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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- March 27, 2003
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Bill Would Create "Copyright Judge" to Arbitrate Web Music Royalties
o Music Industry Pamphlets Overseas Schools With Anti-Piracy Messages
o AOL to End Free Online Versions of People, Entertainment Weekly
o XM Satellite Radio Adds Subscribers, Revenue
o TVGateway Joint Venture Gets New Investment, Management Team
> DMW Publications: February Law and Policy Report
> Featured Section: HP Workstation for a PC Price
o Briefly Noted: T-Mobile - video messaging, Gemstar-TV Guide - Sony
Blu-ray, Lockstream - wireless game DRM, Modtones - Telstra, Sony Computer
Entertainment America - "Amplitude," Capcom - "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" -
"Auto Modellista," Atari - "V-Rally 3," Activision Value - "Atlantis
Underwater Tycoon," "Free" e-book - $15,000 bandwidth fees, Google -
Fastclick - Burst, Online games - cheaters, YellowTimes.org
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> Events: Games & Mobile Forum: April 28 | NYC
> Marketplace: TechSpotter, Game Industry Report, iTV Chronicle,
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o Bill Would Create "Copyright Judge" to Arbitrate Web Music Royalties
Washington -- A bill has been introduced into Congress that aims to
streamline the convoluted process of determining the royalties webcasters
should pay artists and record labels for the rights to stream their music
over the Internet. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) says the Copyright Royalty
and Distribution Reform Act "will streamline the process and help reduce
its unpredictability and inconsistency." The bill would effectively
eliminate the oft-criticized CARP (Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel)
proceedings that previously served as the arbitration entity between
webcasters and the music industry, as well as take the U.S. Copyright
Office out of its role as the final decision maker in the process.
Instead, responsibilities for hearing arguments on royalties would be
handed over to a new "Copyright Judge," who would have a minimum 10 years
of experience as a copyright lawyer. The Copyright Judge would be granted
the power to decide both the law and royalty rates. A hearing on the bill
scheduled for Thursday was postponed indefinitely.
http://lamarsmith.house.gov/news.asp?FormMode=Detail&ID=199
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-994272.html?tag=cd_mh
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o Music Industry Pamphlets Overseas Schools With Anti-Piracy Messages
Brussels -- An international music industry trade group has begun
disseminating anti-piracy pamphlets at colleges and universities in
Europe, South America, Asia and Australia, advising them on how to
identify and stop copyright theft of music on their computer networks. The
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) launched the
program -- which will send pamphlets in eight languages to schools in 20
countries -- to try to address the rampant unauthorized file-sharing it
says occurs on campus networks worldwide and is a major cause of slumping
album sales. "We hope that the launch of this awareness brochure is
another positive step towards making sure that all academic institutions
know the risks of piracy and the benefits of responsible management of
their computer systems," said IFPI chairman and CEO Jay Berman. The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) also recently targeted
2,000 U.S. universities and Fortune 1,000 companies with similar
anti-piracy information.
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20030327.html
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2458060
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/academic-brochure-english.pdf
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o AOL to End Free Online Versions of People, Entertainment Weekly
New York -- AOL Time Warner will end its practice of offering free online
versions of Time Inc. magazines like People and Entertainment Weekly,
instead offering them only to AOL members and those subscribed to the
print editions of the titles. Twelve other free sites, including those for
InStyle, Parenting and Sports Illustrated for Kids, will also soon be
offered exclusively to AOL members. "If the content is really great, we
should be getting paid for it," John Squires, an executive vice president
at Time Inc., told the Financial Times. "By shutting off free access, we
can use the sites as marketing vehicles."
http://biz.yahoo.com/ft/030327/1048313242380_1.html
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o XM Satellite Radio Adds Subscribers, Revenue
Washington, D.C. -- Buoyed by a surge of new subscribers in the fourth
quarter, DC-based XM Satellite Radio, the operator of a nationwide
subscription satellite radio service, on Thursday reported significantly
higher revenue than a year ago, though it still remains far from a profit.
For the three months that ended on December 31, XM reported revenue of
$9.0 million, compared with $532,00 in the fourth quarter of 2001, thanks
to a subscriber base that grew by nearly 146,000 to 347,000. However, the
company still reported a net loss of $161 million, up from $149.8 million,
though the company said that it remains on track to reach cash-flow
breakeven without additional outside funding.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030327/dcth022_1.html
http://www.xmradio.com
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o TVGateway Joint Venture Gets New Investment, Management Team
Trevose, Pa. -- TVGateway, a joint venture of cable TV operators and
others developing an interactive program guide for advanced cable
services, said on Thursday that its backers have provided an additional,
undisclosed investment in the company, and that its board has elected a
new management team. Television industry veteran Bill McCall was named as
CEO; several other new appointments were also announced.
Pennsylvania-based TVGateway said that version 2.0 of its interactive
program guide will launch in the spring, featuring enhancements to support
HDTV, video-on-demand and digital video recording. Members of the joint
venture include Adelphia, Charter, Comcast, Cox and WorldGate.
http://www.tvgateway.tv
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DMW Publications: February Law & Policy Report
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Contact tinzar@digitalmediawire.com or call 323-464-0793 to order your
copies.
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Digital Media Law & Policy Report - New Issue
Must-read publication on legal and policy matters related to digital
media. 35+ pages of case summaries, news and analysis, policy updates,
court filings, and exclusive interviews with legal counsel and business
leaders.
