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Top-Selling Coldplay Album Sees 8% of Sales From Digital Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:12am.
Los Angeles -- