archives

o Technology Magazine Silicon Alley Reporter Ceases Publication
o Shareholder Class Action Suit Filed Against Sirius Satellite Radio
o CNET: Creditors Looking to Block AT&T Bid for Excite@Home
o Listen.com Licenses Indie Labels for Subscription Service
o Music Playlist-Sharing Firm Uplister Shuts Down
o Multimedia Distribution Technology Firm Acme Packet Raises $16 Million
o MusicMaker.com Acquires Stake in Digital Distribution Firm Liquid Audio
o Media 100 Sells Streaming Media Assets to Autodesk for $16 Million
o Software Firm College Publisher Raises $8.5 Million in Second Round
o Briefly Noted: RIAA - Washington "secret meeting," Best Buy - digital
downloads, PointMedia - Bloomberg Television, Subscription services -
licensing deals
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> Job Postings: Dance Music Mktg/BizDev, General Mgr., Ad Sales Mgr.

> Events/Services: "Office Space - L.A.," "SHORTSPAN Film & Video
Festival, OCTOBER DATES "Digital Media Revolution in the Americas"

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 Technology Magazine Silicon Alley Reporter Ceases Publication

New York -- Silicon Alley Reporter, a magazine that covered dot-com
companies in the New York region, has ceased publication, The New York
Times reported on Monday. "The story's over," publisher Jason McCabe
Calcanis told the Times. "You can't have a magazine about unemployed
people." The magazine started in 1996 with Calcanis handing out
photocopied articles on the street, and grew to include numerous industry
conferences and a second magazine focused on the West coast, Digital Coast
Reporter. The Industry Standard, a similar publication based in San
Francisco, closed its doors and declared bankruptcy last month. Calcanis
told the Times he will publish a new magazine, Venture Reporter, beginning
in December.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/08/technology/ebusiness/08ALLE.html
http://www.siliconalleyreporter.com
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o Shareholder Class Action Suit Filed Against Sirius Satellite Radio

New York -- A Vermont-based law firm has filed suit on behalf of
shareholders of Sirius Satellite Radio, alleging the company purposely
misled investors when it said it would launch its service by the end of
2000, or early in 2001. New York-based Sirius has yet to launch its
satellite-delivered digital radio service, but said that it would begin
broadcasting its signal "at the end of this year." The suit says that
Sirius did not properly disclose facts related to its launch to the SEC,
and that investors were hurt by the resulting artificially inflated stock
price. "These claims are frivolous and without merit, although the
complaint was an entertaining piece of fiction," said Patrick Donnelly,
Sirius senior vice president and general counsel. "We have fully complied
with all SEC disclosure requirements and will vigorously defend
ourselves."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011006/60029_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011008/nym031_1.html
http://www.siriusradio.com
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o CNET: Creditors Looking to Block AT&T Bid for Excite@Home

San Francisco -- A group of creditors including Cisco Systems Capital and
Tickets.com is working to block AT&T's proposed bid of $307 million to
purchase struggling broadband access provider Excite@Home, according to a
CNET report. "At the current price, the sale should probably not happen,"
an attorney for the group said during Excite@Home's bankruptcy court
proceedings on Friday. The group -- which holds over $1 billion in
Excite@Home debt -- said that neither the company nor AT&T consulted them
about the offer, as is stipulated in bankruptcy proceeding requirements.
The article mentions Microsoft and EarthLink as potential rival bidders
for the company.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7423786.html?tag=tp_pr
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o Listen.com Licenses Indie Labels for Subscription Service

San Francisco -- Online music entertainment site Listen.com announced on
Monday that it has secured licensing deals with a number of independent
record labels for its Rhpasody digital music subscription service. Labels
that licensed their songs include Alligator Records, Bar/None Records,
Bloodshot Records, Eighteenth Street Lounge Music, Knitting Factory
Records, Ninja Tune Records, What Are Records?, Future Farmer Records,
Heyday Records, J-Bird Music Group, Lost Cat Records, Om Records, Pandisc
Music Corp., Strictly Hype Records and three labels in the Tambourine
label group. Artists including Duke Ellington, Frank Black and Yo La Tengo
are now set to be offered on Rhapsody, a service that Listen.com will
license to its distribution partners. San Francisco-based Listen.com said
it is also negotiating with major labels and other independents to license
songs for Rhapsody, which is scheduled to launch this fall.
http://search.prnmedia.com/servlet/pressroomsrv?pressid=208735&detail=story
http://rhapsody.listen.com
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o Music Playlist-Sharing Firm Uplister Shuts Down

