archives

o Recording Industry Launches SoundExchange To Collect Webcast Royalties
o Icebox.com Lays Off 50 Of 100 Employees, Licenses Program To Fox
o Broadcom To Acquire Video Chip Maker VisionTech
o Copyright Office Holds Final Hearing On Digital Millennium Copyright Act
o Gemstar And Barnes & Noble Will Not Merge
> Digital Media Wire Networking Events: Washington, D.C., Los Angeles
o Briefly Noted: Motorola - Sega, AOLTV, LucasArts - Sony Online
Entertainment, GEO Interactive - Nokia, CenterSpan - Moviehead, ACTV -
Microsoft, MCY.com - Ozzy Osbourne, Liquid Audio, Loudeye Technologies,
AudioSoft - Sonix - BeSonic.com
_____________________________________________

o Recording Industry Launches SoundExchange To Collect Webcast Royalties

New York -- The recording industry has launched a digital music royalty
collection agency to collect fees from webcasters and Internet radio
stations that stream music over the Internet, as well as cable and
satellite subscription services. All five major labels agreed to use the
not-for-profit agency, called SoundExchange, to collect performance right
royalties. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the fees collected
from the 2,100 labels represented by SoundExchange will be split evenly
between the record labels and the artists, and artists' fees will be paid
to them directly by SoundExchange, bypassing their labels. Some
independent labels and musicians are unhappy with the prospect of having
only one agency through which to collect royalties. "The independent
labels who have chosen to avoid the label system shouldn't be forced to go
collect their money from the system (RIAA) they've chosen to avoid," said
Jenny Toomey, executive director of the Future of Music Coalition, in a
Wired News article. SoundExchange senior director John Simson does not
think that the agency will misrepresent artists. "The statute in the DMCA
sets out how the money gets paid out," said Simson, in the article. "We're
working very hard at this, and on the SoundExchange side we're going to be
very transparent. We'll hire a third party to audit us and the Copyright
Office stands above us as well. Not to mention, the big labels are going
to be looking at this as well since we are collecting their money."
http://www.riaa.org/PR_story.cfm?id=356
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,40359,00.html
http://www.soundexchange.com/
_____________________________________________

o Icebox.com Lays Off 50 Of 100 Employees, Licenses Program To Fox

Los Angeles -- Internet animation studio Icebox laid off half of its staff
on Tuesday in a restructuring that the company says will make it
profitable by the end of 2001, The Los Angeles Times reported on
Wednesday. "We're being forced by our investors to take a very rational
look at the business and do the things that were the right thing to do--
and we've known were the right things to do -- for five months, but didn't
want to," said Icebox CEO Steve Stanford. The company will retain some of
its employees as freelancers, and begin to outsource some of its
production. LA-based Icebox, founded by one of the producers of Fox's "The
Simpsons," develops animated programs for the Web. The company also
announced that one of its programs, "Zombie College," has been licensed by
Fox, which will produce a television pilot for the animated series.
Earlier this year Icebox licensed another of its programs, "Starship
Regulars," to Showtime Networks for television development.
http://www.latimes.com/business/cutting/features/lat_zombie001129.htm
http://www.icebox.com
_____________________________________________

o Broadcom To Acquire Video Chip Maker VisionTech

Irvine, Calif. -- Computer chip maker Broadcom has announced that it will
acquire VisionTech, a developer of semiconductors for video used in
personal video recorders (PVRs), cable set-top boxes, digital video
recorders, home networking and desktop multimedia, for approximately $677
million in stock. Israel-based VisionTech's chips are used by companies
including Motorola, Microsoft's WebTV, ReplayTV and Scientific Atlanta, a
developer of digital set-top boxes. The chips decode video, voice and data
for PVRs, and allow users to control the recording and playback of live
television or video. Under the terms of the acquisition, VisionTech will
become a part of Broadcom Israel. Broadcom said that VisionTech's chips
will be available next year for personal computers and camcorders.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001128/ca_broadco_4.html
http://www.broadcom.com
http://www.visiontech-dml.com/
_____________________________________________

o Copyright Office Holds Final Hearing On Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Copyright Office is holding its final
mandatory hearings on possible changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act (DMCA) with respect to the rights consumers have to content which they
have purchased. As part of the DMCA, the Copyright Office will submit a
report to Congress based on testimony that has been taken since June, the
last of which will occur on Wednesday. The hearings will consider two
legal issues, according to a Wired News article. The first is whether or
not the "first sale doctrine," which allows people to re-sell books and
CDs they have purchased should apply to digital content, and the second
legal issue pertains to whether users should be allowed to make copies of
digital content for personal use. Technological developments such as CD
burners, along with file-swapping services such as Napster, have blurred
the definition of what constitutes a "copy," and what is "personal use."
Digital music and webcasting company representatives are among those
testifying at the hearing. The Copyright Office's final report is
scheduled to be submitted to Congress by February 28, 2001.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,40378,00.html
http://www.loc.gov
_____________________________________________

o Gemstar And Barnes & Noble Will Not Merge

Pasadena, Calif. -- E-book reader manufacturer Gemstar-TV Guide
International and bookseller Barnes & Noble jointly announced on Wednesday
that there are no plans for a merger, acquisition or business combination
between the two companies. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that
the two companies were in talks about a possible merger, or an acquisition
of Barnes & Noble by Gemstar. "We look forward to working with Gemstar on
other possible business and marketing alliances, particularly in the eBook
sector," said Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001129/ca_gemstar.html
http://www.ebook-gemstar.com/
http://www.bn.com
_____________________________________________

> Digital Media Wire Networking Events: Washington, D.C., Los Angeles

Washington, D.C. -- Digital Media Wire will host its next networking event
on Wednesday, December 6 in Washington, D.C. for subscribers and those
interested in the convergence of entertainment, technology and the
Internet. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served and there will be a cash
bar.

