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ArchivesDigitally Animated Film Studio Pixar Ends Distribution Deal with DisneyAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:11am.
Emeryville, Calif. -- Pixar Animation, the digital animation studio helmed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs that has produced high-grossing titles including "Finding Nemo" and "Toy Story," has decided to part ways with long-time partner Disney, which has distributed all of the company's films to date. "After 10 months of trying to strike a deal with Disney, we're moving on," said Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. "We've had a great run together … and it's a shame that Disney won't be participating in Pixar's future successes." Pixar will begin discussions with other studios to distribute its films beginning in 2006, and intends to retain full ownership of its future productions. "Although we would have enjoyed continuing our successful collaboration under mutually acceptable terms," Disney said in a statement, "Pixar understandably has chosen to go its own way to grow as an independent company." To date, Pixar's five films have earned more than $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office and sold over 150 million DVDs and videos.
Report: One-Fifth of U.S. Now Has Broadband; 40% Projected by 2008Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:10am.
New York -- Jupiter Research reports that as of the end of 2003, 21.5 million households, or about one-fifth of U.S. households, connected to the Internet via broadband. The firm predicts that by 2008, 46 million households -- representing half of online households and 40% of all U.S. households, will have a broadband connection. "The telcos and cable operators halfheartedly competed for broadband customers in the past," said Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Laszlo. "2003 was the first year we saw coherent competitive messages in the market: DSL's story was about low cost, while cable modem services were about faster connection speeds." The firm said that continued growth of online video, music and game offerings in 2004 will increase broadband's appeal, but warns that providers must focus on reducing prices to truly spur demand.
Bertelsmann Ordered to Pay $260 Million Over Sale of AOL Europe StakeAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:09am.
New York -- German media conglomerate Bertelsmann has been ordered by a federal judge to pay two entrepreneurs a jury-awarded sum of $260.8 million, for failing to provide them an equity ownership interest after the formation and sale of AOL Europe, Reuters reported. Judge James W. Brown said Jean Henric Buettner and Andreas von Blottnitz are owed the payout, part of the $7 billion Bertelsmann received when it sold its stake of the AOL Europe joint venture with Time Warner back to the company in 2000.
Napster Gets New President; Roxio to Move Operations to Los AngelesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:08am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Roxio, a maker of CD and DVD burning software and parent company of the Napster music service, announced on Friday that it will consolidate its management teams and corporate functions into Napster's Los Angeles headquarters. As part of the corporate consolidation, the company said that Napster president Mike Bebel will be replaced, after a transitional period, by Roxio head of worldwide business development Brad Duea. "We believe Napster will be a very significant contributor to Roxio's future and headquartering the company in the center of the entertainment industry should prove advantageous," said Roxio chairman and CEO Chris Gorog. Roxio's digital media software division will continue to operate out of the company's Santa Clara, Calif. offices.
Game Developer Bam Entertainment to Sell $2.3 Million in SharesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:06am.
San Jose, Calif. -- Video game publisher Bam Entertainment said on Friday that it plans to raise $2.3 million through a private offering of its shares to institutional investors. The company will sell 2,532,522 shares and warrants to purchase another 1,519,513 shares at a share price of $0.92. In December, the company also raised $1.5 million in new financing. San Jose, Calif.-based Bam develops games for all console platforms and the PC, and has created games based on properties licensed from Cartoon Network, including "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Dexter's Laboratory."
Spoken Word Audio Distributor MediaBay Raises $4 Million in OfferingAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 30, 2004 - 2:02am.
Cedar Knolls, N.J. -- MediaBay, a distributor of spoken-word audio content, announced that it has raised $4 million in new financing through the sale of convertible notes to institutional investors. New Jersey-based MediaBay's content libraries include over 60,000 classic radio programs, 3,500 film and television programs and thousands of audiobooks, which it distributes through streaming and downloadable audio, as well as in over 7,000 retail outlets. "We believe this financing will allow us to increase our marketing efforts over the next few months, which will assist us in growing our business," said MediaBay chief financial officer John F. Levy.
Studios Sue Actor Who Allegedly Leaked "Screener" Movies Onto InternetAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:19am.