Published monthly. February issue on sale now!
**Special Reduced Rates available for a limited time**
Price: $19.00 Per Issue | $195.00 Annual Subscription
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FEATURED SECTION
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Featured Section posting at:
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Briefly Noted:
(Bellevue, Wash.) Wireless network operator T-Mobile on Thursday announced
the launch of video messaging services that will let its subscribers
record and send full motion color video messages from their cell phones.
The company is offering Nokia's 3650 color videophone for less than $200
after rebate, a device capable of recording and sending video over the
company's high-speed GSM/GPRS voice and data network.
http://www.t-mobile.com
(Pasadena, Calif.) Gemstar-TV Guide, a provider of interactive program
guides for digital television, announced on Thursday that Sony Corp. will
integrate the company's technology into its world's first Blu-Ray Disc
recordable DVD receiver. The BDZ-S77, which can record onto the new 27GB
high-capacity blu-ray disc format, will feature Pasadena-based Gemstar's
guide on models sold in Japan.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030327/275213_1.html
http://www.gemstartvguide.com
http://www.blu-raydisc.info
(Seattle) Lockstream announced on Thursday that it has developed digital
rights management technology for securing games on wireless devices. The
Seattle-based firm's first offering supports the Sony Ericsson P800
handset, a Symbian-based smartphone.
http://www.lockstream.com
(Sydney) Faith West, a San Francisco-based wireless entertainment
provider, announced on Thursday that Australian wireless network operator
Telstra will offer its Modtones polyphonic ringtones to its subscribers.
Users can preview, purchase and download synthesized versions of both
local songs and international hits -- licensed through the Australasian
Mechanical Copyright Owners Society -- for about $1.50 each.
http://www.telstra.com
http://www.modtones.com.au
(Foster City, Calif.) Sony Computer Entertainment America has released its
"Amplitude" title for PlayStation 2, a game that lets players remix tracks
from such artists as Weezer, Garbage, Run DMC, Blink 182 and David Bowie.
The game was developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Harmonix Music Systems.
http://www.us.playstation.com/news/LatestNews/2003_01_07_2.asp
http://www.harmonixmusic.com
(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Game developer Capcom announced the release of its
"Marvel vs. Capcom 2" for Microsoft Xbox. The game pits Marvel comic
superheroes against characters from Capcom's line of arcade titles.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Capcom also released "Auto Modellista," for the
PlayStation 2, a racing title that supports online gaming through Sony's
Network Adaptor device.
http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=450053
http://www.capcom.com/news/news.xpml?prid=450052
(Los Angeles) Video game publisher Atari, a unit of French games firm
Infogrames, said it has shipped its "V-Rally 3" title for Microsoft Xbox
to retailers. The sequel was developed by the French company's Eden
Studios, which developed the original game in 1997 for PlayStation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030326/265481_1.html
http://www.v-rally3.com
(Minneapolis) Activision Value, the value-priced game publishing arm of
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision, announced on Thursday the release
of its "Atlantis Underwater Tycoon," an underwater empire-building title
for PC.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030327/275169_1.html
http://www.activisionvalue.com
(San Francisco) Wired News on Thursday reported on an author who tried to
spur sales of his technical book by offering it as a free download, but
due to the offer's popularity may now be charged $15,000 in bandwidth
fees. Writer Glenn Fleishman's book "Real World Adobe GoLive 6," a primer
on the Web publishing software, weighed in at a hefty 23 MB PDF file and
generated 10,000 downloads in the 36 hours it was offered free of charge.
"It's a financial catastrophe," Fleishman told Wired News. "I never
suspected the penalty would be so high for giving something away... It's
like living in Singapore and getting 15 years in jail for chewing gum."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58219,00.html
http://www.realworldgolive.com/six
(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Thursday reported on several deals
recently arranged between search engine firm Google and online advertising
networks, which have resulted in Google's pay-for-performance AdWords text
ads being distributed on the networks' partner sites. The syndication
deals, with Fastclick and Burst, expand Google's ad reach to 24,000
websites while at the same time offering the ad networks increased
prominence.
http://news.com.com/2100-1024-994255.html?tag=fd_top
http://www.fastclick.com
http://www.burst.com
(New York) The New York Times on Thursday reported on cheating that exists
within online games like "The Sims Online" and "Counter-Strike," among
players who use glitches in the game or software specially designed to
give them an advantage over other players. The article mentions
Houston-based anti-cheating software developer Even Balance, whose
Punkbusters application is installed on players' computers and monitors if
banned software cheats are installed or in use.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/technology/circuits/27chea.html
http://www.evenbalance.com
(London) Reuters recently reported on YellowTimes.org, a news website that
was taken offline by its small hosting provider, which deemed offensive
the controversial photos it posted of captured American soldiers. "No TV
station in the U.S. is allowing any dead U.S. soldiers or POWs to be
displayed and we will not either. We understand free press and all but we
don't want someone's family member to see them on some site. It is
disrespectful, tacky and disgusting," read an email explanation sent to
the site's operator and seen by Reuters. The move brings up the question
of small ISPs acting as media censors. "If you're a hosting company or an
ISP and you pull stuff for editorial reasons, you are in danger of losing
your legal protections. It's not a wise move," Univ. of Tennessee law
professor Glenn Reynolds told Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2446564
http://www.yellowtimes.org
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Digital Media Wire Presents...Games & Mobile Forum
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Door Tickets Price: $250. For Early Bird Specials, pre-register at:
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