree; B2B agency/account contacts;
you can identify, pursue, and close deals. Creative, autonomous work
environment. Generous package: salary, commission, benefits.
Please send resume to: gina@gantthead.com. EOE, M/F/V/D.
For more information, see http://www.gantthead.com/Gantthead/jobs
______________________

> Katrillion, Web Research Assistant - Fort Lee, New Jersey

CityConnect, the first national city event guide for teens available on
all web and wireless platforms, is looking for an events-locating
super-sleuth to find content for posting on the web. The ideal candidate
must be -- able to find current information that may not be readily
available, a recent college grad, and possess a passion for pop culture
and teen trends. Internet savvy plus strong writing skills are essential.
Send resume and salary requirements to: ccstaff@katrillion.com
http://www.katrillion.com/cityconnect.com
______________________

> Bookspan, Web Designer - Long Island, New York

BOOKSPAN is seeking a Web Designer with preferably 1-2 years experience
for a freelance position (possible temp-to-hire). Work with a Sr. Designer
on the design of all-new web sites from top to bottom. PhotoShop,
Illustrator, hand-code HTML, and aptitude to learn proprietary
content-management software are an absolute must. Send resume in plain
text with URLs of your work, and list the three best-looking content or
e-commerce based sites you can find to: jgiannetti@booksonline.com
http://www.booksonline.com

===================================================
Events/Services Postings:
===================================================
To Post Events/Services: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Music Videos and Movie Trailers on CD-ROM

Arista, Atlantic, Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures are participating
in the November launch of BestPreviews - a FREE CD-ROM that contains music
videos, movie trailers and software. RFM Broadcasting developed an
innovative marketing platform that enables Internet users to view
broadcast quality video. The company seeks angel investors. Send Inquiries
to andrew@rfmitv.com
or visit http://www.rfmitv.com
______________________

> Available for Hire - Tech-Experienced Copy Writer/Marketing Manager

Marketing professional with over two years high tech experience within a
London marketing agency. Moved to DC seven months ago to set up first US
branch of UK business - seeking opportunities for full-time, part-time or
freelance marketing/communications projects.
Contact timdatwilsonharvey@hotmail.com
______________________

> SHORTSPAN Film & Video Festival, FINAL DATES

SHORT MOVIES! Dreamspan presents the 9TH Annual Short Attention Span Film & Video Festival. Shortspan is a non-stop two hour program of ALL NEW
two-minute-or-shorter films, including ultra-short documentaries like
"Peekaboo Sunday," a story about raising miniature horses or "Exotic
World," an inside look at the lives of some of America's first burlesque
performers-- and 57 more shorts! The tour will travel to 30 North American
cities. The remaining dates on the tour include:

NEW YORK CITY, NY: The Anthology Film Archives, Dec. 7-8, 9:30 PM
BIRMINGHAM, AL: WorkPlay, Dec. 20, 9:00 PM

More info: http://www.dreamspan.com/shortspan
______________________

> Office Space For Rent - Los Angeles

Prime Sunset Boulevard location. Approx. 588 sq ft. Second floor, spacious
two + offices with private bathroom. Convenient parking. Recently
renovated. Quiet, nice work environment. Other tenants in building are
primarily entertainment and new media companies. DSL-ready. Rent is $1,175
per month.
For more information, please call 323-822-0344.
______________________

> Digital Media Revolution in the Americas, 11/29-12/01 -- Pasadena, CA

Presented by the Institute of the Americas and Annenberg School for
Communication, this 2 1/2 day forum will include Sr. Exec. Networking w/ a
special focus on Latin Americas & U.S. Hispanic markets, copyright, rights
mgmt., dist., infrastructure, digital film, iTV, streaming, device trends,
content financing. Early-bird 40% off till 9/30. Keynote Steven Bandel,
Pres. - The Cisneros Group. Sponsors: JP Morgan, Motorola, Global
Crossing, Walt Disney Company, Digital Media Wire, Cahners International
TV, iHollywood, Motion Picture Assoc., National Assoc. of TV Prog. Exec.,
National Assoc. of Theatre owners. For more information:
martin@iamericas.org
Register at: http://www.iamericas.org/events
______________________

To subscribe, go to:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com

Questions or comments? Send email to:
mark@digitalmediawire.com

News tips, press releases. Send email to:
editorial@digitalmediawire.com

Copyright 2001 Digital Media Wire