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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- December 17, 2002
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o ElcomSoft Found Not Guilty of Violating Digital Copyright Act
o FCC: Broadband Connections Up 70% Over Past Year
o MarketWatch: Nintendo May Acquire "Resident Evil" Developer Capcom
o Video Indexing Software Firm Gotuit Media Raises $6 Million
o Report: DVD Player Shipments Grew 61% in 2002
o Liquid Audio Faces Legal Challenge on Cash Distribution to Shareholders
o Electronic Arts Ships Anticipated "The Sims Online" PC Video Game
> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers
o Briefly Noted: CNN - cybersquatter ruling, Microsoft - Plus! Digital
Media Edition, Yahoo - Associated Press, Infogrames' "Alone in the Dark" -
movie deal, Movielink - "Spider-Man," Walt Disney Internet Group - TIM -
Bouygues Telecom, THQ - "Spongebob Squarepants," Sega.com - Capcom
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> Events: Eventeurs
> Marketplace: Homeland Security Directory, Interest-Based Navigation
Full Classifieds located beneath "Briefly Noted" section below.
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o ElcomSoft Found Not Guilty of Violating Digital Copyright Act
San Jose, Calif. -- A jury on Tuesday found Russian software firm
ElcomSoft not guilty of criminal violations of the U.S. Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), in what was seen as the first legal test of the
controversial law's criminal provisions. U.S. prosecutors sued the company
at the behest of Adobe Systems, whose e-book software could be cracked
using a program sold by ElcomSoft. The company faced up to $2 million in
fines. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte had instructed the jury that
they could find ElcomSoft guilty only if the company "willfully" intended
to break the law with its software, despite its inherent ability to be
used for illegal purposes. Jury foreman Dennis Strader told the Associated
Press that the defense's argument that ElcomSoft's software could be used
to make back-up copies of Adobe eBooks for personal use -- something Adobe
does not allow -- was compelling. Strader said the jury asked Judge Whyte
to define "fair use" shortly after deliberations began. "Under the eBook
formats, you have no rights at all, and the jury had trouble with that
concept," Strader told AP.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=528&e=1&cid=
528&u=/ap/20021217/ap_on_hi_te/russian_programmer
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978176.html?tag=fd_top
http://www.elcomsoft.com
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o FCC: Broadband Connections Up 70% Over Past Year
Washington -- A report released on Tuesday by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) revealed that broadband Internet connections in the U.S.
jumped 70 percent over the past year, from 9.6 million subscribers in June
2001 to 16.2 million in June 2002. Of these, 5.1 million were DSL
connections while 9.2 were cable modem-based connections, with the rest
composed of ISDN, satellite and other technologies. The FCC said that
broadband subscribers were present in 99 percent of the most densely
populated zip codes, as of the end of June 2002.
http://www.fcc.gov
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-229568A1.pdf
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o MarketWatch: Nintendo May Acquire "Resident Evil" Developer Capcom
Los Angeles -- CBS MarketWatch reports that video game analysts are
speculating Japanese video game giant Nintendo has plans to acquire game
developer Capcom, responsible for such popular franchises as "Street
Fighter" and "Resident Evil." Neither Nintendo nor Capcom would comment
for the story. The move is seen as an attempt to "shake their image a
little bit and attract older gamers," analyst Paul Kaump, of Doughery &
Co. LLC, told CBS MarketWatch. Nintendo is primarily known for its stable
of kid-friendly titles, such as Mario, Pokemon and Zelda.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J10132BC2
http://www.capcom.com
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o Video Indexing Software Firm Gotuit Media Raises $6 Million
Andover, Mass. -- Gotuit Media, a provider of software for video-on-demand
and personal video recorder systems, announced on Tuesday that it has
raised $6 million in its latest round of venture capital financing.
Highland Capital Partners led the investment round, in which individual
investors also participated. The company's Gotuit TV software is a
patented indexing solution that merges metadata with digital video
content, allowing consumers to quickly access the parts of a show in which
they are most interested. Massachusetts-based Gotuit is currently in
trials with a U.S. cable TV operator and is working with several providers
of on-demand delivery systems and digital set-top boxes. The company will
use the funds to support the expansion of its video indexing services and
the ongoing integration of its software into personal video recorders and
video-on-demand systems.
http://www.gotuit.com/press20.html
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o Report: DVD Player Shipments Grew 61% in 2002
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- DVD player shipments to retailers grew by 61 percent
in 2002 to over 30 million, according to a report released on Tuesday by
market research firm In-Stat/MDR. The firm expects the market for DVD
players to reach 84 million by 2006. Arizona-based In-Stat also said that
DVD recorders that also offer playback functionality will gradually gain
market share over standalone DVD players, reaching shipments of 32 million
in 2006. More than one million DVD recorders are expected to ship this
year. The firm said that as more manufacturers move to produce DVD
recorders, pricing will drop to under $400 by the end of 2003, possibly
under $300 with fierce competition.
http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=458&sku=IN020044ME
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o Liquid Audio Faces Legal Challenge on Cash Distribution to Shareholders
Redwood City, Calif. -- Liquid Audio, the beleaguered provider of digital
music distribution technology, announced on Tuesday that a firm called
BeMUSIC has filed a motion in Delaware Chancery Court to enjoin Liquid
Audio's previously announced cash distribution payment of $2.50 per share
to its stockholders. Redwood City, Calif.-based Liquid Audio adopted the
plan to distribute its cash assets to shareholders after a failed merger
proposal with Alliance Entertainment and the resignation of its founding
executives. The company said it will "vigorously oppose" the motion to
enjoin the payment during a hearing on the matter scheduled for Dec. 19.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021216/sfm104_1.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
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o Electronic Arts Ships Anticipated "The Sims Online" PC Video Game
Redwood City, Calif. -- Game developer Electronic Arts on Tuesday released
its anticipated "The Sims Online" title for PC. The $49.99 online game
also requires an Internet connection and $9.99 monthly subscription fee.
