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Main Stories
o "Hulk" Movie Pirate Sentenced to Six Months House Arrest, $7,000 Fine
o Disney Launches MovieBeam Video-on-Demand Service in 3 Cities
o P2P Trade Group Issues "Code of Conduct" On Privacy, Copyrights
o Copyright Royalty Payment Process Reform Bill Passes House Judiciary
o Jukebox Software Firm MusicMatch Launches $0.99 Digital Song Store
o Interplay May Sue Vivendi Over Soured "Lionheart" Game Distribution Deal
o Micropayments Firm Peppercoin Raises $4.25 Million in First Round
o Shareholders File Class Action Suits Against Game Developer Midway
o Reports: Reuters and Microsoft to Connect IM Services
o Vivendi Universal Predicts 20% Surge in Operating Profits

o Briefly Noted: Panasonic - Digital Filmmakers Grant, AOL - Mary-Kate and Ashley, Focus Enhancements - DVUnlimited, Activision - "Tony Hawk's Underground," Nokia - "Imagewear" camera devices

Universal City, Calif. -- Vivendi Universal Entertainment announced that a federal court in New York has handed down a sentence for a man convicted of felony copyright infringement for uploading an unfinished version of the Universal Studios film "The Hulk" onto file-sharing networks before the film's theatrical release. Judge Gerard E. Lynch sentenced Kerry Gonzalez to six months home confinement and three years probation, and fined him $2,000 and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to Universal. "This sentencing makes clear that there are serious and permanent consequences for those who steal motion pictures," said Motion Picture Association president and CEO Jack Valenti. "This should also puncture the myth that illegal activity on the Internet is 'safe' because it is untraceable."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3517284
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o Disney Launches MovieBeam Video-on-Demand Service in 3 Cities

Burbank, Calif. -- The Walt Disney Company on Monday announced the launch of its MovieBeam video-on-demand service, which features a Samsung wireless receiver and hard drive that will pull movies into subscribers' homes utilizing unused portions of the broadcast spectrum. The digital rental service will first be tested in Jacksonville, Fla.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Spokane, Wash., and offer 100 films with 10 new movies swapped in each week. Receivers will be available at retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears for a $6.99 monthly equipment rental fee, and movies will cost $3.99 for new releases and $2.49 for library titles. Subscribers will also pay a one-time $30 activation fee. Movies will be sent using encryption technology and will include Disney's films and others licensed from studios including Sony, Universal, Warner, MGM and 20th Century Fox.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030929/295333_1.html 
http://news.com.com/2100-1026-5083381.html 
http://www.moviebeam.com
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o P2P Trade Group Issues "Code of Conduct" On Privacy, Copyrights

Washington -- P2P United, a trade group made up of file-sharing networks Morpheus, Limewire, Grokster, Blubster, BearShare and eDonkey 2000, on Monday announced a "Code of Conduct" on matters including piracy, pornography and "spyware." The group pledged that it would help law enforcement crack down on child pornography on their networks and do more to inform users of copyright laws, but came short of banning trading of copyrighted music and movies. They also promised to no longer install "spyware" on users' computers without proper consent, and post clear privacy policies on their websites. P2P United also called for meetings with music and movie firms to discuss how to compensate artists and copyright holders for works distributed through their networks. Kazaa, the largest peer-to-peer network, is not a member of P2P United.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E25214C06 
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5083525.html
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=3526706
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o Copyright Royalty Payment Process Reform Bill Passes House Judiciary

Washington -- A bill designed to reform the controversial royalty arbitration process for deciding how much webcasters and others should pay to artists and copyright holders to distribute music online has passed a vote in the House Judiciary Committee. The Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2003 (H.R. 1417) would replace the current CARP (Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel) system, an occasional three-member panel of random copyright expert,s with a full-time, independent Copyright Royalty Judge, to be appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The bill would also make sure that, unlike with the current system, royalty rates are firmly set before they actually go into effect.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.r.1417:
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o Jukebox Software Firm MusicMatch Launches $0.99 Digital Song Store

San Diego -- MusicMatch, a provider of music jukebox software and a subscription music service, announced on Monday the launch of a new digital music store, which is similar to and will compete with Apple's iTunes Store and BuyMusic.com. Initially, the store will offer U.S. residents 200,000 songs from all five major labels and 30 independents for $0.99 each or $9.99 for full albums; the company plans to offer over 500,000 by year's end. CNET News.com reported that sources say PC maker Dell, which last week announced that it would also open a digital music store, will promote and distribute the MusicMatch offering. Songs will be delivered at 160 kbps in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format, and may be played on up to three PCs and transferred to any Windows-compatible portable player. Buyers may also burn both songs and playlists created using MusicMatch software to CD. San Diego-based MusicMatch's new digital song store will be fully integrated into the 8.1 version of its popular jukebox software, also enabling users to instantly purchase songs they hear on the company's streaming radio service.
http://www.musicmatch.com 
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-musicmatch29sep29.story
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5083282.html
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o Interplay May Sue Vivendi Over Soured "Lionheart" Game Distribution Deal