Date: Wednesday, December 6, 2000
Time: 6:30 - 8:30
Location: Clyde's of Tyson's Corner
8332 Leesburg Pike - Vienna, VA

There is no charge for the event, but attendees must register at the link
below.
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/washington.htm

Los Angeles -- Digital Media Wire will host a networking event on
Wednesday, December 13 in Los Angeles for subscribers and those interested
in the convergence of entertainment, technology and the Internet. Light
hors d'oeuvres will be served and there will be a cash bar. There is no
charge for the event and registration is not necessary.

Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2000
Time: 6:30 - 9:30
Location: The Sunset Trocadero Lounge
8280 Sunset Boulevard - West Hollywood, CA

For additional details: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/dmw_event1.html
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Schaumburg, Ill.) Motorola announced on Wednesday that it has partnered
with Sega Corporation. Under the agreement, Sega will develop games that
can be played on cell phones being developed by Motorola, which the
company expects will be available in the first half of 2001. The phones
will allow users to upload computer applications, such as the Sega games.
Sega said the first game to be available will be a Tetris-like game called
Borkov.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001129/il_motorol.html
http://www.motorola.com

(Dulles, Va.) America Online announced on Wednesday partnerships with a
number of companies that will provide content for its AOLTV interactive
television service. Shopping channel QVC, entertainment merchandise
retailer Moletown.com and AsSeenIn.com will develop interactive shopping
channels for AOLTV, while National Geographic, BBC America and the
National Basketball Association will jointly develop interactive
programming with AOL.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001129/va_aol.html
http://www.aoltv.com/

(San Rafael, Calif.) LucasArts announced that it will launch an
informational website Thursday for Star Wars Galaxies, a
"massively-multiplayer" online role-playing game currently in development.
The game is being developed by Verant Interactive, a division of Sony
Online Entertainment, and is scheduled to go into beta testing in late
2001. The site will allow interested parties to communicate with the
game's developers, and find information on the details of the game. The
online game will be hosted at Sony's game site.
http://www.lucasarts.com/static/pr/galaxies.htm
http://www.starwarsgalaxies.com
http://www.station.sony.com/

(New York) Geo Interactive, a developer of streaming video technology for
wireless, announced on Wednesday that it will develop streaming technology
for cell phone manufacturer Nokia's 9210 Color Communicator, a cell phone
equipped with a video screen. Under the terms of the agreement,
Israel-based GEO will make its technology available to wireless network
carriers, so that they can develop live and on-demand streaming video for
phone users.
http://www.emblaze.com
http://www.nokia.com

(Hillsboro, Ore.) CenterSpan, a developer of peer-to-peer technology,
announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Moviehead Entertainment,
an online movie portal and syndicator of film content. Under the
agreement, CenterSpan will offer a number of Moviehead film and video
titles on its peer-to-peer network, scheduled to be released in beta in
the first quarter of 2001. The video will be encoded in Microsoft's secure
Windows Media format. Oregon-based CenterSpan recently entered a bid to
acquire the assets of file-sharing site Scour.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001129/or_centers.html
http://www.centerspan.com
http://www.moviehead.com

(Los Angeles) Interactive television software developer ACTV announced on
Wednesday that Microsoft will integrate the company's technologies into
its Microsoft TV platform for interactive television. Under the deal,
Microsoft's interactive TV software will implement ACTV's personalization,
targeted advertising, e-commerce and chat functions into its own WebTV
technology, and for other interactive television developers who have
licensed the Microsoft TV software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/001129/ny_actv.html
http://www.actv.com

(New York) MCY.com announced that a court has ruled against granting a
restraining order to musician Ozzy Osbourne, which would have prevented
the company from airing an Ozzfest concert on pay-per-view. New York-based
MCY.com, a live event webcasting company, was recently sued by musician
Ozzy Osbourne over its right to broadcast an Ozzfest concert webcast on
pay-per-view television. "The Court's ruling is the first step towards
what we firmly believe will be a victory for MCY and a vindication of
MCY's code of conduct with artists and business partners alike," said
Mitchell Lampert, general counsel for MCY in a statement.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001128/ny_mcy_ozz_2.html
http://www.mcy.com
http://www.ozzfest.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Liquid Audio, a provider of digital music
distribution technology, announced on Wednesday that it has been awarded
patent number 6,151,631, for the "advanced Territory Restriction feature"
in its Internet music delivery software. Music copyright holders vary
regionally, with different content owners holding the right to distribute
music in each country. On the Internet, this necessitates the ability to
limit the sale of digital downloads on a country-by-country basis. The
technology behind Redwood City-based Liquid Audio's patent identifies a
user's location, and limits music distribution according to applicable
copyright laws.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001129/ca_liquid_.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com

(Seattle) Loudeye Technologies, a provider of encoding and management
services for Internet audio and video, announced on Wednesday that CEO
Martin Tobias will step down from his position. Loudeye president David
Bullis will become the company's new CEO, and Tobias will stay on with the
company as chairman of the board. Separately, the company announced that
it has partnered with the Basketball Hall of Fame, and will transfer the
organization's library of 16mm film to digital format. The film will be
used in the new Basketball Hall of Fame, scheduled to open in the summer
of 2002 in Springfield, Mass.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001129/ca_loudeye.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001129/wa_loudeye.html
http://www.loudeye.com 

(Munich, Germany) AudioSoft, a provider of digital rights management
technology, announced partnerships on Wednesday with German Internet radio
station Sonix and online music distributor BeSonic.com. The German
companies will use San Francisco-based AudioSoft's tracking and reporting
software in their payments of royalties to copyright holders.
http://www.audiosoft.com
http://www.sonix.com
http://www.besonic.com
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