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| =================================================== DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 17, 2000 =================================================== To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com o Entertainment Site Z.com Lays Off Half Its Staff o Digital Media Technology Developer Generic Media Raises $12 Million o iPIX Lays Off 20 Percent Of Staff o MP3Board Lawsuit Against RIAA Is Dismissed o Ebay Plans Auction-Themed TV Series o Napster Judge To Hear Cases From Dr. Dre, Metallica o Content Delivery Firm Inktomi and Orblynx Form Partnership o HollywoodTicket.com Announces Layoffs o Briefly Noted: Sony PS2 Launch Party, Stephen King, MP3.com - ZapMedia, Atom Talent, Britney Spears, Singularis, Real Cities - MercuryCenter.com, iBEAM - RollingStone.com, Work.com - RedHerring.com, Amplified - Floot.com >Correction _____________________________________________ o Z.com Lays Off Half Its Staff Burbank, Calif. -- Z.com, an entertainment site similar in focus to the Dreamworks/Imagine-backed Pop.com, which closed before its site even launched, has laid off half of its staff in an effort to conserve funds, Inside.com reported late Monday. Z.com CEO Joe DiNunzio said in the article that the company has recently made licensing and investment deals that will maintain the company's operations "until at least the spring." The company said it will retain 45 employees after the layoffs. Burbank-based Z.com is backed by Bill Gross's Idealab, as well as Basic Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Maverick Records' CEO Guy Oseary. "We're still at an early part of our growth," DiNunzio said in the article. "What we have to do now is accelerate that growth and demonstrate in very short order that we're a profitable business." Z.com joins a long list of entertainment sites that have recently made staffing cuts or shut down due to unsure profitability, including Pseudo.com, Digital Entertainment Network, MTVi and AtomicPop.com. http://www.inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,11358_10_22_1,00.html http://www.z.com _____________________________________________ o Digital Media Technology Developer Generic Media Raises $12 Million Palo Alto, Calif. -- Generic Media, a developer of digital media technology, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $12 million in its first round of venture financing. Softbank Venture Capital led the round; additional investors included Sony and NTT Leasing. Palo Alto-based Generic Media is developing technology that it says will simplify the process of publishing, delivering, managing and viewing digital media. The company's first product, video media player software for handhelds, is included with Sony's CLIE personal digital assistant. http://www.genericmedia.com _____________________________________________ o iPIX Lays Off 20 Percent Of Staff New York -- iPIX, a provider of online imaging technology, announced on Tuesday that it has laid off 175 employees, or 20 percent of its staff. The company said that the layoffs are part of a restructuring effort geared towards achieving profitability and developing the fastest growing sections of its business. One half of the layoffs came in the sales and marketing groups within the company's real estate division; the rest were divided among the company's e-commerce sales and marketing divisions, which will now be combined. Tennessee-based iPIX provides digital imaging technology, such as 360-degree perspective video, to e-commerce and new media web sites. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001017/ca_ipix_3q.html http://www.ipix.com _____________________________________________ o MP3Board Lawsuit Against RIAA Is Dismissed San Francisco -- U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte has dismissed the case of MP3Board, a site that provides links to downloadable copyrighted music, against the Recording Industry Association of America. MP3Board had filed the suit in an attempt to gain legal protection for its practice of publishing links to pirated music on the web -- the company does not host copyrighted files on its site -- but merely provides hyperlinks to other sites that do. MP3Board still faces a lawsuit filed by the major record labels, alleging the company encourages copyright infringement. Judge Whyte's decision is another victory for the major labels and studios, which aligns with an earlier decision against the hacker journal 2600 Enterprises. 2600 lost a lawsuit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for publishing links to sites that provided users with a code called DeCSS. The controversial code can be used to break the movie industry's encryption security for DVDs, allowing them to be copied. The decisions may establish a precedent saying that simply "linking" to potentially illegal material on the Internet can be construed as a crime. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3211558.html http://www.mp3board.com http://www.2600.com _____________________________________________ o Ebay Plans Auction-Themed TV Series New York -- Online auction site eBay is planning a television series where viewers could bid on auction items through their television sets, Inside.com reported on Tuesday. "It would most likely involve trading with an auction-style format," eBay spokesman Chris Donlay said in the article. Donlay also said that the company hired the William Morris Agency, which helped create "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," to develop and sell the eBay show. http://www.inside.com/story/Story_Cached/0,2770,11638_11_27_1,00.html http://www.ebay.com _____________________________________________ o Napster Judge To Hear Cases From Dr. Dre, Metallica San Francisco -- A panel of six judges ordered cases filed by musicians Dr. Dre and Metallica against music-swap service Napster in Los Angeles to be moved to the court of U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel, Bloomberg News reported. The panel said that Patel, who is also presiding over the RIAA's lawsuit against Napster, is more qualified because she is already familiar with the issues. The RIAA's case is currently awaiting an appeals court ruling on an injunction that Patel granted, which would have shut Napster down while the court case proceeded. