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Court Rules DirecTV Must Prove Pirate Equipment Used for Piracy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:46am.
Atlanta -- Satellite TV provider DirecTV suffered a setback in its anti-piracy efforts when the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the company may not file lawsuits against individuals who simply own equipment that may be used for pirating satellite TV signals. DirecTV has gone after companies that manufacture and sell equipment that can be used to pirate satellite signals, and recently expanded its anti-piracy efforts by filing 24,000 lawsuits against individuals -- including plaintiff Mike Treworgy -- who through investigations were found to have purchased such equipment. "American innovators and hobbyists shouldn't have to fear legal action merely for possessing new technologies that have many legitimate uses," said Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Jason Schultz. The case will now be remanded to a lower court, where DirecTV will have to provide evidence that Treworgy and other defendants actually pirated satellite TV signals.
tags: Law | Piracy | DirecTV | Court Rules | Pirate Equipment |

Music Retailers Shelve Plan for Digital Song Store Joint Venture

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:44am.
San Francisco -- A consortium of music retailers including Best Buy, Virgin, Tower Records and Borders have decided to cut funding for a plan, announced in early 2003, to create an online store joint venture to sell digital music -- citing high development costs and the low profit margins of existing services like iTunes, CNET News.com reported. The "Echo" project was started in 2001 by a former executive of Internet radio service Echo Networks and a consultant whose father had ties with the music retail industry that enabled them to eventually win the support of major retailers. "The reality is that compared to all the retailers' bottom lines, even Apple's music sales are insignificant," Alex Bernstein, a co-founder and investor in the Echo project, told News.com. "Our board repeatedly told us that… It ultimately boiled down to the idea that the numbers didn't justify a large investment at this stage in the market."
tags: Music | Deal | Digital Song Store | Music Retailers |

WSJ: Rocker Bono, Former EA President Join VC Firm Elevation Partners

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:43am.
Dublin -- The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Bono, Irish rock star and lead singer of U2, has joined Elevation Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on entertainment and media projects, as a managing director. Technology investor Roger McNamee, former Electronic Arts President John Riccitiello and former Apple Computer CFO Fred Andersen have also joined the firm. Elevation told The Journal that the team was hoping to raise at least $1 billion for a new fund, for which details were not released.
tags: VC | WSJ | Rocker Bono | Former EA President | Join | Elevation Partners |

Report: Online Games Sites Are "Stickiest" Overall

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:42am.
New York -- Online games websites are the "stickiest" overall, as visitors to gaming sites spent an average of more than two hours surfing them during the month of May, according to data from New York-based Internet audience measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings. Over 46 million Americans -- or nearly one in three U.S. Web surfers -- visited gaming sites in May. Among such sites, Slingo.com was the stickiest, with visitors spending an average of over four hours during their visits, followed by EA Online (2:29), MSN Games (2:04) and AOL Games (1:51). Middle-aged women were the largest demographic group for online game sites, representing 15% of all online gamers, while overall, the gender make-up of the online gaming audience was found to be nearly equal.
tags: Reports | Online Games Sites | Stickiest Overall |

DISH Network Satellite TV Service Tops 10 Million Subscribers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:40am.
Englewood, Colo. -- Satellite TV operator EchoStar Communications announced that its DISH Network service has passed the 10 million subscriber mark, having added over 6.3 million net new customers during the last four years. Since launching service in March 1996, the company has added an average of over 100,000 net new customers each month. By contrast, DISH Network rival DirecTV claimed a total of 2.2 million subscribers as of Dec. 31, 2003.
tags: Subscriptions | Tops | DISH Network Satellite TV |

Electronic Arts Launches Fantasy Football League Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:39am.
Redwood City, Calif. -- Video game developer Electronic Arts announced on Wednesday its foray into the fantasy sports games market, with the introduction of its EA Sports Fantasy Football service. The company is collaborating with Stats, an Illinois-based provider of sports data and statistical analysis to broadcasters, to provide football data for the service. EA will offer a fully customizable Commissioner League for $99.99, including up to 32 team owners, as well as EA Sports Public Leagues, which will match 12 players in leagues for $9.99 per player. Sign-ups for the new fantasy football service will begin on July 21.
tags: Launches | Electronic Arts | Fantasy Football League |

Music, Movie Retailer Trade Groups Consider Possible Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:35am.
Marlton, N.J. -- Two trade groups that represent stores that sell or rent movies and music -- the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) -- are considering a merger, the two groups announced in a joint statement. NARM's members include retailers such as Tower, Best Buy, Borders and Target that operate a total of 7,000 stores accounting for 85% of all U.S. music sales. The VSDA represents 1,200 companies operating 12,500 stores that sell or rent movies and video games, including Blockbuster, Wal-Mart and Netflix. "Although NARM's focus is on the music industry and VSDA's focus is on the home video industry, the digital and Internet revolution has increased the number of issues in common to members of both organizations. In addition to industry consolidation and other economic factors, matters pertaining to piracy, copyright law, First Amendment protections, theft prevention, formats, packaging and labeling, emerging business models, digital delivery and the like concern our members." The groups said that a letter of intent is in the process of being formalized.
tags: Music | Deal | Movie Retailer Trade Groups | Possible Merger |

Yahoo Unveils Enhanced Email Features

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2004 - 9:33am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Striking back at rival Google following the release of that company's free email service, Yahoo launched several new features on its own mail service, including a major increase in storage space for both free and premium users. Free email subscribers have been upgraded to 100-megabytes of storage, 25 times more than the prior free offering. Premium customers, including subscribers to SBC Yahoo Dial and DSL, will now have 2 gigabytes of storage, or twice as much as users of Google's Gmail. Yahoo also unveiled a new design and improved search capabilities, and removed graphical ads from its premium email services. In addition, the company said that it is opening up more than 50 million Yahoo IDs, giving consumers more address options for their email accounts.
tags: Yahoo | Unveils | Enhanced Email Features |