Main Stories
o Disney Backs Sony's Blu-Ray High-Capacity DVD Disc Format
o Amazon Launches Online DVD Rentals in U.K.
o Citing Demand, Nintendo Ups DS Shipments in North America, Japan
o Thomson Buys Digital Effects Firm Moving Picture Company for $101 Million
o Napster in Deal With Dwango Wireless to Sell Mobile Phone Ringtones
o U.K. Download Service Wippit Licenses Warner, Universal Songs
o European Union Boasts Largest DSL Population, Report Says

o Briefly Noted: Air America Radio - RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, BitPass Studios, SurfNet Media Group, Macrovision - Shaw, Billboard Radio Monitor - Musicrypt, Fandango - IMAX, TV2Me, LoudBurst.com, Climax - Los Angeles, Kallisto Productions, DVB-H - cell phone TV, Sharman Networks - Aussie copyright trial
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Burbank, Calif. -- The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced its support for Sony's Blu-ray Disc format, a next-generation high-capacity DVD format that will raise the capacity of DVDs from the current 4.7GB to up to 50GB. The announcement from Disney comes a week after Toshiba said that Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and New Line Cinema would support its competing HD DVD high-capacity disc format. Disney said its non-exclusive support for Blu-ray would result in the release of movies on Blu-ray discs from its Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which includes studios like Touchstone, Miramax, Dimension and Hollywood Pictures. Disney will also become a member of the board of directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041208/85899_1.html 
http://www.blu-raydisc.com 
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o Amazon Launches Online DVD Rentals in U.K.

London -- Online retail giant Amazon.com on Thursday announced the launch of an online DVD rental service in the U.K., confirming the company's reported plans to enter the lucrative market that also includes Netflix, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart. The company said it currently has no plans to launch a DVD rental service in the U.S., while rival Netflix is due to launch a U.K. service yet this year. Amazon.co.uk will offer a basic service for $15.50 a month, allowing two DVDs out at a time and a total of four to be rented each month; a $19.30 per month version will allow three movies out at a time and up to six rentals per month. Subscribers will also receive 10% off DVDs purchased from Amazon. "Amazon is determined to be the best place to rent DVDs -- online or off," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon will face competition for online DVD rentals in the U.K. from Video Island, which offers branded services through U.K. retailers including Dixons, Tesco and Microsoft's MSN, in addition to Webflix and Lovefilm.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/041209/amazon_com_dvds_2.html 
http://tinyurl.com/4pfyy 
http://www.amazon.co.uk 
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o Citing Demand, Nintendo Ups DS Shipments in North America, Japan

Redmond, Wash. -- Nintendo of America announced on Thursday that, due to demand for its new DS handheld video game console, it will increase total shipments to North America by 40%, to 1.4 million units by the end of the year. The DS largely sold out of the initial 500,000 units shipped for the device's launch during its first week of availability. To date, Nintendo has sold 700,000 $149 DS units in North America and another 500,000 in Japan, for a total of 1.2 million in worldwide sales. Nintendo said it will also ship another 400,000 units in Japan. Nintendo will now ship a total of 2.8 million DS handhelds worldwide by the end of the year, and is on track to meet its projections of 5 million units sold by the end of March.
http://www.nintendo.com 
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o Thomson Buys Digital Effects Firm Moving Picture Company for $101 Million

Paris -- Thomson, a developer of video equipment and services for the media and entertainment industries, announced on Thursday that it has acquired digital effects post-production firm The Moving Picture Company (MPC) from British broadcaster ITV for $101.5 million. London-based MPC has worked on effects for films including "Alexander," the "Harry Potter" films, "Alien vs. Predator" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," as well as commercials for Nike, Motorola and Coca-Cola. The company generated sales of $85 million over the past 12 months. Paris-based Thomson said the acquisition goes toward its renewed focus on providing services to the media and entertainment industries, adding to its visual effects offerings that include Hollywood-based Technicolor and Toronto-based VFX.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041209/95414_1.html 
http://www.thomson.net 
http://www.moving-picture.com 
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o Napster in Deal With Dwango Wireless to Sell Mobile Phone Ringtones

