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Apple Wins Cybersquatting Dispute Over iTunes.co.uk Domain

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 5:25am.
London -- A domain name dispute resolution service has ruled that a U.K. firm was cybersquatting when it registered the domain iTunes.co.uk, and has ordered the domain turned over to Apple Computer, which operates an iTunes Music Store in the U.K. CyberBritain, headed by SoJewish founder and teenage dot-com millionaire Benjamin Cohen, had argued that he registered the domain a month before Apple submitted its trademark registration for "iTunes" in December 2000. Cohen told Silicon.com he is considering an appeal with either Nominet or to the High Court, and in the meantime will continue to redirect the domain to another of his websites.
tags: Law | Apple | iTunes.co.uk | Cybersquatting |

EU Drops Investigation of Three-Party Acquisition of ContentGuard

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:22am.
Brussels -- The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has been forced to drop its investigation into a joint bid for anti-piracy software firm ContentGuard because it has no legal authority to review mergers and acquisitions involving more than two equal co-owners. Expressing concerns that a deal could hurt Europe's digital rights management software market, the Commission initially launched its investigation last year when U.S.-based software giant Microsoft proposed bidding for ContentGuard through a joint venture with Time Warner. Since then, however, France-based technology firm Thomson has been invited to join the joint venture as an equal partner. "Through the conjunction of Thomson's acquisition of an equity stake, and of changes in ContentGuard's governance structure, no shareholder will have control over ContentGuard," the Commission said. "Thus, this transaction is not subject to EU merger rules." Following the news, Microsoft, Time Warner and Thomson on Tuesday announced the completion of their three-way acquisition of ContentGuard. "We all worked closely and constructively with the European Commission throughout this process and are pleased to reach this resolution," said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel.
tags: EU | ContentGuard | Investigation |

TiVo Signs Deal With Comcast for Digital Video Recorder Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:20am.
Philadelphia -- Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, announced on Tuesday that it has forged a partnership with TiVo, which will develop a version of its digital video recorder service to offer Comcast's 21.5 million subscribers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo will develop customized digital video recorder software for Comcast, which plans to integrate the services in a majority of its markets in mid-to-late 2006. "The chance to combine TiVo's unmatched DVR features and innovative advertising capabilities with the power of Comcast's advanced digital television services presents tremendous opportunities," said TiVo chairman and CEO Mike Ramsay. "Broad deployment to millions of Comcast homes nationwide will enhance TiVo's recurring revenues." News of the deal sent TiVo shares up nearly 75% on Tuesday, to $6.70.
tags: Deals | TiVo | Comcast | Digital Video Recorder Services |

Report: MP3 Player Sales Projected to Increase 57% in 2005

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:18am.
El Segundo, Calif. -- After a blockbuster year in 2004 when global sales more than doubled, sales of digital music players are projected to increase 57% this year, according to a report from El Segundo, Calif.-based market research firm iSuppli. The total number of MP3 players shipped is projected to grow from 36.8 million in 2004 to 132 million in 2009. Hard drive-based players like Apple's iPod -- which saw shipments rise 116% in 2004 -- are expected to grow from 27% of the market and 9.8 million in unit sales in 2004, to account for 43% of the market and see 56.2 million in unit sales in 2009. Currently, the market is still dominated by flash memory-based MP3 players, which cost much less than hard drive-based players, but do not hold nearly as many songs. The report from iSuppli also cautioned manufacturers against adding too many features to their designs. "Simple, elegant products that perform a few functions with easy-to-use interfaces have sold well in the marketplace, while the do-everything approach has failed."
tags: Reports | Increase | MP3 Player Sales |

Sony Delays European PSP Launch by "Several Months"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:13am.
London -- Reuters reported on Tuesday that Sony will delay the European launch of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld gaming system -- by several months -- to ensure there is an adequate supply of the devices for the upcoming U.S. launch on March 24. "It's been deferred. We were originally hoping for an end of fiscal year (March 31) launch, but now that's not going to be the case," a Sony spokesman told Reuters. "It is likely to be a matter of a few months rather than a few weeks -- it's a matter of allocation." Sony has already launched the PSP in Japan, and said it plans to ship 1 million units for the U.S. launch later this month.
tags: Sony | European PSP | Several Months |

Digital Rights Management Firm SecureMedia Raises $4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:10am.
Natick, Mass. -- SecureMedia, a developer of conditional access and digital rights management technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $4 million in a recent round of venture capital financing, led by M/C Venture Partners. Natick, Mass.-based SecureMedia's Encryptonite software promises secure distribution for video-on-demand, broadcast TV and other multimedia content over IP networks. Customers for the technology include Sony, NTT, Texas Instruments and RealNetworks. The company will use the funds to make additional hires in its development, customer support, sales and marketing divisions.
tags: Deals | VC | SecureMedia | Digital Rights Management |

New Study Reveals Widespread Piracy of Video Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 15, 2005 - 3:08am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- The video game industry has suffered "significant" losses as a result of software piracy, according to a new study by Macrovision, a developer of anti-piracy software for games, DVDs and other media. The surveys of 6,000 Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 users found that 21% of gamers play pirated games, but 73% would have bought the game within one month if a free version had not been readily available. Company officials were surprised at the high level of piracy on console systems, which are generally considered to be secure closed systems. "The prevalence of high-speed Internet, and the availability of pirated games on websites and peer-to-peer networks, have made downloading pirated games relatively easy and widespread," said Steve Weinstein, the executive vice president and general manager of Macrovision's Entertainment Technologies Group. "Game piracy will increase rapidly over the coming months and ye ars as gamers hone their downloading methods and behaviors." Other results of the study show that 43% of all gamers who play pirated games download more than 15 pirated titles a year, and three-quarters of all pirated games come from Internet sites or peer-to-peer networks.
tags: Video Games | New Study | Widespread Piracy |