San Francisco -- Uplister, a provider of an online community where users
shared music playlists, shut down last Friday. Major investor August
Capital did not see fit to continue to sustain the company as it worked to
develop a market for its service. The company was planning to launch a
subscription service that would have allowed users to share the actual
songs on their playlists, rather than the song titles, album names and
their reasoning for including them on their list. Uplister had already
secured licenses from labels including Matador Records and TVT Records for
the proposed $10 per month service. The company is currently seeking a
buyer for its assets.
http://www.uplister.com
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o Multimedia Distribution Technology Firm Acme Packet Raises $16 Million

Woburn, Mass. -- Acme Packet, a developer of hardware and software that
can transmit digital media between both public and private, wired and
wireless networks, announced on Monday that it has raised $16 million in
its second round of funding. Menlo Ventures led the round, in which Canaan
Partners and individual investors also participated. Massachusetts-based
Acme Packet's technology will be used to deliver voice, video
conferencing, multimedia collaboration, distance learning and video games
across and between different networks. The capital will be used for the
continued development, marketing and sales of Acme Packet's products and
services.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/212812035&ticker=
http://www.acmepacket.com
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o MusicMaker.com Acquires Stake in Digital Distribution Firm Liquid Audio

New York -- MusicMaker.com, the now-defunct online custom CD retailer, and
several other parties affiliated with the company announced on Monday that
they have acquired a 6.3 percent stake in Liquid Audio, a provider of
digital music distribution technology. The investors -- which included
James Mitarotonda, president and CEO of MusicMaker.com, and chairman
Seymour Holtzman -- said they are looking to increase their stake to just
under 15 percent of Liquid Audio, and would like to own 25 percent if
Redwood City-based Liquid Audio would relax previously enacted
anti-takeover provisions. Mitarotonda and Holtzman also requested that
their group be given three seats on Liquid Audio's board of directors.
Virginia-based MusicMaker.com shut down in January.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011008/phm016_1.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
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o Media 100 Sells Streaming Media Assets to Autodesk for $16 Million

Marlboro, Mass. -- Media 100, a developer of digital media production
software, announced on Monday that it has sold its streaming media
software assets for $16 million to Autodesk, a provider of design and
digital content creation services. The deal includes Massachusetts-based
Media 100's CineStream and Cleaner streaming media applications, which San
Rafael-based Autodesk will begin selling by the end of the year. The
software allows users to create, distribute, re-purpose and publish media
content for distribution on the Internet and corporate Intranets, as well
as to cell phones and handheld devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011008/82082_1.html
http://www.media100.com
http://www.autodesk.com
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o Software Firm College Publisher Raises $8.5 Million in Second Round

Boston, Mass. -- College Publisher, a provider of publishing software and
marketing services for college newspapers, announced on Monday that it has
raised $8.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing. Lead
investors included the Venture Capital Fund of New England, Advanced
Technology Ventures and Masthead Venture Partners; a group of private
investors also participated. Boston-based College Publisher provides more
than 185 schools with software to bring their newspapers online and acts
as a liaison between schools and advertisers including Ford, AT&T and
Pizza Hut. The funds will be used to market its software and services.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.100801/212812015
http://www.collegepublisher.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(London) TheRegister reported on Monday that the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) held a "secret meeting" last week in
Washington with several Congressmen and technology and entertainment
industry executives. Reported attendees at the meeting -- at which
file-sharing services were reportedly discussed -- included Senators Fritz
Hollings and Ted Stevens, the CEOs of Matsushita and Toshiba, Disney's
Michael Eisner, AOL Time Warner's Gerald Levin, the MPAA's Jack Valenti,
the IFPI's Jay Berman and RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/22087.html

(Minneapolis, Minn.) Music and electronics retailer Best Buy announced on
Monday the launch of paid digital music downloads from its website. The
service uses RioPort's and Liquid Audio's distribution technology, which
gives it access to limited selections from EMI, Warner Music and BMG. "Our
new digital download site will provide music customers compelling digital
media offers from a broad group of label sources, and provide us with
another tool to drive the market for new digital services as they
develop," said Scott Young, vice president and general manager for
BestBuy.com. Minnesota-based Best Buy, which operates 1,800 retail stores
in the U.S., also recently launched a digital entertainment site aimed at
increasing the company's e-commerce sales.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011008/80326_1.html
http://www.bestbuy.com/dgtlmusic/default.asp?b=0&st=4&m=254

