archives

o Napster, Labels Argue Over Song-Blocking Particulars
o Hyperion, Time Warner Trade Publishing Launch E-Books Unit
o Graphics Firm PurpleDrop Launches with $4 Million from PentaMedia
o Electronics Maker 3Com to Discontinue Kerbango Internet Radio
o EMusic Software to Patrol Napster for Trading of its Files
> Digital Media Wire: NYC & DC Interactive Games Panels
o Briefly Noted: "Writers Fight for E-Rights," RealNetworks - Nokia,
PacketVideo - game developers, Sensaura - Microsoft, Activision - Columbia
Pictures, Wink Communications - Beyond Z Interactive Media, Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - ABC.com
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> Job Postings: Acct. Supervisor, BizDev Director, Acct. Manager,
PR Director, Animation Manager

> Events/Services: "Digital Media Revolution in the Americas"

Full Job/Event 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: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
_____________________________________________

o Napster, Labels Argue Over Song-Blocking Particulars

Redwood City, Calif. -- Napster, Inc.'s second "report of compliance"
issued to the U.S. District Court on its efforts to filter songs submitted
by record labels details the company's frustration with what it calls
improperly formatted requests by the labels. Napster says that the labels
have provided incomplete or inaccurate filtering requests, which have
resulted in Napster's having to review hundreds of thousands of requests
and reinstate certain legitimate files which were inadvertently blocked.
The company is now seeking damages for lost man-hours as a result of its
extra efforts. Meanwhile, the RIAA plans to tell the Court in a filing due
next week that Napster is simply not doing its job in filtering songs
effectively. An RIAA spokesman told CNET that, "At this point it is clear
that Napster hasn't complied with the court's order," said Jano Cabrera of
the RIAA. "We are going to spell out our concerns in detail [in the court
filing]."
http://dl.napster.com/010320-compliance.pdf
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5211495.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Hyperion, Time Warner Trade Publishing Launch E-Books Unit

New York -- Hyperion Books and Time Warner Trade Publishing announced on
Thursday that they will launch Hyperion eBooks, an e-book imprint that
will be distributed through iPublish.com. Hyperion will publish
approximately five e-books each month beginning in July 2001. Its debut
list will include the bestseller "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin, as well as
"Napalm and Silly Putty" by George Carlin and "When You
Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!" by Yogi Berra. New York-based
Hyperion Books publishes general interest fiction and non-fiction titles
for adults.
http://www.hyperionbooks.com
http://www.ipublish.com
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o Graphics Firm PurpleDrop Launches with $4 Million from PentaMedia

Santa Clara, Calif. -- PurpleDrop, a designer and developer of graphics
for the interactive gaming and film industries, on Thursday announced the
launch of its services. PentaMedia Graphics supplied the company with seed
funding of $4 million. The company said it has received licenses and will
begin design on games for Sony's Playstation and Playstation 2 game
consoles. "Our mission is to address the demand for an all-encompassing,
end-to-end resource for graphic content -- from creation, production and
management to deployment across emerging next generation platforms," said
Ashok Desai, founder and CEO of PurpleDrop.
http://www.purpledrop.com
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o Electronics Maker 3Com to Discontinue Kerbango Internet Radio

Santa Clara, Calif. -- As part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs,
3Com said that it will no longer manufacture its Internet appliances,
including the Kerbango, a $299.99 device that could connect to the
Internet and play Web radio stations without the need of a computer. Santa
Clara-based 3Com acquired Kerbango in June of 2000 for $80 million.
"The abruptness and severity of the current technology slowdown has
clearly impacted 3Com," said Bruce Claflin, president and CEO of 3Com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010321/0082.html
http://www.kerbango.com/press/R_3com.html
http://www.3com.com
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o EMusic Software to Patrol Napster for Trading of its Files

Redwood City, Calif. -- Downloadable music retailer EMusic announced on
Thursday that it has begun using proprietary software that allows the
company to continually search the Napster network for EMusic MP3s being
traded without permission, and automatically reports these infringing
track names to Napster Inc. for filtering. Company spokesperson Steve
Curry said that the software complies with all stipulations set forth in
the Court's injunction against Napster, including providing proof of
copyright ownership of the songs in question. Redwood City-based EMusic
owns outright copyrights on some songs that it offers, but only has the
digital distribution rights to others. The company is also providing data
on each song known as an "MD5 sum," which identifies the actual song data
independent of whatever name a user gives to each file. "By identifying
our licensed tracks by their unique MD5 sums instead of their titles, we
can now effectively find and notify Napster of infringing files on their
network -- including misspellings and other variants," said Gene Hoffman,
EMusic president & CEO. The company filed a copyright infringement and
unfair competition lawsuit against Napster on March 7.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010322/sfth051.html
http://www.emusic.com/napster/emusiccomplaint.pdf/
http://www.emusic.com
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> Digital Media Wire: NYC & DC Interactive Games Panels

New York City -- "Interactive Games on the Internet"
MODERATOR:
-Billy Pidgeon, Analyst, Jupiter Research

FEATURED SPEAKERS:
-Greg Costikyan, Founder & Chief Design Officer, Unplugged Games
-Rob Davis, Executive Producer, Spiderdance
-David Higley, Executive Director, Technology Investment Banking, UBS
Warburg LLP
-Frank Lantz, Sr. Game Designer, gameLab
-Joseph Varet, VP BizDev & Strategy, The Groove Alliance

Date: Wednesday, March 28th, 2001
***Only a few tickets remain***
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/NYCgames.html

------------

Washington, D.C. -- "Interactive Games on the Internet"
FEATURED SPEAKERS:
-Phillip Campbell, Chief Creative Director, Quantic Dream
-Larry Cotter, CEO, Sandbox.com
-David Levine, CEO, Butterfly.net
-Doug Lowenstein, President, Interactive Digital Software Association
*Additional panelists TBA.

