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Japanese Video Game Firms Sega, Sammy Agree to $1.4 Billion Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:17am.
Tokyo -- Following the rejection of a similar buyout offer last year, Japanese video game developer Sega announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to merge with fellow Japanese game and pinball machine maker Sammy Corp. Sammy plans to acquire the remaining outstanding 78% stake in Sega it does not already own, in a deal valued at $1.4 billion. Sammy expects the merger to close in October, when Sammy Corp. president Hajime Satomi will take over leadership for the combined company.
tags: Deals | Sega | Video Game | Japanese | Sammy |

L.L. Bean Sues Four Rivals for Using Claria's Pop-Up Ad Technology

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:12am.
Portland, Maine -- Clothing retailer L.L. Bean on Tuesday sued four competitors who use controversial pop-up ad delivery provider Claria's service -- which serves ads for the competitors when they visit L.L. Bean's website -- the Associated Press reported. The suit says Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Atkins and Gevalia have infringed on L.L. Bean's trademarks with the practice. "Using our trademarked name as a trigger to which you want to serve your ads causes customer confusion and crosses the line into trademark infringement," L.L. Bean vice president for e-commerce Mary Lou Kelley told AP. Claria, formerly known as Gator, has contended in past lawsuits brought over its technology that only consumers who freely choose to download the software that serves the competitors' ads actually see them.
tags: Technology | L.L. Bean | Claria's Pop-Up |

Report: "American Idol" Viewer Voting Scheme Comes Under Fire

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:12am.
New York -- Millions of votes submitted by viewers of Fox's popular "American Idol" amateur talent show may not be getting tallied into the final results, according to a report in Broadcasting & Cable. Unlike the AT&T-powered digital text-messaging voting feature, which costs $0.10 per vote and has received no complaints, the FCC has received over 1,000 complaints from viewers who say they have been unable to get through over the phone and vote for a winner. According to Fox, 24 million people total voted in last year's final between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. However, based on call volume that night reported by local phone carriers Verizon and SBC, a combined increase in call volume of up to 230 million calls were likely American Idol votes that were never counted. "There was no obvious reason for all those calls, other than American Idol," Verizon's Daniel Diaz Zapata told B&C. Part of the blame could be placed on phone "phreaks," who use broadband connections and computer-aided speed-dialing to jam phone lines, with motives ranging from influencing bets placed on the show's outcome on online gambling sites to simply wanting their favorite performer to win the contest.
tags: Reports | American Idol | Fire |

Lycos Europe Launches 1GB Email Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:09am.
London -- Beating out larger rival Google, Web portal Lycos Europe on Tuesday launched an email service with one gigabyte of storage space -- which would hold more than 550,000 emails, 2,000 photos or 250 songs. The ad-free service, which unlike Google's advertising-supported Gmail will cost about $6 per month, went live in the U.K. on Tuesday, with other European countries soon to follow, the company said. "The research we've done shows that privacy and security is incredibly important to consumers," said Lycos Europe Portals and Communications Vice President Alex Kovach. Google has been increasingly criticized in Europe, where customer advocates have argued that the ad technology Google will use to search within email texts in order to target ads at users violates user privacy laws. Yahoo also recently announced that it would increase the amount of free email storage it offers users from 4MB to 100MB.
tags: Europe | 1GB | Lycos | Email Service |

Judge Allows Eminem's Copyright Claims Against Apple, MTV to Proceed

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:09am.
Detroit -- A federal judge in Michigan has ruled that rapper Eminem's copyright infringement claims against Apple Computer and MTV, over the unauthorized use of a song in an Apple ad that aired on MTV, may proceed. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor threw out two claims of unfair competition and unjust enrichment, but ruled that Eminem's copyright infringement claims may go forward. The rapper alleges that the companies did not have permission to employ an actor to sing part of his track "Lose Yourself" for use in a TV commercial for Apple's iPod and iTunes service, which also appeared on Apple's website. The suit also names the advertising firm TBWA/Chiat/Day.
tags: Apple | MTV | Judge | Eminem's Copyright | Proceed |

Report: Global Digital Camera Shipments Rise 39% in 2004 to 68.6 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 18, 2004 - 8:06am.
New York -- Worldwide shipments of digital still cameras are expected to rise 39% in 2004, from 47.9 million to 68.6 million units, and grow to 100 million units in 2008, according to a report from New York-based market research firm IDC. The firm noted that the market saw a 71% increase in digital camera shipments between 2002 and 2003. Among manufacturers, Sony accounted for 18% of the market in 2003, followed by Canon (16%), Olympus and Kodak. The strong growth in unit shipments is expected to decrease as cell phone makers begin to equip their handsets with more powerful digital camera features. Currently in the U.S., camera phone picture resolution pales in comparison with the quality available on traditional digital still cameras.
tags: VC | Reports | Global | Digital Camera |