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FTC Asks Court to Compel Blockbuster on Hollywood Bid Data

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:17am.
Washington -- The Federal Trade Commission on Friday took video rental giant Blockbuster to court to compel the company to provide additional details of its bid to acquire No. 2 video chain Hollywood Entertainment. In its motion filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FTC said Blockbuster's response to its initial request was "insufficient and inadequate," and asked the court for additional time to review the merger proposal with the corrected Blockbuster data. Hollywood Entertainment has already rejected Blockbuster's $1.3 billion bid for the company in favor of a lower offer from Movie Gallery, the nation's third-largest movie rental chain. However, Blockbuster said in response to the FTC inquiry that it will still go ahead with its takeover bid.
tags: FTC | Blockbuster | Court | Hollywood Bid Data |

Movie Gallery to Acquire Canadian Movie Rental Store Chain VHQ

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:14am.
Dothan, Ala. -- Movie Gallery, the nation's third-largest movie rental store chain, announced on Friday that it has acquired Canadian rental chain VHQ Entertainment for $16.5 million in cash and stock. VHQ operates 61 stores and reported revenue of $26 million last year. "VHQ will enhance our already strong presence in Canada, where we have more than 200 stores, and complement our existing portfolio of nearly 2,500 stores across North America," said Movie Gallery president and CEO Joe Malugen. "In addition, VHQ's online subscription offering in Canada has been very well received, and we will consider ways to leverage that infrastructure for continued growth in Canada." Alabama-based Movie Gallery has received regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of Hollywood Entertainment, the second-largest movie rental chain in the U.S. While Blockbuster has also submitted a rival bid for Hollywood, Hollywood's board rejected Blockbuster's offer and instead favors Movie Gallery's proposal.
tags: Deals | Canadian | Movie Gallery | VHQ | Movie Rental Store |

Labels Sue Altnet to Block P2P Ad Revenue-Sharing Fund

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:12am.
Sydney -- The major record labels suing peer-to-peer file-sharing software firm Altnet and its more well-known partner Kazaa in Australia for copyright infringement have asked a court there to block Altnet's plans to launch an advertising revenue-sharing fund with the independent labels utilizing its file-sharing distribution service. Altnet announced earlier this week plans to launch a new service that would share advertising revenue derived from its file-sharing service with labels such as V2, Artemis, Epitaph and Simmons/Lathan, who have distributed their artists' works via Altnet. Altnet has also sued the RIAA in the U.S. for patent infringement of its "TrueNames" technology, which it says the labels and antipiracy firms Overpeer and Media Sentry have misappropriated to seed file-sharing networks with "spoof" files.
tags: P2P | Labels | Altnet | Ad Revenue-Sharing Fund |

DVD Censoring Software Gets Approval From House Subcommittee

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:10am.
Washington -- The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which would ensure the legality of technology that can edit DVD movies to remove objectionable scenes, has passed a vote before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property. A similar bill has already been approved in the Senate. The legislation applies to companies such as Clear Play, which offers censoring software for over 1,000 movie titles to DVD player makers. Lawmakers are pushing to have the legislation passed before any potential changes to copyright law come with the Supreme Court's ruling on the record industry's infringement case against file-sharing networks Grokster and StreamCast Networks. HR 357 would also increase penalties for those caught sneaking camcorders into movie theaters to pirate films for street and Internet distribution.
tags: DVD Censoring Software | House Subcommittee | Approval |

Yahoo Acquires Stadeon, Launches Mobile Game Development Studio

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:08am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo announced on Friday that it has acquired Stadeon, a provider of technology that supports multiplayer gameplay across different platforms, and also launched a mobile game development studio. Terms of the Stadeon purchase were not disclosed. Yahoo Games Studio has already created games available for Verizon subscribers that will shortly be added by other carriers, the company said. "Casual games like dominoes and hearts are extremely popular in the emerging mobile entertainment market -- they are just the right format for today's mobile devices and the broad range of users who like to play them," said Geoff Graber, general manager of Yahoo Games. Yahoo also said it named Stadeon founder and CEO John Cahill to head mobile games business, as director of games operations.
tags: Deals | Yahoo | Stadeon | Mobile Game Development Studio |

On-Demand Mobile TV Provider VStar Raises $15 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 7:06am.
Sherman Oaks, Calif. -- VStar, a developer of on-demand mobile TV, announced on Friday that it has raised $15 million in a recent round of venture capital financing, co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Charles River Ventures. The company also said it hired David Bluhm, co-founder of mobile entertainment publisher Mforma and former CEO of recent Yahoo acquisition WUF Networks, as its new chief executive. Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based VStar's 1KTV service delivers news, real-time sports scores, music and other media content from ABC, Fox Sports, Variety, The Weather Channel and other sources to Sprint PCS, Cingular and Nextel subscribers.
tags: Deals | VC | Mobile TV Provider | VStar |

Mobile Handset Sales Worldwide Grow by 30% in 2004

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2005 - 6:55am.
London -- A new report by market analysis firm Gartner shows that mobile phone sales in 2004 grew by 30% year-on-year to a new record of 674 million devices. Gartner said a 24% year-on-year increase in shipments for the fourth quarter was a big boost for the year's overall results, which exceeded most analysts' expectations. Better than expected replacement sales in mature markets and substantial gains in emerging regions also played key roles in a banner year for mobile phone makers worldwide. "Consumers in developed markets, such as Europe and the U.S., were especially drawn to camera phones, as manufacturers offered mass-market prices for these devices and buyers had a compelling reason to upgrade," said Gartner analyst Hugues de la Vergne.
tags: Grow | Mobiles | Worldwide | Mobile Handset Sales |