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Main Stories
o Disney, Microsoft Partner on Digital Media Initiatives
o Nokia to Pay Psion $242 Million for Control of Software Firm Symbian
o Florida Lawmakers Seek Stronger Restrictions on Violent Video Game Sales
o Report: U.K. to Boast Nearly 5 Million Broadband Users by Year's End

o Briefly Noted: International Digital Media and Arts Association, 24/7 Music Shop - Cable & Wireless, OpenTV - Pace Micro Technology, Jakks Pacific - Marvel Enterprises, RealNetworks - Cablevision, Electronic Arts - Criterion Games, Nintendo - "Pokemon Colosseum," Nokia - Sega, Square Enix U.S.A. - AT&T Wireless, iRiver, Pornographers - Internet piracy

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft announced on Monday a multi-year agreement with The Walt Disney Company to collaborate on digital media initiatives that will center on securing the distribution of Disney content using Microsoft delivery technologies. The companies did not mention many specifics of the agreement, other than to note that Disney will license Microsoft Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. "With technologies now available to bring new experiences to consumers, including high-quality digital movies through a range of secure delivery methods, the time is right for a significant cooperative effort such as this one between Microsoft and Disney to help guide the industry," said Will Poole, senior vice president of Windows client business at Microsoft.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/nym114_1.html 
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5155333.html
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o Nokia to Pay Psion $242 Million for Control of Software Firm Symbian

Helsinki -- Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia announced on Monday that it has taken control of mobile software company Symbian, after agreeing to pay U.K. handheld-computer company Psion about $242 million for its stake in the company. Once completed, the deal will see Nokia's share in Symbian jump to 63%. Industry experts say many of Symbian's minority shareholders -- including Ericsson, Samsung, Siemens, Panasonic and Sony, among others -- will now have to decide whether or not they can live under Nokia's control. Symbian is the operating system used to power phones and other products made by Nokia and others.
http://press.nokia.com/PR/200402/933379_5.html
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2D751A57 
http://www.symbian.com
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o Florida Lawmakers Seek Stronger Restrictions on Violent Video Game Sales

Tallahassee, Fla. -- Several Florida lawmakers have introduced bills in the state's House and Senate that would stiffen penalties on retailers who sell violent or sexually explicit video games to minors, Reuters reported. The proposed legislation would compel physical retailers to demand ID from those purchasing Mature-rated game titles, and provide third-degree felony charges against those who didn't -- with penalties of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. "We want to make sure that parents are educated and that retailers are aware that [these games] are not appropriate for children," Florida state Rep. Sheri McInvale told Reuters. "We're not banning them and requiring retailers to go to expensive extremes. We're just saying we need to deal with video games in the same way we deal with pornography, alcohol and R-rated movies." 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2C935A57
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o Report: U.K. to Boast Nearly 5 Million Broadband Users by Year's End

London -- According to analysis firm Continental Research, the number of broadband users in the U.K. is set to jump from the current 3.6 million to nearly 5 million by year's end. The Spring 2004 Internet Report also said about 30% of the dial-up population has expressed an interest in upgrading to a faster connection this year. "With 12.6 million homes now connected to the Internet, there is a still a huge opportunity available for telecoms companies to persuade people to upgrade onto faster connections, especially as we are seeing a strong interest and demand by consumers to do so," Continental Research's Colin Shaddick said.
http://www.continentalresearch.com

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(Orlando, Fla.) The International Digital Media and Arts Association (IDMAA) announced on Monday that it would hold its inaugural conference in Orlando, Florida, on March 10-12. Professionals and academics from a wide range of disciplines recently created the IDMAA to help universities to develop new curricula, faculties, partnerships and skills for emerging digital technologies. Member universities currently include Ball State, Bowling Green, Columbia College, Florida State, Stetson, SUNY, Union, and the Universities of Central Florida, Denver, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Warwick and Wisconsin.
http://idmaa.org/idmac2004