Los Angeles -- Two Hollywood film studios have filed copyright infringement claims against veteran actor Carmine Caridi ("The Godfather: Part II"), an Academy Awards voter who allegedly allowed copies of "screener" movies sent to him to be leaked onto the Internet, the Associated Press reported. Warner Bros. is seeking a minimum of $150,000 in damages for each of its two films that were leaked online, "The Last Samurai" and "Mystic River," while Columbia Pictures is asking for similar sums for infringement of its films "Something's Gotta Give" and "Big Fish." Caridi, 70, told law enforcement he sent the films to a friend and purported film buff, Russell Sprague, who was indicted last week on criminal copyright infringement charges for allegedly posting the films online. Caridi has not been charged in the incident, which highlights the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) growing problem with Internet piracy. The group tried last year to ban distribution of such screeners -- sent to those who vote on film awards like the Oscars -- but the ban was later struck down by a federal judge.
Survey: 75% of Americans Think Downloading Songs for Personal Use OKAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:18am.
Rochester, N.Y. -- In a recent survey on peer-to-peer music services, three in four adult Americans (75%) agreed that, while "downloading and then selling the music is piracy and should be prohibited, downloading for personal use is an innocent act and should not be prohibited." The September 2003 survey, conducted by New York-based Harris Interactive, gels with an October survey of teenagers, who said that downloading music files without paying (74%) and letting others download files from them (78%) should be legal. However, two-thirds of adults surveyed (64%) also said they believe "musicians and recording companies should get the full financial benefit of their work." Additionally, 70% of adults agreed that, "if the price of CDs was a lot lower, there would be a lot less downloading of music off the Internet." "All of this suggests that the music industry is fighting an uphill battle in winning the hearts and minds of Americans to support prohibitions against downloading," said Harris Interactive's Robert Leitman. "Their opportunity is to make the as yet unmade link in the public’s consciousness between downloading and its financial impact on musicians and recording companies."
P2P Group Tells Congress It Can't Filter Copyrighted FilesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:16am.
Washington -- A lobbying group called P2P United -- made up of file-sharing services Grokster, Morpheus, BearShare, eDonkey 2000 and Blubster -- wrote in a letter to Congress that it is not technologically feasible for them to filter out copyrighted works traded on their decentralized networks, CNET News.com reported. The letter comes in response to Sen. Lindsay Graham's (R-N.C.) inquiry to the group, which asked them to create filters to block copyrighted material and pornography. In its letter, P2P United says that members of Congress "have been deliberately misinformed by self-interested industry about the technological capability of peer-to-peer services," said P2P United executive director Adam Eisgrau. "It is not that we won't filter out copyrighted material and inappropriate sexual material. It's that we can't." The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has countered that firms including Audible Magic have created technology capable of filtering copyrighted works.
Report: Cell Phone Video Delivery to Generate $4.7 Billion by 2008Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:15am.
London -- Over 150 million users worldwide will be wirelessly accessing video clips by 2008, generating revenues of $4.7 billion, predicts Massachusetts-based research firm Strategy Analytics. The firm notes that operators are now offering video content over relatively low-speed networks, enabled by firms including Thin Multimedia, HelloNetworks and Oplayo. "Early results have shown video entertainment to be a popular service, although many question marks remain about the viability of video services, including whether mobile phone users will pay for them," said Strategy Analytics senior analyst Philip Taylor. "2004 will see carriers continue to look for ways in which the addressable market for services can be built quickly, and with minimum cost to themselves or their customers."
Google Sued Over Trademarks in Keyword Search AdvertisementsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:13am.
San Francisco -- Search engine giant Google and partners AOL and Netscape have been sued by a seller of blinds and wallpaper that claims the companies are infringing on its trademarks with their keyword-targeted advertising, News.com reported. The company, American Blind and Wallpaper Factory, alleges that Google has infringed its trademarks by selling ads to companies wanting to be listed next to terms such as "American wallpaper" and "American blind." While Google said it would not sell ads for "American Blind and Wallpaper Factory," it would not protect the more vague descriptors. "We spend millions of dollars annually to build brand awareness and cannot stand idle while Google allows our competitors to ride our coattails," said American Blind CEO Steve Katzman. For its part, Google in November asked a federal court to declare its keyword ads legal; American Blind's suit seeks dismissal of this claim.
XM Satellite Radio to Offer Ad-Free ProgrammingAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2004 - 2:12am.
Washington, D.C. -- Trying to gain a further leg up on chief rival Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio said that it is eliminating advertising from its music channels -- until now, one of the key differentiators for Sirius. "We were already dominating this market. This will take us one step further," Chance Patterson, a spokesman for XM, told the Associated Press. "This will put even more pressure on Sirius." XM, which has about 1.4 million subscribers compared to Sirius' 261,000, plans to go ad-free starting on Sunday. "It's not a race," said Jim Collins, a spokesman for Sirius. "It really doesn't matter who has higher subscriber numbers."
