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Napster Comes Out Swinging After European Launch Delayed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:39am.
Paris -- Internet music service Napster has struck out at European licensing groups, claiming that arcane and convoluted regulations are getting in the way of legal online music companies on the Continent. The attack comes after bureaucratic red tape over the weekend held up the planned European launches of Napster and Apple's iTunes. Napster CEO Chris Gorog said: "As each day passes that Napster isn't operating in Europe, substantial amounts of money are lost to pirates because there is no legal alternative available." According to industry experts, the recording labels worldwide lost nearly $2.5 billion to online piracy last year.
tags: Napster | European | Swinging |

RealNetworks Buys PC Game Developer GameHouse for $35.6 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:39am.
Seattle -- Media delivery technology provider RealNetworks announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire GameHouse, a developer and publisher of downloadable PC games, in a cash and stock deal valued at $35.6 million. Seattle-based GameHouse was the leading distributor of titles through RealNetworks' RealArcade, a service that allows users to trial and purchase PC games online. The company, which generated $10 million in revenue in 2003, develops casual game titles including "Super Collapse II," "Puzzle Inlay" and "TextTwist." GameHouse will continue to distribute its PC games through existing partners Comcast, Earthlink, Pogo.com, MSN, Shockwave, Sony, and Yahoo.
tags: RealNetworks | PC Games | GameHouse |

Island Def Jam Head Lyor Cohen Hired As New CEO of Warner Music

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:38am.
New York -- Former Universal Music Group executive Lyor Cohen, the CEO of Island Def Jam Recordings, has been hired away to become chairman and CEO of the new Warner Music Group. Cohen, who is credited with helping to launch and foster the careers of hip-hop artists including the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public Enemy, will take on his new position following the closing of the $2.6 billion acquisition of Warner Music Group by a consortium of investors led by Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
tags: Warner Music | CEO | Def Jam | Island |

French Industry Group Joins Fight Against Song Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:37am.
Paris -- French music industry trade body SNEP announced that it has joined the U.S. and the U.K. in the battle against illegal song swappers. The No. 4 music market in the world is facing its first annual sales decline for several years and has vowed to fight back by filing lawsuits against individuals, thereby following in the footsteps of its U.S. and U.K. homologues -- the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively. Recorded music sales in France dropped by 14.6% last year to about 2 billion euro ($2.5 billion), according to SNEP General Manager Herve Rony.
tags: French | Musics | Swappers |

Netscape Settles Trademark Suit with Playboy Over Search Keywords

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:36am.
Dulles, Va. -- Netscape, the browser developer owned by America Online, has settled a trademark infringement suit with publisher Playboy over its sales of keyword advertising spots using Playboy-trademarked terms like "playmate" and "playboy," CNET News.com reported. The settlement, terms of which were not disclosed, follows an appeals court ruling last week that said Playboy could go ahead with its case against Netscape. The appeal followed a lower court's ruling that Netscape and partner Excite made "fair use" of Playboy's trademarks when it sold banner ads to adult sites that came up when users entered search terms like "playboy."
tags: Playboy | Netscape | Trademark | Search Keywords |

Italian Court OKs PlayStation "Mod Chips"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:35am.
London -- An Italian court has ruled that "mod chips" for Sony's PlayStation 2, which allow the console to play imported game discs and other software, are legal and in fact encourage healthy competition for Sony, U.K. news site TheRegister reported. The ruling comes out of a hearing held after Italian police confiscated a shipment of modified PlayStation 2 consoles. The court ruled that the seizure was illegal, relying on an Italian law that says consumers may do whatever they wish with goods once legally purchased. Additionally, the court said that mod chips helped to "avoid monopolistic positions" and "improve the possibilities for use of the PlayStation." The ruling is a blow to Sony and other gaming firms, which have won rulings in other nations banning the sale of mod chips.
tags: Law | PlayStation | Mod Chips | Italian |

Avid Acquires Digital Asset Management Firm NXN for $44 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:34am.
Tewksbury, Mass. -- Avid Technologies, a provider of professional video and audio editing equipment, announced on Monday that it has acquired NXN Software, a German provider of digital asset management software for the entertainment and computer graphics industries, for about $44 million. Companies including Sony Pictures Imageworks, China Central Television and Electronic Arts currently use NXN's alienbrain software to manage a range of differing digital files -- such as 3D models, textures, video, audio, source code and office documents. "Alienbrain systems will enhance the asset and production management features of Avid's content creation tools, making it easy for customers to track, store, and control virtually every version and type of file in a digital project," said Avid president and CEO David Krall.
tags: Avid | Digital | NXN | Asset Management |

Phantom Game Console Developer Infinium Labs Raises $15 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:33am.
Sarasota, Fla. -- Infinium Labs, developer of a video game console that plays PC games downloaded over a secure broadband network, announced on Monday that it has received a $15 million financing commitment. Investors buying shares in the company included SBI-Brightline VI and Infinium Investment Partners. Florida-based Infinium Labs said the financing will allow it to enter the manufacturing stage for its Phantom Game Console, which it previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. At launch, the $300 device is expected to come loaded with 50 or so games, and will require that users pay a $10 monthly fee to access the broadband PC gaming service.
tags: Games | VC | Infinium Labs | Phantom |

Philips to Mass-Produce Flexible Electronic Display Panel for Newspapers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:32am.
Amsterdam -- Dutch Consumer electronics firm Philips on Monday announced plans to release a flexible electronic display panel that can download newspapers and other text from the Internet and then roll up into a pen-sized holder, Reuters reported. The Philips product will utilize technology developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based E Ink, which partnered with Philips in early 2001 to develop its technology that uses tiny cells whose color may be manipulated electronically. The Philips display may be connected to a mobile phone for downloading content, the company said. "We can produce this in batches. It's no longer a research project," a spokesman at Philips Research told Reuters. "We're going to build a pilot line that should be ready in 2005 to make one million displays a year."
tags: Philips | Newspapers | Electronic | Mass-Produce |