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RIAA Drops "Clean Slate" File-Swapper Amnesty Program

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2004 - 4:24am.
Washington, D.C. -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has ended its amnesty program, which offered admitted online music swappers the chance to avoid being sued by record companies, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The RIAA launched its "Clean Slate" program in September, and has since filed copyright infringement lawsuits against thousands of individual suspected file swappers. Under the amnesty program, the RIAA vowed not to sue individuals who admitted in writing that they had shared music filed online and pledged to delete the files from their computers. A Calif. man then filed suit against the RIAA for fraudulent business practices for promoting the program, arguing that the program did not constitute a legal promise not to sue participants. In recent court papers, the RIAA asked for the suit to be dismissed, as it had recently ended the Clean Slate program, deeming it "no longer necessary or appropriate." The RIAA said a total of 1,108 admitted file-swappers had signed up for the program, the terms of which will still be honored for those participants.
tags: RIAA | File-Swapper | Sues | Clean Slate | Amnesty |

Report: Weak Console Sales Push Video Game Market Down 1% for Q1 2004

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2004 - 4:22am.
Port Washington, N.Y. -- Weak sales of video game console hardware and portable game software during the first quarter of 2004 pushed the industry's overall sales for the period down 1% to $1.8 billion, according to data from market research firm NPD Group. Although sales of consoles like the PlayStation 2 and Xbox were down 25% for the quarter, sales of games and accessories for the devices were up 7% and 10%, respectively. "Most of the consumers in this industry have had their video game hardware for some time now, so a slight decrease in sales is to be expected," said NPD Group senior games analyst Richard Ow. "What will keep consumers coming back for more is the continued development of top-notch software titles, as well as accessories designed to enhance game play."
tags: VC | Sales | Deal | Video Games |

Report: 21% of U.S. Downloaders Have Grabbed Feature-Length Film

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2004 - 4:19am.
New York -- In a sign that films are becoming more popular on peer-to-peer networks, one-fifth (21%) of U.S. downloaders aged 12 and older reported having downloaded a feature-length film over the Internet, according to a survey conducted in late 2003 by marketing research firm Ipsos-Insight. Further, nearly one out of ten (9%) had done so in the past 30 days. "Clearly, digitally experienced Americans are beginning to demand increasingly diverse formats of entertainment to be available via the Internet," said Ipsos-Insight senior analyst Matt Kleinschmit. The survey also found that nearly two-fifths (38%) of American downloaders have downloaded a music video from the Internet, with 15% reporting having done so in the last 30 days.
tags: Download | Films | U.S. |

Online Gaming Platform Developer Xfire Raises $5 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2004 - 4:17am.
Menlo Park, Calif. -- Xfire, a developer of online game platforms formerly known as Ultimate Arena, announced that it has raised $5 million in new funding in a round led by New Enterprise Associates. Previous investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson also participated in the company's third round. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Xfire plans to use the capital to support its service of the same name, which is designed to automatically keep track of when and where gamers are playing PC games online and allows friends to easily join in. Over 350,000 people in 100 countries have downloaded Xfire since its beta launch in January.
tags: VC | Xfire | Deal | Platform | Online Gaming |

News Video Digital Distribution Provider The NewsMarket Raises $4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 20, 2004 - 4:13am.

New York -- The NewsMarket, a video archive and distribution platform that enables the news media to access free, broadcast-standard video over the Internet, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $4 million in its second round of venture capital financing. Investors in the round included Apax Partners, The Hearst Corporation and Boldcap Ventures. New York-based NewsMarket's service is used by customers including Intel, Yahoo and the U.S. government to distribute video to journalists, enabling them to digitally download footage for their reporting. The company will use the funds to launch more advanced video search and delivery tools and to accelerate sales and marketing globally.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2BA31418
tags: VC | Video | News | Deal | Digital |