Date: Thursday, April 5th, 2001
For more information and to register:
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/DCgames.html
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o Briefly Noted:

(San Francisco) Wired News on Thursday reported on the issues surrounding
a Supreme Court case to be argued against the New York Times by freelance
writers who are not being compensated when their works appear in digital
archives such as Lexis-Nexis. The Times and its fellow defendants, which
include Lexis-Nexis, argue that they already paid once for the work, and
to mandate additional payments would cripple the highly useful archiving
services.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42538,00.html

(Seattle) Streaming media technology provider RealNetworks announced on
Thursday that it has partnered with cell phone maker Nokia to integrate
its Mobile RealPlayer technology into the Nokia 9210 Communicator. The
phone -- which can open lengthwise and is equipped with a color screen --
can use the special version of Seattle-based RealNetworks' software to
access video and music from the Internet.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010320/sftu120.html
http://www.nokia.com/phones/9210/index.html
http://www.realnetworks.com

(San Diego, Calif.) Wireless streaming video developer PacketVideo
announced on Thursday that it has partnered with four international game
developers to create software that will allow for streaming media, rich
graphics, animation and interactivity in games designed for wireless
devices. The companies involved in the agreement are U.K.-based Digital
Bridges, Sweden-based Picofun, Finland-based Orchimedia and Israel-based
Cash-U. San Diego-based PacketVideo is also currently testing its
streaming video technology for wireless devices with several network
providers.
http://www.packetvideo.com/press/view.asp?id=113
http://www.digitalbridges.com
http://www.picofun.com
http://www.orchimedia.com
http://www.cash-u.com

(San Jose, Calif.) Sensaura, a developer of 3D audio technology, said on
Thursday that Microsoft will use its technology for its Xbox video game
console. The U.K.-based company's technology will enable 64 channels of
"3D positional audio" to be incorporated into games designed for the Xbox.
"The audio capabilities of existing consoles have always lagged behind
those of the PC and have held back the implementation of truly immersive
games where audio plays such an important part," said Karl Jeffery, CEO of
game developer Climax Group Games. Microsoft's Xbox is slated for release
this fall.
http://www.sensaura.com
http://www.xbox.com

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision said on Thursday that it
has obtained the exclusive rights to develop and publish games based on
the Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment feature film "Spider-Man,"
which is slated for theatrical release in May 2002. Santa Monica-based
Activision released a game based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man
in August 2000 for Sony Playstation; the current deal gives the company
rights to develop games for all platforms that incorporate plot elements
from the upcoming film.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010322/lath038.html
http://www.activision.com/

(Alameda, Calif.) Interactive television developer Wink Communications
said on Thursday that Atlanta-based Beyond Z Interactive Media has signed
on to become a third-party developer of enhanced TV services for the
company. Beyond Z's software will be used in Alameda-based Wink's platform
for interactive television.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010321/sfw128.html
http://www.beyondz.net
http://www.wink.com

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
and ABC.com agreed on Thursday to continue their partnership to develop
the Academy Awards' website, Oscar.com, through 2005. Last year during
Oscar weekend, the site registered 1.5 million visitors.
http://www.oscar.com
http://www.oscar.org

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

> Hill and Knowlton, Account Supervisor/Technology - Los Angeles

Acct. Supervisor for global PR firm needs 4+ years experience in an agency
with specialized knowledge of technology. Manage accounts and staff, serve
as client liasion, allocate work to staff, manage client budgets, expand
client business and establish communications strategies. Submit resume and
salary history to careers@hillandknowlton
http://www.hillandknowlton.com
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> AGENCY.com, Business Development Director - San Francisco

This position is responsible for managing the overall relationship with
client contacts from a strategic & long-term planning perspective and
acts as the primary contact on strategic client issues. Must possess
5-10 years of successful, professional services sales, as well as a
strong understanding of eBusiness solutions. Send resumes to
sanfranciscojobs@agency.com
http://www.agency.com
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> Account Manager - Great Plains/West Coast (California)

The Account Manager will develop and maintain a sales account plan in
conjunction with management goals and strategies. Qualified candidates
will have 4-5 years technology sales related experience or knowledge of
financial or business management. Strong communication abilities,
professional attitude, executive presence, and customer management skills
are required. Send resumes to
ptw2@careerrewards.com OR REFER A FRIEND AND EARN $1000
http://www.careerrewards.com/cr/search/jpd.jsp?jobId=2006
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> Niehaus Ryan Wong, PR Director - Austin, Texas

We are looking for Directors who know both technology and consumer media
to assume one of the senior-most account positions within the agency,
having overall responsibility for operation of a specific group of
accounts and people. Directors provide strategic marketing and PR counsel
to senior client executives and are deemed industry influencers. Send
resumes to jobs@nrwpr.com
http://www.nrwpr.com
______________________

> School of Visual Arts, Animation Manager - New York City

This position reports to the film chairman and the Film Department's
director of operations. Manage daily functions of animation facility,
supervise assistant & student workers, coordinate schedules &
responsibilities, research & plan animation technology and convey budget
updates & proposals. Knowledge of Illustrator, Adobe Premiere,
AfterEffects & Photoshop. Send resumes to hr@adm.schoolofvisualarts.edu
http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu

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

> Digital Media Revolution in the Americas, Nov. 29-30 - Pasadena

Institute of the Americas and the Annenberg School for Communication
Conference will focus on all aspects of digital media content production,
delivery and protection of digital property rights in the Americas.
Features CEO track at the Huntington Museum and high-level Latin American
speakers.
Send inquiries to cmorton@iamericas.org
For more information: http://www.iamericas.org
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