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Roxio Hires Napster Founder Shawn Fanning, Will Re-Launch Service In '03

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2003 - 2:38am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Roxio, the maker of CD and DVD burning software that purchased Napster's assets for $5 million at a bankruptcy auction last November, confirmed on Monday that Napster founder Sean Fanning will be brought on with the company, which plans to launch a licensed, fully-legal version of Napster by the end of the year. Initially, the service will not be based around a peer-to-peer network, the protocol on which the original Napster worked that allowed free-range copying of music files from anyone logged onto the network. "We're looking to put a legal service up by year end," Roxio spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly told CNET News.com. "Our CEO, Chris Gorog, is in talks with all the major labels now." "We won't launch until we've got agreements with all the labels to include a significant proportion of their catalogues," a source at the company told U.K. news site The Guardian. "And we won't just be a subscription service, which asks users to make a commitment of at least $15 a month, but will also sell music on a track by track basis."
tags: Napster | Re-launch | Roxio | Fanning |

LA Times: Rep. Berman May Toss Controversial P2P Hacking Bill

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2003 - 2:38am.
Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday that Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) may not re-introduce his controversial bill that would provide legal safe harbor for Hollywood record labels and movie studios wishing to use "technological countermeasures" to disrupt file-sharing systems. Ironically, opposition coming from Hollywood -- which has indicated it doesn't like provisions in the bill that would provide recourse against studios and labels that go "too far" in their hacking efforts -- may be what eventually ends up killing the legislation. "It still may be worth doing," Berman said of the proposal at last week's Digital Rights Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., "but realistically, a bill like this isn't going to zip through Congress."
tags: P2P | LA Times | Berman | Hacking Bill |

Cell Phone Maker NTT DoCoMo First to Offer Macromedia's Flash On Handsets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2003 - 2:37am.
Tokyo -- Japanese cell phone giant NTT DoCoMo announced on Monday that it will become the first cell phone maker to integrate Web publishing software firm Macromedia's pervasive Flash animation software into its phones. The technology will be embedded into new i-mode handsets, starting with the 505i series, which is scheduled for release later this year. The integration will provide i-mode users with access to a much broader range of rich content and applications, as Flash is now estimated to be present on 98 percent of all Internet-enabled computers. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030224/sfm049_1.html
tags: Macromedia | Handsets | Cell Phone | NTT DoCoMo |

Game Boy Advance Chipmaker Matrix Gets $15 Million From Nintendo

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2003 - 2:35am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Matrix Semiconductor, provider of the low-cost, high-density 3-D integrated circuits used in Nintendo's Game Boy Advance handhelds, announced on Monday that it has received a $15 million investment from Nintendo. "We recognize Nintendo's dominant position in electronic entertainment and feel very fortunate to have them as an investor in Matrix," said Matrix VP of marketing Dan Steere. "Matrix's cost and density advantages over existing technologies support the memory requirements of our portable video game machine, Game Boy Advance," said Nintendo's Yasuhiro Minagawa.
tags: Games | Nintendo | Chipmaker | Game Boy | Matrix |

WSJ: EMI May Buy Warner Music Stake From AOL Time Warner

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2003 - 2:34am.
London -- Media giant AOL Time Warner may sell its majority stake in its Warner Music business to U.K.-based music company EMI Group in a deal likely to be valued at $3-$4 billion, according to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal. The music industry is experiencing one of the worst downturns in decades. A previous attempt by the two companies to merge three years ago was blocked by European regulators, but given the current state of the music industry, regulators may be more accepting of a merger now, the paper said. http://shorterlink.com/?GM3WHM
tags: AOL | Warner Music | WSJ | EMI | Time Warner |