Archives

Blockbuster Launches Online Mail-Order DVD Rental Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:08am.
Dallas -- Video rental giant Blockbuster announced on Wednesday its entry into the online DVD rental marketplace, with the launch of Blockbuster Online. "We think now is the opportune time for Blockbuster to enter the online rental business, and we plan to quickly establish ourselves in this arena by aggressively marketing, pricing and combining our online program and in-store capabilities," said Blockbuster Online general manager Shane Evangelist. The service's terms are nearly identical to rival and industry leader Netflix, offering up to three movies out at a time for $19.99 per month. To take advantage of its retail presence, the company will also provide subscribers with two free in-store movie rental coupons each month. Blockbuster launched a store-based movie subscription service in May 2004, and said it plans to combine the in-store and recently launched mail order service next year. The company said it formed marketing alliances with MSN and AOL, which will promote the movie service, in addition to enabling subscribers to manage their movie queues from a secondary location.
tags: Internet | DVD | Blockbuster | Mail-Order |

Gay Online Media Firm PlanetOut Delays IPO Plans

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:07am.
San Francisco -- Gay online media company PlanetOut announced on Wednesday that it has chosen to postpone its planned $75 million IPO until a later date, citing "recent adverse market conditions." The company, which announced IPO plans on April 29, reduced the price range for the offering on Aug. 4 from $12 to $14 per share to between $9 and $11 per share, but said today it has not withdrawn the offering and will continue to evaluate the timing. "Given the current difficult market for initial offerings, we feel the appropriate value of the company would not be realized through an IPO at this time." said PlanetOut chairman and CEO Lowell Selvin.
tags: Internet | IPO | PlanetOut | Gay |

Streaming Patent Holder Acacia Targets Universities With Licensing Campaign

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:06am.
Newport Beach, Calif. -- Acacia Research Technologies, a firm claiming patents on basic streaming media technology that have been licensed by companies including Disney and Playboy, has now sent letters to dozens of colleges, asking for license fees for distance learning and other video-related technology or else face litigation, Forbes.com reported. The company sent similar letters to several universities last year, with a couple of them agreeing to license fees. At least 48 schools had received letters from Acacia as of Friday, according to the American Council on Education. Washington College in Maryland was told a minimum annual license fee of $5,000 would cover use of Acacia's technology by its 1,400 students, who view streaming video of lectures and school sports highlights. "Acacia wants to extract a toll on each and every lesson that a student learns over the Internet," Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Jason Scultz told Forbes.com. "I think that's despicable." The company recently suffered a setback when a judge ruled last month that several of Acacia's patents were indefinite, in a case between the company and adult websites it has pressured to license its technology.
tags: Acacia | Universities | Licensing Campaign |

Napster Offers Discounted Digital Music Service to U.S. Military

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:06am.
Los Angeles -- Napster announced an agreement on Wednesday with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) that will give all branches of the U.S. military access to its digital music subscription service. Napster will be offered via CentricMall.com, a password-protected website accessible that offers products from 40 vendors only to authorized military personnel. The service will provide discounts on both Napster's subscription service and on individual downloads to over 11.5 million active, reserve and retired military personnel and their families. It will also accept the military's "Military Star Card" credit card as a payment option. "When we learned of the demand for digital music within the military community, particularly from overseas, we immediately dedicated resources to meeting that need," said Napster CEO Chris Gorog.
tags: Military | Napster | U.S | Digital Music |

Chinese Mobile Firm TOM Online Acquires Treasure Base for $66.4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:04am.
Beijing -- TOM Online, a provider of wireless multimedia services in China, announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Chinese wireless entertainment firm Treasure Base for $66.4 million in cash. Treasure Base develops sports and lifestyle interactive TV services for Chinese broadcasters. The acquisition will provide TOM Online with a new distribution and promotion channel of over 60 TV channels, with the coverage of approximate 100 million households in China, and will also bring the TOM Online's website 1.5 million paying subscribers. The companies plan to immediately integrate their Olympics and NBA coverage. TOM Online also recently made a strategic investment in wireless developer Sichuan Great Wall Software, alongside Qualcomm and IDGVC.
tags: Internet | TOM | Chinese Mobile | Treasures |