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Academy Expels Member Over "Screener" Movies Leaked Onto Internet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:26am.
Los Angeles -- The board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group whose members vote on the Academy Awards, has voted to expel one of its members for allowing a "screener" copy of an Oscar-hopeful movie to be leaked onto the Internet, the Associated Press reported. Academy spokesman John Pavlik told AP the group would not identify the expelled member, nor confirm if it was in fact veteran actor Carmine Caridi ("The Godfather: Part II"), whom investigators have identified as the source of a number of leaks through screeners mailed to his home. Caridi, who has not been charged in the incident, reportedly sent his screener movies to a friend in Chicago who then posted them online and has since been arrested and indicted on criminal copyright infringement charges. Films that made it onto the Internet in the incident included "Something's Gotta Give" and "The Last Samurai."
tags: Internet | Movies | Screener | Academy |

RealNetworks, Major League Baseball End Streaming Partnership

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:25am.
Seattle -- RealNetworks will not renew a deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) that gave the company the exclusive rights to stream audio and video of baseball games over the Internet, CNET News.com reported. The original three-year deal saw RealNetworks pay $20 million for the exclusive Web rights to baseball, but the company said the new terms being offered by MLB were not to its liking. "It was our intention to find a profitable way to work with them," RealNetworks spokesman Greg Chiemingo told News.com. "But we were unable to do that with terms that worked for us."
tags: Baseball | RealNetworks | partnership | Major League |

Vivendi Universal Sales for Fourth Quarter Fall by 50%

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:24am.
Paris -- French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal on Thursday reported that sales dropped by 50% in the fourth quarter as a strong performance in telecommunications was unable to offset a poor showing in media and entertainment. Since offloading a number of interests last year -- most notably utility unit Veolia Environnement -- the company has seen sales plummet from $20.1 billion last year to just $9.1 billion. Universal Music's sales dropped by 19% to $2.1 billion, while Universal Entertainment's sales fell by 4% to $2.1 billion as well.
tags: Vivendi Universal | Fall | Fourth Quarter |

Microsoft to Launch Xbox Live in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:23am.
Taipei -- Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will launch Xbox Live, the online gaming service for its Xbox video game console, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in April. The company has sold around 1.4 million Xbox consoles in the Asia-Pacific region, and also recently launched Xbox Live in South Korea -- the world's leader in broadband penetration. Xbox Asia general manager Alan Bowman told Reuters that the company has signed up 6,500 subscribers in Korea since launching on Oct. 30. "People can utilize their broadband connection at home, which is really a huge advantage for Asia, given that the penetration of broadband in homes throughout Asia is leading the world," Bowman told Reuters.
tags: Xbox | Microsoft | Singapore | Hong Kong | Taiwan |

Nokia VP Invests $5 Million in Mobile Content Developer Landmat

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:21am.
Menlo Park, Calif. -- Nokia Venture Partners, an investor in early stage mobile technology companies, said on Wednesday that it has made a $5 million investment in Landmat, an Icelandic developer of mobile content and services with U.S. headquarters in D.C. The company gave no indication how it will use the funds. Landmat has launched branded content and community applications such as mobile dating and mobile blogging with more than 35 wireless operators across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, including AT&T, Vodafone, Singtel, O2 and T-Mobile. The company's content is provided by companies such as Time Out (city guides), Discovery Channel, Match.com and Oz Clark's Wine Guide.
tags: Nokia | Mobiles | VP | Developer Landmat |

Yahoo, Clear Channel, Friendster Team to Promote Youth Voter Registration

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 5, 2004 - 10:20am.
Los Angeles -- Web portal Yahoo, radio giant Clear Channel and online social networking site Friendster on Thursday jointly announced their support for Declare Yourself, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization founded by producer Norman Lear whose goal is to register young voters for the 2004 election. Yahoo will promote the organization on its websites, as well as through an 18-city college campus tour, which will also be promoted on Clear Channel radio stations. Clear Channel will also provide space for Declare Yourself at festivals and concerts it promotes, offering on-site voter registration. Friendster, with its network of five million users, will host voter registration parties on the campus tour, in addition to linking to DeclareYourself.com and inviting presidential candidates to post their own personal profile on Friendster.com.
tags: Yahoo | Youth | Clear Channel | Friendster Team | Registration |