archives

o Yahoo Acquires Launch Media for $12 Million
o Writers Union Protests New York Times' Threat to Delete Articles
o Microsoft to Host 2002 Winter Olympics Websites
o TheStandard.com: NFL Selling 5-Year Web Rights for $110 Million
o Rights Management Firm Hidden Footprints Gets Funding, Acquires Parent
o Briefly Noted: NCAA - basketball wagering sites, Sony PlayStation 2,
RealNetworks - Symbian, Snap2 Entertainment - Qantas Airways, Activision -
Fox Interactive, ClickRadio, Inside.com - Yahoo
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> Job Postings: Product Specialist, Flash Programmer, Content Editor,
Sales Associate, Senior Director, Control Buyer/Business Analyst,
Sr. Business Development Mgr.

> Events/Services: "Software Company Moving Sale," "Free WebCast Series:
Delivering Results in Today's Changing Environment"

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

o Yahoo Acquires Launch Media for $12 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Yahoo announced on Thursday that it has acquired
music entertainment provider Launch Media -- which operates Launch.com --
in a stock transaction valued at $12 million. Yahoo will pay $0.92 for
each outstanding share of Launch Media stock in a deal that is expected to
close in the third quarter of 2001. Santa Monica-based Launch will
maintain its current operations, and both CEO David Goldberg and president
Bob Roback will continue with the company. Launch has received a
short-term loan of $3 million as part of the agreement, which adds to the
$2 million loan it received from Yahoo in May. Launch is also selling its
interest in the Warped Tour in exchange for Launch shares held by other
partners in the venture, and will turn over operations after this summer's
tour. Additionally, Launch announced that it has settled its copyright
infringement litigation with Universal Music Group, paying an unspecified
amount for past performances of Universal artists' songs on its Launchcast
radio service while at the same time licensing UMG songs for future use on
Launchcast. Launch also offers about 7,000 authorized music videos on its
site. The company still faces copyright suits brought by BMG
Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music and Sony Music Entertainment. Yahoo has
agreed to market Sony and Universal's planned subscription service
Pressplay, making Launch.com a likely distribution channel for the service
as well.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010628/0045.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010628/0044.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6401763.html?tag=mn_hd
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,44884,00.html
http://www.launch.com
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o Writers Union Protests New York Times' Threat to Delete Articles

New York -- The National Writers Union urged its members on Thursday to
phone The New York Times to protest its announcement that it would delete
articles from its digital archives written by freelancers, rather than pay
the writers for the additional use of their work. The Supreme Court ruled
Monday that publishers like the Times must have writers' permission to
reprint articles digitally, to which the Times responded it would begin to
delete over 100,000 articles from its archives because paying was not an
option. New York Times Company reportedly sent notices to writers of the
freelance articles facing deletion, asking them for permission to use the
articles so that they would remain in the archives. The National Writers
Union responded by telling its members via email and through a note on its
website: "DO NOT SIGN ANY CONTRACT THE TIMES IS OFFERING--EITHER IN PRINT OR ON THE WEB. YOU WILL BE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHTS AND POTENTIAL FINANCIAL COMPENSATION STEMMING FROM THE SUPREME COURT VICTORY."
http://www.nwu.org/tvt/vicnyt1.htm
http://survey.nytimes.com/survey/restore/
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o Microsoft to Host 2002 Winter Olympics Websites

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft has reached an agreement with the Salt Lake
Organizing Committee for its MSN Internet division to produce the website
that will cover the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The site
will be produced by MSNBC.com, Microsoft's joint venture with TV network
NBC, and promoted on Microsoft's MSN.com consumer site as well as on
television on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC. TheStandard.com reported that Microsoft paid nothing for the Web rights, but will cover the associated costs of
producing the site. A new producer of the Olympics website was necessary
after Quokka Sports, which paid millions for the rights to produce the
website for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, shut down in April. The
site will be accessible from NBCOlympics.com, SaltLake2002.com and
Olympics.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010627/sfw130.html
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,27522,00.html
http://www.saltlake2002.com
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o TheStandard.com: NFL Selling 5-Year Web Rights for $110 Million