Los Angeles -- Napster announced on Thursday that it will begin selling cell phone ringtones through its digital music subscription service, through an agreement with Dwango Wireless. Napster Mobile will launch in the U.S. and Canada in 2005, offering device-targeted promotional offers that will reward ringtone purchasers with credits redeemable for song downloads from Napster's PC-based digital music service. Seattle-based Dwango Wireless, a unit of Japan's Dwango Co. Ltd., provides wireless entertainment including ringtones and games for brands including ESPN, Rolling Stone and Playboy.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041209/lath046_1.html 
http://www.napster.com 
http://www.dwango.com 
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o U.K. Download Service Wippit Licenses Warner, Universal Songs

London -- Wippit, an independent music download service that features some peer-to-peer elements, announced that it has signed agreements to license songs from Warner Music and Universal Music, giving the company agreements with all four major record labels. Under the terms of the agreements, some songs will initially be available either only in the U.K. or only in continental Europe. London-based Wippit said the deals will increase its available library of songs to over 500,000. Neither label's songs will be available on Wippit's closed peer-to-peer file-sharing service, which only allows authorized songs to be traded among Wippit subscribers. The company also operates an a la carte paid music download service.
http://www.wippit.com 
http://go.theregister.com/news/2004/12/08/wippit_1m 
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o European Union Boasts Largest DSL Population, Report Says

Brussels -- According to a new report by the DSL Forum, the EU has added more than 9.2 million DSL subscribers so far this year, giving it the largest regional DSL population in the world. The EU now boasts more than 26.5 million subscribers and accounts for more than 31% of the global DSL pie. The EU also accounted for 11 for the Top 20 countries in terms of DSL penetration. The Netherlands reported more than 15.5% penetration; France, 15.45%; Italy, more than 13.4%; and the U.K. -- which moved into the top 20 for the first time -- nearly 9.5%. The report also found that the 10 largest DSL population countries now account for more than 80% of the world's subscribers. Worldwide, DSL subscriptions increased by 39% over the first nine months of the year to more than 85 million, an overall increase of about 24 million.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J1F321CF9 

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(New York) Progressive radio broadcaster Air America Radio announced that it has named Rob Glaser, CEO of Seattle-based media delivery technology firm RealNetworks, as the chairman of its board. "Air America has created the hottest new brand on radio, offering some of the most dynamic personalities and programming found anywhere on the radio dial," said Glaser. New York-based Air America also announced raising $13 million in new financing and a two-year contract extension with on-air host Al Franken.
http://www.realnetworks.com 
http://www.airamericaradio.com

(Palo Alto, Calif.) BitPass, a provider of online micropayments technology for digital content and services, on Thursday launched a new service called BitPass Studios that enables anyone to sell music, photos and other digital files on the Internet. Users can upload their content to BitPass servers and then price their items between $0.25 and $100; the service then generates a specific URL for each item that may be emailed or sent by instant message. Palo Alto, Calif.-based BitPass is providing 100MB of free storage and charging no setup fees, while collecting transaction fees of 30% for items under $5, and 10% plus $1 for items priced over $5.
http://www.bitpass.com

(Tempe, Ariz.) SurfNet Media Group, a webcaster of live an on-demand talk radio, announced on Thursday that it has secured $500,000 in bridge financing from Mellon Research. The company also plans to sell up to $5 million of convertible notes in a private placement. Arizona-based SurfNet produces Internet radio channels including VoiceAmerica Radio, BusinessAmerica Radio and VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness Radio.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041209/95399_1.html 
http://www.surfnetmedia.com 
http://www.mellonresearch.com

(Netanya, Israel) BitBand, an Israel-based provider of video-on-demand (VOD) technologies for broadband IP networks, announced on Thursday that its VOD technology is powering the first IPTV deployment in Ireland. The triple-play services will be delivered through a single fiber-optic cable to homes in Dublin and offer telephony services, broadband Internet access, multi-channel TV and VOD, with new services to be added early next year. The deployment is being led by Magnet Networks, an Ireland-based company owned by U.S. investment company Columbia Ventures Corporation.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E12952BF9

