Archives

Disney Board Votes to Strip CEO Eisner of Chairman Role

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:53am.
Los Angeles -- Following a vote of no confidence from 43% of the company's shareholders, the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company voted yesterday to strip CEO Michael Eisner of his additional role as chairman of the company. The company named board member and former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell as chairman in his stead. Wednesday's vote of no confidence from shareholders came as Disney has seen sagging profits in recent years, as well as the loss of a lucrative partnership with digital animation studio Pixar and Eisner's rebuffing of a takeover offer from cable TV operator Comcast. "Today's unprecedented withhold vote by Disney's shareholders sends a powerful message that Disney's board and management need to focus more on shareholder interests," a Comcast spokeswoman told CNN. "Consistent with this focus, Disney's independent directors should immediately meet with Comcast so we can directly present our full and generous proposal and the benefits of the merger." Some of the shareholder groups are still hoping to see Eisner's full departure from the company; his current contract is set to expire in 2006.
tags: CEO | Chairman | Disney Board | Eisner |

Aussie Judge Denies Kazaa Motion to Exclude Evidence Seized by Labels

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:53am.
Sydney -- Australia's Sharman Networks, distributors of the Kazaa file-sharing software, have lost a legal motion to have evidence seized by the Australian record industry in February raids on its offices and executives' homes declared off-limits. Justice Murray Wilcox ruled that, despite similar legal actions taken against Kazaa in other jurisdictions -- in which the company complied with subpoenas during copyright infringement investigations -- the Anton Piller orders he issued to the record industry to conduct its searches without prior warning were justified. The judge ordered the two sides to meet and discuss the handing over of evidence seized in the raids. "We remain outraged at the heavy-handed tactics that have been used by the record industry to obtain information that we would have provided through the normal, appropriate court process," said Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming. In his ruling, Justice Wilcox noted that the Anton Piller orders were necessary in order to provide a "snapshot" of the inner workings of Kazaa while in progress. The Australian recording industry's case against Sharman Networks is now set to begin in earnest on March 23.
tags: Labels | Aussie | Denies | Kazaa | Evidence |

Survey: 39% of Employees Still Using Office Networks for File-Sharing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:52am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- A survey of office workers has found that, despite the threat of potential legal action from the recording industry against their employers and themselves, 42% said they still use file-sharing software like Kazaa and Gnutella, and 39% said they do their trading on company networks. The survey was conducted in late 2003 and early 2004 by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Blue Coat Systems, which markets software that can monitor employees' Internet surfing habits. Nearly 60% of those surveyed said that they were unconcerned about a potential lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America.
tags: File-Sharing | Survey | Employees | Office Networks |

House Passes Copyright Royalty Determination Process Reform Act

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:51am.
Washington -- The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a bill that would reform the current process used to determine the royalties that webcasters must pay to stream music online, abandoning the current governing body from an arbitration panel of several experts in favor of a single copyright judge. If passed in the Senate, the bill would replace the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), which was hotly contested for years as the recording industry and webcasters battled over royalty rates. "We have found it very difficult to find arbitrators who have sufficient familiarity with copyright law, let alone the complex statutory licenses in the law and the unique procedures for royalty distributions and rate adjustments," Marybeth Peters, the Copyright Office's Register of Copyrights, told Radio and Internet Newsletter.
tags: Copyright | House | Royalty | Reform Act |

Eidos Acquires Danish "Hitman 2" Developer IO Interactive for $42 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:49am.
London -- U.K.-based video game developer Eidos announced on Thursday that it will acquire Denmark-based developer IO Interactive, creators of titles like "Hitman 2" and "Freedom Fighters," for $42 million. The purchase price could increase to $51 million, based on a four year, performance based earn-out. Eidos, known for its "Tomb Raider" game franchise, said the acquisition of IO increases its internally owned intellectual property and strengthens its European creative base and resources for development.
tags: Eidos | Interactive | Danish | Hitman 2 | IO |

Scientific-Atlanta Developing Hybrid Cable TV Set-top/Video Game Console

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:49am.
New York -- Scientific-Atlanta, a manufacturer of set-top boxes for digital TV services, has announced that it is developing a new set-top that will offer high-performance video gaming of the same quality of a PlayStation or Xbox, Reuters reported. "We have a partner we are working with who has 250 engineers in Europe writing software for the Explorer platform for games," said Scientific-Atlanta CEO James McDonald, adding, "I can give (game players) the same performance you get out of those game boxes …There is no question that games is one ... market we will be in." The company did not offer further details on the device or a proposed release date. The set-top box game console would likely not be sold separately in stores, but rather distributed into homes already subscribing to digital cable that are also interested in gaming.
tags: Cable TV | Scientific-Atlanta | Video Game | Set-top | Hybrid |

SBC to Add EchoStar Satellite TV to Roster of Telephone, DSL Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:47am.
San Antonio, Texas -- Telecommunications giant SBC announced that it has partnered with satellite TV operator EchoStar to offer its telephone and Internet subscribers the additional option to purchase DISH Network satellite TV service. SBC will offer a promotional bundle of services that includes local and long-distance telephone service, as well as a wireless plan from Cingular, broadband Internet access and 120 satellite TV channels for $125 per month -- which SBC says will give annual savings of $380 per customer over a la carte rates. SBC and EchoStar also said they plan to develop set-top boxes that combine the features of satellite TV, digital video recording, broadband, home networking and telecommunications services.
tags: EchoStar | Satellite TV | Roster | Telephone | SBC | DSL Services |

Satellite Radio Broadcaster XM Eliminates $135 Million in Debt

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:47am.
Washington, D.C. -- XM Satellite Radio, the D.C.-based provider of nationwide satellite radio service, said on Thursday that it has eliminated $135 million of its debt. The company said that it repaid $81.2 million using the proceeds of an offering completed in January, and converted another $45.7 million into stock. In addition, XM said that General Motors has converted $7.8 million of senior notes into stock.
tags: Satellite Radio | XM | Debt | Broadcastes |