San Francisco -- The National Football League is close to signing a deal
to sell its Internet rights to America Online, Viacom and CBS SportsLine
for $110 million, TheStandard.com reported Thursday. The five-year
agreement is valued at $325 million, when cross-promotional opportunities
and the cost of hosting and production are considered. SportsLine.com
would take over production and hosting duties from Disney-owned ESPN.com,
whose three-year contract with the league recently expired. The deal has
not yet been signed, but ESPN's time period within which to better the
current offer has expired, TheStandard.com reported.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,27552,00.html
http://www.nfl.com
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o Rights Management Firm Hidden Footprints Gets Funding, Acquires Parent

Reston, Va. -- Hidden Footprints Corp., a developer of digital rights
management technologies, announced on Thursday that it has secured an
undisclosed sum in its first round of financing and has acquired its
U.K.-based parent company, Hidden Footprints, Ltd. Sussex Place Partners
II Fund and The University Challenge Seed Fund provided the financing.
Virginia-based Hidden Footprint's technology lets content providers add a
watermark to individual copies of files distributed via satellite,
multicasting and content distribution networks. The company will use the
funds to turn its technology into software products.
http://www.hiddenfootprints.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(Minneapolis) The NCAA has taken steps to reduce the availability of
college basketball online betting sites through domain name arbitration,
the Minneapolis-based National Arbitration Forum said Thursday. The NCAA
won arbitration over website owners that transferred domain names such as
ncaawager.com, finalfoursportsbook.com and marchmadnesssportsbook.com back
to the collegiate sports organization.
http://www.arbitration-forum.com/domains/decisions/97295.htm

(Tokyo) Sony Computer Entertainment will reduce the cost of its
PlayStation 2 video game consoles in Japan Friday from $319 to $281 in an
effort to attract more sales before rival consoles from Nintendo and
Microsoft are released, Reuters reported on Thursday. The price cut will
not apply in America, the company said. A Japanese analyst also told
Reuters that only two PS2 games have sold over one million copies there,
further inducing Sony to try to capture more of the market before more
competition emerges.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-6401953.html?tag=mn_hd

(Seattle) Media delivery provider RealNetworks said on Thursday that it
has partnered with Symbian, a provider of operating systems for cell
phones. Under the agreement, RealNetworks' audio and video player software
tailored for cell phones will be included with London-based Symbian's
operating systems. Companies currently developing devices that will use
Symbian's OS include Ericsson, Kenwood, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion,
Sanyo, Siemens and Sony.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010628/sfth034.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-6400355.html?tag=mn_hd

(Des Moines, Iowa) Snap2 Entertainment, a developer and distributor of
video games for in-flight entertainment services, announced on Thursday
that Qantas Airways will include its games on its planes that have
installed Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems' entertainment system.
Iowa-based Snap2's games are also available on British Airways, Delta Air
Lines, Air France, LanChile, Aer Lingus and AOM French Airlines -- to an
estimated annual audience of 24 million passengers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010628/2123.html
http://www.snaptwo.com
http://www.rockwellcollins.com/ps/

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision said Thursday that it
plans to launch a multi-million dollar promotional campaign for its joint
title with Fox Interactive, "World's Scariest Police Chases" for Sony
Playstation. The campaign includes a sweepstakes and marketing on Fox TV
shows and at Planet Hollywood restaurants.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010628/lath030.html
http://www.activision.com

(New York) Web-based digital radio service provider ClickRadio said on
Thursday that it named John V. Madison as the company's new CEO. Most
recently, Madison was senior VP of operations for AMFM -- formerly one of
the nation's largest broadcasters -- and also served as an executive VP at
Polygram Music and Film. New York-based ClickRadio's radio stations are
encrypted and downloaded to a user's computer rather than streamed,
connecting to the Internet only periodically to download new selections.
http://www.clickradio.com/press/madison.htm

(San Francisco) Inside.com will no longer offer its entertainment business
news content for free on Web portal Yahoo, CNET reported on Thursday. The
company explained its decision to Yahoo by citing its parent company
Primedia's recent merger with Brill Media, and its intention to provide
content through paid subscriptions.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6397948.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.inside.com

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

> XM Radio, Product Specialist - Washington, D.C.