(Cold Spring, N.Y.) PointMedia, a provider of news and entertainment
programming as well as advertising services to terminals at gas station
pumps, said on Monday that Bloomberg Television will provide programming
for its service. The service uses satellites to beam new programming and
advertising to New York-based PointMedia's terminals, and allows consumers
to purchase items seen in ads while using self-service pumps.
http://www.pointmedia.tv
http://www.bloomberg.com

(San Francisco) Wired News featured an article on Monday that details the
difficulties involved with licensing music from major labels for digital
music subscription services. The "unseen ambiguities" in such licenses
necessitate contacting every songwriter involved in producing every song
included on a service. These complications have led to the shuttering of
start-ups such as Musicbank, which closed in April. "We'd paid the
advances to the record labels and the people in the industry couldn't give
us straight answers because they didn't know any better than we did what
rights we had just acquired," said former CEO Michael Downing.
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,47318,00.html

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

> Dance Music Marketing/Business Development Pioneer

Needed: BizDev trailblazer with experience in the independent electronic
music industry, to spearhead a unique and rapidly developing music
subscription service. Must understand what's new and good in the dance
music world, niche brand marketing, and why people still crave 12 inch
records.
Please send a short bio (including last 5 CDs purchased) to
ajobforme@mindspring.com 
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> CyberRep, General Manager- Coos Bay, OR

Lead the activities associated with the management of all departments
within the Customer Interaction Center. This includes the analysis and
review of the day-to-day operations, risk assessment planning, P&L
management, and budget review.
Send resumes to pmadison@cyberrep.com
http://www.cyberrep.com
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> FierceMarkets, Ad Sales Manager - Washington, DC

Fast-growing online publisher seeks smart, creative self-starters to drive
our ad sales effort. Candidates should have a proven sales track record
with at least two years of experience. Come join the fun! Send resumes to
jeff@fiercemarkets.com
http://www.fiercemarkets.com

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

> Office Space For Rent - Los Angeles

Prime Sunset Boulevard location. Approx. 588 sq ft. Second floor, spacious
two + offices with private bathroom. Convenient parking. Recently
renovated. Quiet, nice work environment. Other tenants in building are
primarily entertainment and new media companies. DSL-ready. Rent is $1,175
per month.
For more information, please call 323-363-3620.
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> SHORTSPAN Film & Video Festival, OCTOBER DATES

SHORT MOVIES! Dreamspan presents the 9TH Annual Short Attention Span Film & Video Festival. Shortspan is a non-stop two hour program of ALL NEW
two-minute or-shorter films, including ultra-short documentaries like
"Peekaboo Sunday," a story about raising miniature horses or "Exotic
World," an inside look at the lives of some of America's first burlesque
performers-- and 57 more shorts! The tour will travel to 30 North American
cities.

CHICAGO, IL: Columbia College - Oct. 10 - 7PM
BOSTON, MA: Boston University - Oct. 10 - 7PM
KYONGIU CITY, SOUTH KOREA: Film & Video Dept - Oct 10
BROOKLINE, MA: Coolidge Corner Theatre - Oct. 12-18
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Lucky Bar - Oct. 23 - 8PM
SALT LAKE CITY, UT: Univ. of Utah Union Theatre - Oct. 24 - 8PM

HOLLYWOOD, CA: The American Cinematheque - Oct. 17 - 7:30PM
SAN DIEGO, CA: San Diego Museum of Art - Oct. 18 - 7:30PM
BERKELEY, CA: Fine Arts Cinema - Oct. 23-24 - 9:30PM

For more info: http://www.dreamspan.com/shortspan
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> Digital Media Revolution in the Americas, 11/29-12/01 -- Pasadena, CA

Presented by the Institute of the Americas and Annenberg School for
Communication, this 2 1/2 day forum will include Sr. Exec. Networking w/ a
special focus on Latin Americas & U.S. Hispanic markets, copyright, rights
mgmt., dist., infrastructure, digital film, iTV, streaming, device trends,
content financing. Early-bird 40% off till 9/30. Keynote Steven Bandel,
Pres. - The Cisneros Group. Sponsors: JP Morgan, Motorola, Global
Crossing, Walt Disney Company, Digital Media Wire, Cahners International
TV, iHollywood, Motion Picture Assoc., National Assoc. of TV Prog. Exec.,
National Assoc. of Theatre owners. For more information:
martin@iamericas.org
Register at: http://www.iamericas.org/events
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Copyright 2001 Digital Media Wire