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RIAA Targets Campus Internet2 Users With File-Swapping Lawsuits

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:27am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Tuesday filed a new batch of copyrighted infringement lawsuits against alleged Internet music file-swappers, this time targeting 405 students at 18 universities who use the ultra-fast Internet2 network to trade files. Internet2 is a private research network shared by many universities and academic institutions that is hundreds of times faster than the public Internet; the RIAA said students use an application called "i2hub" to download movies in under five minutes, and songs in less than 20 seconds. "This next generation of the Internet is an extraordinarily exciting tool for researchers, technologists and many others with valuable legitimate uses," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "Yet, we cannot let this high-speed network become a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules don't apply." Students at Harvard, MIT, USC, Princeton, Columbia and Ohio State were among those named as defendants. Lawsuits were capped at 25 per school for this round of litigation, and each student-defendant alleged to have been offering an average of 2,300 songs. The RIAA said its ongoing investigation also yielded evidence of illegal file-swapping on Internet2 at an additional 140 schools in 41 states, adding that it sent letters warning university presidents that litigation may follow. "We don't condone or support illegal file-sharing," Internet2 CEO Doug Van Houweling told the Associated Press. "We've always understood that just like there is a lot of file-sharing going on on the public Internet, there's also some file-sharing going on on Internet2."
tags: RIAA | Campus Internet2 Users | File-Swapping Lawsuits |

Microsoft, AOL Exit Game Streaming Deals With MLB; ESPN Signs On

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:25am.
Los Angeles -- Microsoft and America Online have quietly ended their deals for the Internet rights to broadcast audio and video feeds of Major League Baseball games, PaidContent.org reported. Microsoft paid a purported $40 million for a two-year contract to offer live streaming audio and video to MSN Premium subscribers, but ended the deal a year early. AOL also scrapped its purported two-year, $9 million deal with MLB Advanced Media to offer live streaming audio and video highlights, and re-negotiated a deal where it will offer only MLB.com's fantasy baseball games to its members. Meanwhile, PaidContent.org reports that ESPN has signed a new exclusive deal with MLB, replacing Microsoft, and will offer live online video feeds of games for $14.95 or $79.95 for the whole season.
tags: Microsoft | AOL | MLB | ESPN | Game Streaming Deals |

Report: Global Investment in Mobile Games Sector Skyrockets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:23am.
London -- According to a new report by research and analysis firm Screen Digest, global investment in mobile videogame companies is skyrocketing. Companies involved in the sector have raised more than $422 million since 1999, with more than half of that amount being raised last year alone. In 2004, worldwide spending on mobile games doubled from about $491 million to more than $1 billion. Merger and acquisition activity in the sector has also been strong, with 19 transactions in 2004 compared to just four during the year previous. "It's moving toward the tipping point, and it's already become a real market," said Screen Digest analyst Ben Keen. "In Europe alone, we're talking about a download market this year in excess of ($501 million)."
tags: Mobile Games | Reports | Global Investment |

Technicolor Partners With Three Studios on Digital Cinema Rollout

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:21am.
Los Angeles -- Three Hollywood studios -- Disney, Warner Bros. and Sony -- have partnered with French media equipment maker Thomson's Technicolor Digital Cinema unit to accelerate the rollout of digital cinema equipment in movie theaters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both Technicolor and the studios declined comment on the deal, but sources said the studios will help bankroll an initial deployment of digital projectors for 3,000 movie theater screens, at a cost of about $200 million -- making up their investment in cost savings on traditional celluloid film prints. The Technicolor deployments will comply with standards set by the Digital Cinema Initiative, a trade group of the seven major movie studios established to create technical specifications for digital cinema. Joe Berchtold, president of Technicolor Electronic Content Distribution Services, is expected to manage the three studios' digital cinema efforts.
tags: Deal | Digital Cinema Rollout | Technicolor | Three Studios |

Growth Seen for Subscription-Based Digital Audio: Satellite Radio, Podcasts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:19am.
Cambridge, Mass. -- Strong growth is forecasted for new subscription-based digital audio programming, as 20.1 million U.S. households are expected to subscribe to satellite radio in 2010, while 9.7 million will receive HD Radio and 12.3 million will download podcasts to their MP3 players, according to a report issued Tuesday by Massachusetts-based Forrester Research. Additionally, online radio streams offered by AOL, Yahoo, MSN and others are expected to reach 30% of all U.S. households, and 50% of broadband households by 2010. Forrester recommends that music and radio executives adopt subscription-based and on-demand distribution models with targeted advertising, while preparing for the advent of new technology like radio ad-skipping digital radio recorders. "If radio and music executives can successfully shift their thinking to embrace new audio delivery methods, both industries will benefit from new revenue streams and increased consumer loyalty over the next several years," said Forrester Research vice president Ted Schadler.
tags: Podcasts | Subscriptions | Digital Audio: Satellite Radio |

Cingular Launches Ringtone Service to Promote New Singles for Labels

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:17am.
Atlanta -- Mobile network operator Cingular Wireless on Tuesday launched a service that will premiere new music singles as ringtones, either before they are heard anywhere else, or at the same time that the song debuts on radio. The first such song to be promoted through the Cingular Sounds service will be "Speed of Sound," the first single off of Coldplay's forthcoming album X&Y, due for release on Capitol Records on June 7. Cingular has deals to offer master recording ringtones of songs from all four major record labels.
tags: Launches | Cingular | Labels | Ringtone | Promote New Singles |

Konami Acquires "Bomberman" Video Game Developer Hudson Soft

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:15am.
Tokyo -- Japanese video game publisher Konami announced that it has purchased an additional 3 million shares in fellow Japanese game developer Hudson Soft, effectively acquiring the struggling company. A developer of titles including the "Bomberman" franchise, Hudson expects to record a large loss for its recent fiscal year, and approached Konami for assistance. "Konami expects its acquisition of additional shares will strengthen Hudson's net worth and will support and enhance its reorganization," the company said in a statement. Following the transaction, Konami will hold about 54% of all shares of Hudson.
tags: Konami | Acquisition | Acquires | Bomberman Video Game Developer | Hudson Soft |

Anystream Raises $8 Million in Fourth Round of Funding

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:12am.
Sterling, Va. -- Anystream, a supplier of digital media production and distribution software, said on Tuesday that it has raised $8 million in its fourth round of private equity funding, led by the Softbank Capital Technology Fund III. Previous investor SCP Private Equity Partners also participated. Anystream said that it will use the funds to expand the marketing of its media and education software, which both automate digital media production and distribution, as well as to bring new products to market. "The financing round gives us the resources we need to extend our business," said Anystream president and CEO Janet Van Pelt. This is Anystream's first outside funding since closing an $11 million round in Jan. 2003. It has raised more than $36 million in total.
tags: VC | Anystream | Fourth Round |

French Wireless Entertainment Firm InfraWorlds Raises $1.7 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2005 - 10:10am.
Paris -- InfraWorlds, a France-based wireless entertainment start-up, announced that it has received more than $1.7 Million in first-round venture capital financing. Sofinnova Partners, a France-based private equity firm focused on the technology sector, led the round, with Lafayette International also participating. InfraWorlds said the investment would allow it to accelerate its international development and roll out new products. "This investment by Sofinnova Partners brings us additional financial resources and invaluable business support," said InfraWorlds founder and Chairman Camille Guermonprez. "Thanks to this commitment, we can confidently pursue our ambitious development program at the heart of the global market, which is estimated to grow to 7 billion euro by 2007."
tags: VC | InfraWorlds | French Wireless Entertainment |