Reporting to Director of Product Development, this position will manage
radio equipment for demos & tradeshows, in addition to serving as 2nd tier
technical resource for customer care. Work w/ retailers, manufacturers &
marketing to identify operations issues. 3 years exp. in consumer
electronics field, excellent organization & communication skills and
Associate's degree in technology or equivalent experience. Send resumes
to: jobs@xmradio.com
http://www.xmradio.com
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> The Illusion Factory, Flash Programmer - Los Angeles

Flash expert needed for entertainment/multi-media design company
specializing in websites for film/television/multimedia, as well as
specialty e-mail for various clients. You will work w/ art directors in
developing sites translated into various languages. Candidates should have
strong skills in Flash, Photoshop & Illustrator. Experience in Director,
GoLive a plus. Send resumes to: tara@illusionfactory.com
http://www.illusionfactory.com
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> Law.com, Content Editor - New York City

Well-funded Internet service for lawyers seeking Content Editor to work on
New York Web site and other products. Position requires evening hours.
Salary to mid-30s. One to three years writing/editing experience required.
Legal and/or HTML experience helpful.
Send resumes to: kjackson@corp.law.com
http://www.law.com
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> Walt Disney Internet Group, Sales Associate - Los Angeles

Join the ABCNEWS.com/ABC.com sales team. Responsibilities: creating
Powerpoint proposals; prospecting for leads; managing active programs;
providing tracking for existing ad campaigns; quantitive & qualitative
research; & handling clients while all sales reps are out of the office. 1
year experience at an interactive agency. Media background preferred. Send
resumes to: hr.recruiting@dig.com
http://www.dig.com
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>Dittus Communications, Senior Director - Washington, D.C.

Working with the Vice President, this individual will be responsible for
developing and implementing communications programs for our high-tech
clients. Creative writing, strong media pitching, management experience,
solid marketing background as well as 5 to 8 years agency experience
required. Send resumes to karine.elsen@dittus.com
http://www.dittus.com
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> Alloy Online, Control Buyer/Business Analyst - New York City

Alloy Online, a new media and e-commerce company, is looking for a
quantitative person for inventory control, sales forecasting & other
special business analyses. Must be a self-starter who can work within a
team and contribute to building the business. Must have good business
judgment, problem solving & people skills. BS/BA & strong Excel exp. Send
resumes to: bstankard@alloy.com
http://www.alloy.com
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> AGENCY.COM, Senior Business Development Director - Boston

Position is responsible for driving revenue-producing activities such as:
qualifying leads, proactively managing accounts & cultivating senior-level
relationships w/ new & existing accounts. 8-10 yrs. professional
servicessales, successful sales track record and understanding of
eBusiness solutions. Must be able to manage overall relationships w/
clients. Apply online at: http://www.agency.com

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

> Software Company Moving Sale - Los Angeles

An LA-based software company is moving offices and selling various
equipment & furnishings: Uninterruptible Power Supplies (a must for
looming blackouts); printers (HP Color Laserjet 4500, Laserjet 1100 and
many Epson 850s); PCs; firewall; hubs; desks; tables; chairs; whiteboards,
etc. Priced to move. Office located in mid-Wilshire at 3333 Wilshire Blvd.
(near Vermont), Suite 205, Los Angeles, CA 90010.
For information, please call Barney: 213.365.6545, ext. 204.
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> Free WebCast Series: Delivering Results in Today's Changing Environment

Pacific Edge Software, an enterprise solution provider of project
portfolio management, is joined by webcast speakers Geoffrey Moore, Bill
Rosser & Jim Highsmith to address challenges you face as an executive in
today's uncertain environment. Get expert advice & learn how Pacific
Edge's solution of software & services enables organizations to manage
project portfolios & measure progress toward strategic goals.
SIGN-UP at http://www.pacificedge.com/campaigns/DigitalMedia
or email info@pacificedge.com
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