(Zurich) Digital music service provider 27/7 Music Shop announced that it has partnered with U.K.-based telco Cable & Wireless, to offer businesses a branded digital music download store solution. The Cable & Wireless Music Download Service will offer retailers, mobile phone operators, Internet service providers and others with a music download store solution that combines Cable & Wireless' hosting and network services with Zurich-based 24/7 Music Shop's distribution software, already used by major labels like EMI and Warner. The companies said the platform, which was set to go live at the end of January, will offer over 200,000 tracks from major labels and independents.
http://www.247ms.com/news/PR_CW_24-7_012004.pdf
http://www.cw.com

(San Francisco) OpenTV, a provider of interactive TV software and services, announced that U.K.-based set-top box manufacturer Pace Micro Technology has signed a five-year license agreement. San Francisco-based OpenTV's middleware products will now be integrated into the range of software included on Pace's set-top boxes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040209/95371_1.html 
http://www.pace.co.uk 
http://www.opentv.com

(Malibu, Calif.) Toymaker Jakks Pacific announced on Monday that it has secured a license from comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises to create a "TV Games" product featuring Marvel superhero Spider-Man. The portable TV Games device is a battery-powered, all-in-one video game console that includes the controller and all game software and connects to any television. The $20 product is slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/lam036_1.html 
http://www.marvel.com 
http://www.jakkstvgames.com

(Seattle) RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology, announced on Monday that cable TV operator Cablevision will distribute a co-branded version of the RealArcade downloadable game service to its Optimum Online high-speed Internet subscribers. Over 180 PC game titles will be available to Optimum's one million subscribers on OptimumArcade.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/sfm039_1.html 
http://www.optonline.net 
http://www.realarcade.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts announced on Monday an agreement with U.K.-based developer Criterion Games, to co-develop and publish the company's upcoming racing title, "Burnout 3." Currently in development with EA's European Studio for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the latest installment in the 2 million unit-selling franchise is slated for release in September 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040209/95325_1.html 
http://www.ea.com 
http://www.criteriongames.com

(Redmond, Wash.) Nintendo of America announced that it will release its latest Pokemon-related GameCube title, "Pokemon Colosseum," on March 24. Fans who preorder the game will receive a bonus disc featuring an exclusive Pokemon character that may be downloaded from GameCube to Game Boy Advance handhelds using an accessory cable. The character can then be played within "Pokemon Ruby" and "Pokemon Sapphire," two Game Boy Advance titles released last March.
http://www.nintendo.com 
http://www.pokemon.com

(Helsinki) Cell phone make Nokia said on Monday that Japanese game developer Sega will release two new titles for its N-Gage hybrid cell phone/handheld video game in the spring of 2004. Both "Virtua Cop" and "Alien Front" will contain modes where N-Gage owners may challenge one other over a Bluetooth wireless connection.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040209/95414_1.html 
http://www.sega.com 
http://www.n-gage.com

(Los Angeles) Square Enix U.S.A., the U.S. distribution unit of the Japanese video game developer, on Monday launched its "Square Enix Gallery" service for AT&T Wireless subscribers. The service offers a series of downloadable wallpapers featuring a variety of characters from Square Enix's "Final Fantasy" game franchise, which has sold over 48 million units worldwide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/lam035_1.html 
http://www.square-enix-usa.com/mobile

(Milpitas, Calif.) Consumer electronics maker iRiver on Monday released two new flash memory-based MP3 player models. The $329 iFP-595T holds 512MB, while the $449 iFP-599T holds up to 1GB of music or data.
http://www.iriveramerica.com

(New York) The Sunday New York Times featured an article on how pornographers are reacting to the growing problem of Internet piracy, which is at least as much of a threat to them as it is to record labels and film studios. Some providers, such as Playboy.com, do not view the posting of its images by others as competition. "It's direct marketing at its finest," Playboy.com president Randy Nicolau told The Times. Others, such as Hustler, Vivid Video and Titan Media, say they have lawyers who regularly send out cease-and-desist notices to for-pay sites that have infringed their copyrights -- but none have followed the record industry's tack of suing individual users.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/business/yourmoney/08porn.html

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