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a provider of copy-protection for VHS, CDs, DVDs and other media, announced on Thursday that Canadian cable TV operator Shaw Communications has launched its video-on-demand content protection. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision's technology helps prevent unauthorized copying of video-on-demand movies on VCRs, DVD recorders, digital video recorders and hard drives. The system can also be used to permit secure storage of movies on digital video recorders and portable media centers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041207/76093_1.html 
http://www.macrovision.com 
http://www.shaw.ca

(New York) Radio industry magazine Billboard Radio Monitor announced that it has signed an agreement with Toronto-based Musicrypt, a provider of secure online digital music distribution for the record industry, to act as exclusive marketer of Musicrypt's service in the U.S. Billboard will market the Digital Music Distribution System, which has been used in Canada by labels to securely distribute singles to radio, to U.S. record labels and radio stations.
http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com 
http://www.musicrypt.com

(Los Angeles) Fandango, a provider of advance online movie ticket sales, announced on Thursday a marketing partnership with IMAX, the operator of the large-screen movie theaters. Under the deal, Los Angeles-based Fandango will provide advance ticket sales for select IMAX theaters, and the two companies will collaborate on marketing and publicity campaigns.
http://www.fandango.com 
http://www.imax.com

(New York) K2B, a New York-based firm led by inventor Ken Schaffer, on Thursday launched a marketing campaign for its TV2Me device, which allows cable and satellite TV service subscribers to view their subscribed channels anywhere in the world. The $4,750 device, which "space-shifts" content at an average rate of 384kbps, targets business leaders, entertainers, government agencies and sports fans. "A New Yorker visiting Prague can watch his favorite Seinfeld reruns or select from the more than 200 channels offered by his cable company, or a Russian businessman can watch 66 channels of Moscow cable live from his midtown Manhattan hotel room," said Schaffer.
http://www.spaceshift.net

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) LoudBurst.com, an online distribution channel for independent artists, on Thursday announced the launch of an MP3 and ringtone download store. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based LoudBurst is operated by the owners of Powerslave.com, a West Coast underground music online magazine.
http://www.powerslave.com 
http://www.loudburst.com

(London) U.K.-based video game developer Climax on Thursday announced plans for a major expansion of its U.S. offices in Los Angeles. In addition to relocating to new 16,000 square foot offices in Santa Monica, the company plans to hire 80 new staff. Climax's L.A. staff has worked on "Tron 2.0" for Buena Vista Games, and plans to develop titles for current and next-generation consoles and handhelds, adding that it has one title in development for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).
http://www.climaxgroup.com/news/news.aspx?ArticleID=554

(Fairfax, Calif.) Mobile entertainment developer Kallisto Productions on Thursday released its "Mystery At Work" interactive murder mystery mobile phone game for Sprint wireless subscribers. The title was co-produced by Critical Mass Interactive, and features a soundtrack composed by New York-based LoudLouderLoudest.
http://www.kallisto.com 
http://www.criticalmassinteractive.com 
http://www.loudlouderloudest.com

(London) NewScientist.com on Thursday reported on new technology that promises to bring cost-effective, high-quality TV reception to cell phones by broadcasting digital signals directly to phones from existing TV transmitters, rather than over the bandwidth-limited wireless networks currently available. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute last week approved the Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) standard. Houston-based Crown Castle also recently spent $12 million for a 5-megahertz band of nationwide spectrum in the U.S., which is already being tested in Pittsburgh as a means of broadcasting DVB-H signals to prototype Nokia TV cell phones.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996768
http://www.crowncastle.com

(Sydney) ZDNet Australia on Thursday continued its coverage of the recording industry's Australian copyright infringement case against Sharman Networks, distributor of the Kazaa file-sharing application. Sharman director of technology Philip Morle testified in Sydney on Thursday that peer-to-peer industry trade group the Distributed Computing Industry Association coordinated discussions between Sharman and various major record labels on the issue of unauthorized file-sharing. While Sharman has maintained that it cannot control what users trade on Kazaa, the recording industry is suing Sharman for copyright infringement and other crimes in Australia following unsuccessful attempts in the U.S. The case is expected to move to closing arguments next week, with federal court Justice Murray Wilcox then expected to deliver a verdict in early 2005.
http://tinyurl.com/56je2 
http://www.sharmannetworks.com 
 
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