Available in 16 different languages and having sold 20 million copies
worldwide to date, The Sims is the best-selling PC game franchise of all
time. "It's very inspirational for me to see how the original game has
evolved into a vibrant online community where players can create their own
world," said Will Wright, creator of The Sims. "The Sims Online gives
players tremendous possibilities to construct, customize and personalize a
world with their imagination as their only limit."
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/021217/049674.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-977912.html
http://www.thesimsonline.com
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==================
FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/featuredpostingpage.htm
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Briefly Noted:
(Minneapolis) The National Arbitration Forum (NAF), a panel designed to
hear domain name disputes in lieu of actual litigation, announced on
Tuesday that AOL Time Warner's CNN has prevailed against a cybersquatter
holding 325 domain names the panel said were registered in order to
capitalize on CNN's trademark. The NAF panel found that Elie Khouri and
his business, Channel News Networks, used names like cnn-canada.com,
cnnlebanon.com and cnnshoppingcenter.com to direct people to online news
services that competed directly with CNN.
http://www.arbitration-forum.com/about/newsDetail.asp?ID=79
(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft on Tuesday announced the upcoming release of
its Plus! Digital Media Edition software, a photo, music and movie
enhancement pack for its Windows XP operating system. The $19.95 upgrade
will become available for download on Jan. 7.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021217/sftu066_1.html
http://www.microsoft.com/plus
(Palo Alto, Calif.) Yahoo said on Tuesday that it has partnered with the
Associated Press news service to launch AP Archives, a fee-based news
archive on Yahoo News. The archive, which costs $1.50 per story, will
include AP articles published since Jan. 1, 1998.
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpF6VubKbyti0nJC
(New York) Video game publisher Infogrames announced on Tuesday that it
has sold the theatrical film rights to its "Alone In the Dark" horror
genre PC game to German production company Boll Kino. Under the agreement,
Boll Kino will control exclusive worldwide theatrical film rights, as well
as video, DVD, television, cable and pay per view rights for the film.
Principal photography is currently scheduled to commence in Vancouver in
the spring of 2003, with Dr. Uwe Boll serving as director and producer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021217/nytu012_1.html
http://www.infogrames.com
http://www.boll-kg.de
http://www.aloneinthedark.com
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Movielink, the video-on-demand joint venture
between a group of Hollywood film studios, announced on Tuesday that
Columbia Pictures' movie "Spider-Man" is now available for download from
the service. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Pictures, a partner in
Santa Monica-based Movielink.
http://www.movielink.com
(North Hollywood, Calif.) Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) on Tuesday
announced agreements with two European wireless network operators, to
distribute Disney-branded wireless content like ringtones, logos,
screensavers and games to cell phone users. North Hollywood, Calif.-based
WDIG partnered with TIM to distribute Disney MMS content in Italy, and
with French network operator Bouygues Telecom to offer content on that
company's i-mode service, based on the Japanese service from NTT DoCoMo.
http://psc.disney.go.com/corporate/press/wdig/wdig/2001/2002_1217_wdig.html
http://psc.disney.go.com/corporate/press/wdig/wdig/2001/2002_1217a_wdig.html
http://www.i-tim.it
http://www.imode.fr
(Calabasas Hills, Calif.) Game developer THQ on Tuesday released its
"SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman" for Nintendo
GameCube. The game is based on the Nickelodeon animated children's TV
series and is part of Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based THQ's exclusive
interactive license with Nickelodeon.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021217/170098_1.html
http://www.thq.com
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_supersites/spongebob/main.jhtml
(San Francisco) Sega.com said on Thursday that game developer Capcom's
"Auto Modellista" for Sony PlayStation 2 will utilize the company's SEGA
Network Application Package (SNAP) technology for online gaming.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Capcom will release the title, which will allow
players who purchase Sony's network adapter for PlayStation 2 to race one
another online, in the spring of 2003.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/223510078&ticker=
http://www.capcom.com
http://www.sega.com
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================================================
CLASSIFIEDS - HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS & RED HOT DEALS
================================================
To Post Holiday Specials:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
Digital Media Wire's Gift Suggestions for the Holidays:
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Other Great Gift Ideas:
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-Jos. A Bank - Quality Men's Apparel.
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______________________________________________________
HOLIDAY PERSONAL SHOPPER
I can help anyone in any department with any gift buying needs... or offer
suggestions... be it jewelry, home, accessories, mens or ladies clothing,
etc..and can be reached at 310-550-5900 ext 2007. GEMMI
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Rock & Roll One Of A Kinds!
Hipsters Franky & Minx (www.frankyandminx.com) are getting attention with
their tattoo-designed products. There are only a few pieces left of their
hand made cami tops and undies -- which have been featured everywhere from
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call (414) 294-4709 for availability. To purchase, go to
http://www.oranje.us
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CLASSIFIEDS - JOBS
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobpostingpage.htm
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====================
CLASSIFIEDS - EVENTS
====================
To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/eventpostingpage.htm
HOLIDAY CATERING...The best staff and food in town!
Eventeurs uses the top chefs and most attractive staff in the business. We
can do an amazing holiday party for you and work within your budget.
Please call Alan Dunn at 323.466.1835 or go to http://www.eventeurs.net
_____________________________________________
==========================
CLASSIFIEDS - MARKETPLACE
==========================
To Post Marketplace:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/marketplacepostingpage.htm
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Copyright 2002 Digital Media Wire, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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