Archives

Date

Reuters: Apple Close to Deal With U.K. Indie Labels for iTunes Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 13, 2004 - 6:12am.
London -- Apple is close to reaching an agreement with European independent record labels that would add tracks from indie artists to its European iTunes music stores, Reuters reported. Apple recently launched its iTunes store in the U.K., France and Germany, before having reached a license agreement with the Association of Independent Music, a U.K. independent record label trade body that controls works by artists including Franz Ferdinand and the White Stripes. Reuters quoted "a source" as saying that Apple was close to a deal with independent labels Beggars Group and Sanctuary Records, and that, "the hope is a standard deal for the indies will follow."
tags: Deals | Apple | iTunes | U.K | Reuters |

Report: "Day After Tomorrow" Most-Downloaded Film During June

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 13, 2004 - 6:12am.
Los Gatos, Calif. -- Fox's "The Day After Tomorrow" was the most-downloaded film on Internet file-sharing networks during the month of June, followed by "The Passion of the Christ," "Van Helsing" and "Hellboy," according to data from Los Gatos, Calif.-based piracy tracker BayTSP. The firm also noted that copies of more recent releases, such as "Spider-Man 2" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," also became available for download later in the month. BayTSP said that use of the Fast Track network, on which Kazaa runs, held steady at 2.7 million users during June, while eDonkey averaged 2.2 million daily users. The firm also noted that studios are increasingly introducing "spoof" movie files onto P2P network to deter downloaders, as the average total number of shared files on users' PCs increased from 204 (May 10) to 371 (May 31), before peaking at 541 files per user on June 30.
tags: Reports | Movies | Day After Tomorrow | Most-Downloads |

Vivendi Universal Games Reorganizes International Operations

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 13, 2004 - 6:11am.
Los Angeles -- Vivendi Universal Games, the video game publishing unit of the Franco-American media conglomerate, announced on Tuesday a new organization for its international operations, whereby its Asia-Pacific and European divisions will now operate as separate businesses. The company said its International president and COO Christophe Ramboz has resigned, and that it named Hubert Larenaudie president, Asia-Pacific and current CFO Jean-Francois Grollemund to the additional role of president, Europe. Recently, VU Games laid off 350 North American employees as part of its reorganization plan; the company was also sued last week by a developer who claims VU Games refused to pay overtime to him and other game developers.
tags: Games | International | Vivendi | Operations |

Google Acquires Digital Photo Management Firm Picasa

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 13, 2004 - 6:10am.
Mountain View, Calif. -- Search engine giant Google announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Picasa, a Pasadena, Calif.-based provider of digital photo management technology. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2001, Picasa partnered with Google in May to make it easier for users of Google's Blogger service to publish photos to their blogs. "Picasa enables users to easily manage and share digital photographs, and its technologies complement Google's ongoing mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president of product management for Google.
tags: Google | Digital Photo | Picasa |