Irvine, Calif. -- Video game developer Interplay Entertainment has said it may sue Vivendi Universal Games, over monies it said it is owed over a terminated distribution agreement for its "Lionheart" game. Interplay terminated the agreement with Vivendi on Friday; Vivendi sued Interplay last Tuesday for allegedly making claims for payments it was not owed and for breach of contract. Irvine, Calif.-based Interplay and Vivendi Universal Games released "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader" on August 20.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030926/def025_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/030929/iply.ob8-k.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030926/media_interplay_vugames_1.html
http://www.interplay.com
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o Micropayments Firm Peppercoin Raises $4.25 Million in First Round

Waltham, Mass. -- Looking to establish a new, lower cost form of "micropayments" for the purchase of digital content, Massachusetts-based Peppercoin has raised $4.25 million in its first round of venture capital, led by POD Holding. The funding follows a seed investment for Peppercoin of about $1.7 million from a group of individual investors that was announced earlier this year. Peppercoin's technology is based on research conducted at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. The company said it can cut the transaction fee on a $0.99 sale from the typical $0.27 to "well below $0.10." Peppercoin is initially targeting music companies, online game providers, newspaper and magazine publishers, and other digital content providers.
http://www.peppercoin.com/General/News.ppp
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o Shareholders File Class Action Suits Against Game Developer Midway

Chicago -- A number of shareholder class action lawsuits have been filed against video game developer Midway Games, alleging the company's share price was inflated due to misleading statements made by the company. The charges include not informing shareholders of "material disruptions" at Midway that made the company miss product release dates, which led to decreased revenue and inaccurate revenue projections being provided to shareholders. Chicago-based Midway reported earnings of $5 million for the third quarter, far below its earlier projections of between $7-$11 million, and at the same time announced the departure of CEO Neil D. Nicastro -- two events that resulted in a considerable drop in the company's share price.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030926/daf029_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030926/phf042_1.html
http://www.cauleygeller.com/show_case.asp?ccode=169&pcode=10&pp=4
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o Reports: Reuters and Microsoft to Connect IM Services

London -- According to media reports, Reuters and Microsoft will announce on Tuesday a deal to connect their instant messaging services. This is the first time that Microsoft has connected its MSN network, which has more than 100 million users, to another messaging network. Reuters Messaging, which is based on Microsoft's Live Communications Server, has about 50,000 active users, mostly in the financial services industry. The change will take effect early next year, the reports said.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q12E25A06 _____________________________________________

o Vivendi Universal Predicts 20% Surge in Operating Profits

Paris -- French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal announced on Monday that it expects to report a 20% increase in underlying operating profits this year. Thanks largely to an ambitious restructuring program, Vivendi was able to report sharply reduced losses for the first half of 2003. Furthermore, the company said that a resumption of dividend payments in 2005 looks increasingly likely. The company has not paid dividends since it fired former CEO Jean-Marie Messier last year.
http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/vu/en/home/index.cfm

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(Seacaucus, N.J.) Consumer electronics firm Panasonic announced on Monday the creation of a Digital Filmmakers Grant program, that each quarter will reward an independent filmmaker with a complete production package to produce a feature or documentary project. Quarterly grand prize winners will receive a package worth $17,000, including a three-week rental of a Panasonic AJ-SDX900 camera, lenses and videotape, as well as a 10-week rental of an editing package including a Power Mac G5 with Final Cut Pro 4.
http://www.panasonic.com/dvcpro

(Dulles, Va.) America Online has signed a deal with Dualstar Entertainment Group, the corporate group for teen superstars Mary-Kate and Ashley, to create an exclusive edition of mary-kateashley.com for AOL's new interactive online kids service, KOL. The new content will feature games for kids and young teenagers. KOL will launch this fall.
http://www.marykateandashley.com

(Budapest) Video production and conversion technology company Focus Enhancements on Monday announced that it has acquired the assets of DVUnlimited, a privately held company that provides digital video (DV) file and standards conversion software. Focus acquired Budapest, Hungary-based DVUnlimited in a cash and stock deal, for which financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.focusinfo.com/company/press.htm

(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision on Monday announced a promotion for the Oct. 27 release of its "Tony Hawk's Underground" skateboarding title for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The winner of the "Face in the Game" National Sweepstakes will get a $10,000 JVC entertainment center. A digital image of their face will also be downloaded into the game to appear as a player, which Tony Hawk himself will then play as, and try to become a "pro." Activision's new Tony Hawk title was developed by Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Neversoft Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030929/lam045_1.html
http://www.neversoft.com

(San Francisco) Wired News on Monday profiled the range of new camera photo accessories that were announced today by cell phone maker Nokia. The "Imagewear" products include a necklace, kaleidoscope and digital picture frames capable of displaying images captured using Nokia camera phones. Nokia said the new products will be available in Europe, the U.S. and selected markets in Asia Pacific during the first quarter of 2004.
http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,60605,00.html  http://press.nokia.com/PR/200309/918612_5.html

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