TiVo Acquires Home Networking Developer StrangeberryAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 4:32am.
San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a developer of digital video recorder equipment and services, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Palo Alto, Calif.-based Strangeberry, a developer of home networking technology. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. TiVo said the acquisition will aid in its goal to expand TiVo functionality beyond recording television programming, and that Strangeberry's technology will enable the development of new broadband-based content delivery services.
AOL Remains Upbeat Despite Losing Subscribers, RevenueAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:25am.
Dulles, Va. -- America Online on Wednesday revealed the results for another in a series of difficult quarters. The Internet unit of media giant Time Warner said that its revenue declined 7% for the quarter, as it lost another 399,000 subscribers to cheaper dial-up providers and higher-end broadband services. The unit reported an operating profit of $109 million, up from a loss of $33.4 billion a year ago, though income excluding charges fell 14%. Revenue was $2.16 billion, down from $2.32 billion, with advertising revenue dropping 36%. AOL, which had 24.3 million subscribers at the end of the quarter -- down 2.2 million from a year earlier -- said that it expects earnings to increase this quarter due in part to stronger ad sales.
Twice-Acquitted "DVD Jon" Sues Norwegian Govt. for $21,800 in Legal FeesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:24am.
San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a developer of digital video recorder equipment and services, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Palo Alto, Calif.-based Strangeberry, a developer of home networking technology. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. TiVo said the acquisition will aid in its goal to expand TiVo functionality beyond recording television programming, and that Strangeberry's technology will enable the development of new broadband-based content delivery services.
Mobile Multiplayer Gaming Firm Kayak Interactive Raises $11.8 MillionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:23am.
Princeton, N.J. -- Kayak Interactive, a developer of mobile multiplayer video game technology, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $11.8 million in its first round of venture capital financing. VantagePoint Venture Partners led the investment round; TL Ventures and EnerTech Capital also participated. New Jersey-based Kayak Interactive's technology enables developers and publishers to design and distribute advanced mobile multiplayer games across wireless networks that are capable of supporting tournaments and leagues.
Report: Text-Message, Java Wireless Games to Bring $9.7 Billion by 2008Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:22am.
Basingstoke, England -- Text-message based and Java-based games for cell phones will generate an estimated $9.7 billion in revenues by 2008, according to projections from U.K.-based analyst firm Juniper Research. The firm said SMS-based text-message game downloads accounted for $1.5 billion in revenue during 2003, with 68% of these selling in Europe. However, rich-media games that require advanced handsets with color screens and Java or BREW capabilities are expected to account for 65% of the $9.7 billion market projected for 2008. "Games are an ideal add on service to the mobile platform and current SMS technology, which is in nearly every mobile phone user's pocket and is well understood, is already making mobile gaming a popular and money generating service," said Juniper's Paul Skeldon.
XM Satellite Radio, Shareholders Raise $530 Million in OfferingAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:20am.
Washington, DC -- Giving itself a sizable cash cushion, XM Satellite Radio, the front-running provider of satellite radio in the U.S., said on Wednesday that it has closed its $530 million public offering. The company, itself, raised $185.5 million, selling 7 million shares at $26.50 each. Current shareholders sold the remainder.
Digital Video Firm Focus Acquires Visual Concepts, COMO for $10.7 MillionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2004 - 2:20am.
Campbell, Calif. -- Focus Enhancements, a developer of digital video chips and video production equipment, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Minnesota-based networked digital video systems maker Visual Circuits Corporation for $8.9 million, and also signed a letter of intent to acquire German video content management firm COMO Computer & Motion for $1.8 million. "These complementary acquisitions expand our ability to provide a much wider range of the digital media workflow -- from capture, conversion and creation to content management, storage and presentation," said Focus president and CEO Brett Moyer. "The acquisitions also improve our ability to support and broaden the European market, as well as extend our customer base to include large private video network deployments in retail, healthcare and entertainment markets."
European Indie Labels Vow to Fight Proposed Sony-BMG MergerAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 27, 2004 - 2:31am.
Brussels -- Impala, a trade group representing more than 2,000 independent record labels in Europe, announced this week that it would fight the proposed merger between music heavyweights Sony and BMG. Impala claims the newly merged behemoth would command more than a quarter of the Continent's music sales, as well as lead to the elimination of thousands of jobs. Impala Vice President Patrick Zelnik said that the smaller labels would be "further marginalized, and access to radio play lists, television programs and retail outlets will become impossible". The group threatened to launch legal action in both Europe and the U.S. should the European Commission approve the merger.
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