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3211620.html _____________________________________________ o Content Delivery Firm Inktomi and Orblynx Form Partnership Fairfax, Va. -- Orblynx Inc., an Internet content distribution company, and California-based Inktomi, a developer of technology that speeds multimedia content across the Internet, announced that they have formed an alliance. Inktomi has also committed to invest in Orblynx's next round of financing, if certain conditions are met. Virginia-based Orblynx said it expects to complete its next round of venture capital by the end of the year. The agreement between the companies is aimed at allowing Orblynx to optimize the delivery of broadband content. http://www.orblynx.com/pr_6.html http://www.inktomi.com _____________________________________________ o HollywoodTicket.com Announces Layoffs Los Angeles -- HollywoodTicket.com, an entertainment site partially funded by pop singer Michael Jackson, has laid off 4 of its 12 employees, CNET reported. The company said the layoffs are part of a plan to discontinue its consumer aspects, and focus on helping celebrities market themselves to their fans. "We will become a compass for what entertainers should do on the Net," said Derek Rundell, CEO of HollywoodTicket.com, in the article. "We will help them get in touch with their fan base." http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-202-3211064.html http://www.hollywoodticket.com _____________________________________________ o Briefly Noted: (San Francisco) Horror author Stephen King announced on Tuesday that the fourth chapter in his online downloadable story,"The Plant," will in fact be published, WiredNews reported. King previously said that he would only publish future chapters of the story if 75 percent of readers downloading the story paid him $1. The article reported that 75.61 percent of the readers who downloaded the third chapter of The Plant paid the fee. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39470,00.html http://www.stephenking.com/ (San Diego) MP3.com announced on Tuesday an agreement with Atlanta-based ZapMedia, a developer of multimedia hardware as well as an entertainment portal, to develop a music platform for ZapMedia's ZapStation. As part of the deal, San Diego-based MP3.com will license its music storage technology to ZapMedia, and ZapMedia users will have access to MP3.com music content. The ZapStation combines an MP3 jukebox, DVD player, CD player and Internet access to streaming video in a single device. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001017/ca_ga_mp3_.html http://www.mp3.com http://www.zapmedia.com (West Hollywood) Sony Computer Entertainment announced on Tuesday that it will hold a celebrity launch party for its PlayStation 2 console, which will be released on October 26. The party will be held Wednesday, October 18 at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles. Invited guests include Ben Stiller, Tommy Lee, Carmen Electra and Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst. Entertainment includes DJs Paul Oakenfold and Mix Master Mike. http://www.sony.com (Seattle) Atom Films, an online film site, announced on Tuesday its Atom Talent service, which allows independent animators and filmmakers to promote their own work on the Atom Films site. Seattle-based Atom Films will provide individual web pages where filmmakers can post resumes, filmographies and links to streamed versions of their works on the Atom Films site. Filmmakers also get an Atom Films email address to solicit feedback from fans and peers, as well as to recruit potential production partners. http://talent.atomfilms.com (Chicago) DNA Visual Business Solutions, a web design firm, announced on Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against pop singer Britney Spears and her business associates, for failing to pay for the design and development of the web site britneyspears.com. The company is seeking damages of $125,900 in the suit. DNA has hired Chicago law firm Ross and Hardies to handle the suit. http://www.dnavbs.com http://www.britneyspears.com (Lausanne, Switzerland) Singularis, a developer of interactive television technology, announced on Tuesday the launch of its "beta" site, which allows users to record television programming to their computers' hard drives. Switzerland-based Singularis' Personal TV Website also allows users to rate their favorite actors or TV shows and receive immediate TV program recommendations. http://www.singularis.com/L/pr_20001016-01.html http://demo.singularis.com (San Jose) Real Cities, a network of U.S. media and Internet companies that includes KnightRidder.com, announced on Tuesday that MercuryCenter.com, the web site for the San Jose Mercury News, will change its web address to become a member of Real Cities' site BayArea.com. http://www.bayarea.com http://www.mercurycenter.com (Sunnyvale, Calif.) iBEAM, a distributor of streaming media, announced on Tuesday that it will be the exclusive streaming media provider for RollingStone.com. Sunnyvale-based iBEAM will stream music, videos, concerts, events and shows through its network to RollingStone.com visitors. As part of the deal, RollingStone.com will use iBEAM's ad insertion software in its streaming content. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001017/ca_ibeam_r.html http://www.ibeam.com http://www.rollingstone.com (Redwood City, Calif.) Work.com, an online business site, announced on Tuesday that Internet business publication RedHerring.com will provide news content to Work.com's editorial section. As part of the deal, Work.com users will also have access to content from DealFlow, RedHerring.com's daily venture funding newsletter. http://www.work.com http://www.redherring.com (Atlanta) Amplified, a B2B provider of digital media services, announced on Tuesday that it will license songs from its catalog to UK-based Floot.com, which sells music downloads as well as CDs for a wide range of musical genres. As part of the deal, Atlanta-based Amplified will also provide free downloads to Floot.com users. http://www.amplified.com http://www.floot.com >Correction: In the October 12 edition, a headline mistakenly said that Nomad Media had taken a stake in Streamedia.net. Streamedia.net has taken a stake in Nomad Media. The story following the headline was correct. http://www.nomad.ch http://www.streamedia.net ___________________ To subscribe, go to: http://www.digitalmediawire.com Questions or comments? Send email to: mark@digitalmediawire.com News tips, press releases. Send email to: editorial@digitalmediawire.com |