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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- August 9, 2000
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o NBCi Cuts 170 Employees
o Scour Beefs Up Legal Representation
o Internet Ticketing Company Paciolan Raises $10 Million
o Microsoft Forms Partnership With Book Publisher Association
o iBeam Announces Online Pay-Per-View Service
o Streaming Media Company Inetcam Raises $6 Million
o Briefly Noted: Hollywood.com, OneChannel.net, 1stGenx.com,
Blockbuster New Media Division, Ticketmaster Online,
Uproar.com – Pearson Television, iCast, Disney.com, CNNSI.com
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o NBCi Cuts 170 Employees
San Francisco, Calif. -- After reporting weaker than expected second
quarter earnings, NBCi, the Internet division of the NBC television
network, said today that it has cut 170 employees in move to cut costs.
NBCi said it is attempting to reduce its current number of employees from
850 employees to 680 by the end of the year. Weakening Internet
advertising this year has hurt NBCi, which receives a majority of its
revenue from online advertisement.
http://www.nbci.com
http://www.biz.yahoo.com/mf/000809/nes02_000809.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000809/n09405808.html
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o Scour Beefs Up Legal Representation
Los Angeles, Calif. -- Scour, Inc., a web service that allows users to
share and copy copyrighted video files, announced today that it has hired
a number of prominent lawyers to represent it in a lawsuit brought by a
number of entertainment industry organizations. Last month, the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA), and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) filed
a lawsuit against Los Angeles-based Scour, claiming that it infringed on
their copyrights for video files, in a similar manner as Napster does for
audio files. Scour is partially owned by Michael Ovitz. Napster's legal
team consists of Fred Bartlit, from Chicago-based Bartlit, Beck, Herman,
Palenchar, & Scott; Arthur Miller, a Harvard Law School professor; and
Peter Toren, an intellectual property rights author.
http://www.scour.com/General/Company/Press/Releases/
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o Internet Ticketing Company Paciolan Raises $10 Million
Long Beach, Calif -- Paciolan, a developer of Internet ticketing software
for entertainment events, announced today that it has secured $10 million
in financing. Marwit Capital led the investment; other investors included
the Argentum Group, Far West Capital, Teal Capital, Alpha Private Equity
Group and Island Capital. Long Beach-based Paciolan's said customers of
its software include the St. Louis Rams, the Colorado Rockies, the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, and Graceland Mansion. The company’s software allows
companies to sell tickets on their own web site.
http://www.paciolan.com/
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o Microsoft Forms Partnership With Book Publisher Association
Seattle, WA -- Just two days after announcing a major deal with
Barnesandnoble.com, Microsoft announced today that it will partner with
the Association of American Publishers to prevent e-book piracy. The two
parties said their partnership would focus on education, enforcement, and
encryption aimed at preventing piracy of e-books. They said the effort is
an attempt to avoid the legal battles and controversy experienced by other
forms of media – including audio and video – on the Internet. "The music
industry didn’t move fast enough to create honest markets in their
fields," said Dick Brass, vice president of technology development for
Microsoft.
http://www.microsoft.com
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o iBeam Announces Online Pay-Per-View Service
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- iBeam Broadcasting Corporation, a streaming media
network, today announced a new pay-per-view service that allows Internet
content providers to generate revenue by charging users for viewing
special live or on-demand streaming events. The service will also include
chat and commerce features. "Streaming media is already a powerful
phenomenon, but its true potential will be realized through the deployment
of creative and effective tools for generating revenue," said Peter
Desnoes, president and CEO of Sunnyvale-based iBeam Broadcasting.
http://www.ibeam.com
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o Streaming Media Company Inetcam Raises $6 Million
San Diego -- Inetcam Inc., a developer of software for streaming video and
audio over the Internet, announced today that it has raised $6 million in
its second round of venture capital financing. Enterprise Partners and
Totem Investment Partners participated in the investment round. San
Diego-based Inetcam said it now has a market value of over $50 million.
The company said its main product, iVISTA 3, will allow PC owners to
easily stream personal live video and audio content over the Internet. The
product is expected to launch in September.
http://www.inetcam.com
_____________________________________________
o Briefly Noted:
(Beijing) Hollywood.com, an online entertainment company, announced today
that it has launched a Chinese-language version of its web site. The
company's partner in the venture is Legend Holdings Limited, one of
China’s largest computer manufacturers and distributors.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000809/fl_holl_ch.html
(Mountain View, Calif.) According to a study by OneChannel.net, the
recent media attention given to Napster and the file-sharing controversy
has not resulted in higher sales of MP3 players. The study shows that
while there have been more Internet users downloading music from
file-sharing web sites, sales of portable MP3 players have not seen a
significant jump.
http://www.onechannel.net
(Las Vegas, NV) 1stGenx.com, Inc., a Las Vegas-based online casino
operator, and WSMI.com, an online marketing company, today announced that
they will jointly build a gaming information and entertainment web site,
called Gamble-Gate.com. The site will sell a variety of services including
gaming licenses, gaming software, and banking applications.
http://www.gamble-gate.com
(Dallas) Blockbuster Inc. has named Mark Gilman to the newly created
position of President of Blockbuster’s New Media Division. Gilman was
formerly executive vice president at Blockbuster.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000809/tx_blockbu.html
(Pasadena, Calif.) Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, an online network
providing information on events in major cities, announced that it has
launched Golf.CitySearch.com, which provides course profiles and tee-time
reservation services. San Diego-based TheGolfer.com developed the service.
http://www.Golf.citysearch.com
http://www.thegolfer.com
(New York) Uproar.com, an online entertainment web site, today announced
that it has expanded a contract it had with London-based Pearson
Television, a provider of syndicated television game shows, through June
2005. Under the agreement, Uproar.com has exclusive rights to create and
provide online versions of Pearson’s game shows, which include Family Feud
and the Match Game.
http://www.uproar.com
http://www.pearsontv.com
(Woburn, Mass.) iCast, a Massachusetts-based online entertainment
company, today launched a redesigned version of its web site and expanded
its "iCast Radio" from 35 to 153 channels. The announcement comes just
day’s after iCast announced that it will be a major provider on
AltaVista’s entertainment channel.
http://www.icast.com
(North Hollywood, Calif.) Disney.com today launched SurfSwellIsland.com,
a web site that teaches children about basic safety issues.
http://www.surfswellisland.com
(Atlanta, GA) CNNSI.com today announced that it will launch its "Beat the
Experts" online football game on August 10. The service will allow users
to match their football game picks for the week against sports and
entertainment celebrities including Drew Carey and Dan Marino.
http://www.cnnsi.com
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