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House Judiciary Passes Bill Criminalizing Voyeur Camera Phone Photos

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:58am.
Washington -- The U.S. House Judiciary Committee this week approved a bill that would prohibit taking voyeuristic photos with camera phones and other devices in locker rooms and other places where there exists a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, which was introduced in light of a growing number of reports of people using their camera phones to take "upskirt" pictures of unassuming women and men at the gym and other locations, also passed in the Senate in September 2003. If convicted under the proposed legislation, violators would face up to a year in prison.
tags: Photos | Phone | Camera | House Judiciary | Voyeur |

Sony to Add Video Capabilities to Vaio Pocket Music Player

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:57am.
Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium -- Sony said on Friday that it plans to launch a version of its new Vaio Pocket "iPod killer" digital music player that supports video playback and can beam video to a TV, Reuters reported. The Vaio Pocket audio version is slated to launch in Japan next month. "Vaio pocket will be launched in Europe within this year," Keiji Kimura, chief of Sony's Vaio computer and mobile products, told Reuters. "As for the video version, we want to productize it as soon as possible. It's very near future. It will be earlier than (2005)." Sony also recently launched Connect, its entry into the growing roster of legal music download stores that includes Apple's iTunes and Napster. For the time being, only Sony's own portable digital music players, such as the Vaio Pocket, support the transfer of songs from Connect.
tags: Video | Sony | VAIO | Music Player | Pocket |

Reuters Sells Yankee Group to Private Equity Consortium

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:56am.
London -- U.K.-based news and information company Reuters Group announced on Friday that it has offloaded Yankee Group, its U.S.-based research and technology advisory firm, to a consortium led by venture-capital firm Monitor Clipper Partners. Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed. Reuters acquired Yankee Group, currently the largest research and advisory firm in the world focused exclusively on communications and networking, in 2000 for about $72.5 million. Reuters said that the Monitor Clipper Partners-led consortium also included former Lycos President and CFO Ted Philip, who will become a Yankee Group director. Reuters said the Yankee Group deal was part and parcel of its strategy to refocus on its core business in the face of a marked downturn in the financial-services industry. The company also recently cut its stake in U.S.-based financial software firm TIBCO Software and offloaded its France-based credit-evaluation firm ORT SAS.
tags: Yankee Group | Reuters | Equity Consortium |

Music Choice Sues AOL Over Trademark for Cable TV Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:55am.
Horsham, Penn. -- Music Choice, a provider of music services on digital cable television systems, announced that it has filed a lawsuit against America Online, over that company's launch of a competing music service called "My MC." Pennsylvania-based Music Choice said the name is confusingly similar to its "My Music Choice" service, which launched in select cable TV markets in November 2003 and is set to become available nationwide this summer. AOL's My MC service is being offered to Time Warner Digital Cable subscribers. Music Choice said it filed the lawsuit on May 12, after efforts to settle the dispute out of court failed. "While Music Choice welcomes fair competition, we object to a competitor introducing a competing product under a confusingly similar name," said Music Choice president and CEO David Del Beccaro. "With millions of names out there to choose from, AOL's selection of the name MY MC for a channel that may appear alongside our own "MC" branded music channels will undoubtedly lead to confusion among the public and the industry at large,."
tags: Music | Cable TV | AOL | Music Service |

Irish ISP Eircom Net Launches Digital Song Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:53am.
Dublin -- Eircom Net, Ireland's largest Internet service provider, this week launched an online digital music download store, offering 250,000 songs at prices starting at $0.81. To access the service, which is powered by U.K. digital music distributor OD2, users must purchase "credits" either a la carte or via monthly subscription, which may be redeemed to stream, download and burn songs to CD. The Eircom Net Music Club offers free 30-second streams of its tracks; streaming an entire track costs 1 credit, while a temporary download to PC costs 10 credits and, depending on the artist, permanent downloads cost between 99 and 189 credits. "The massive selection features something to suit all tastes from Pavarotti to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kylie or Westlife at prices which are up to 50% cheaper than high street prices," said Eircom Net managing director Fintan Lawler.
tags: Digital | Musics | Irish | Eircom Net |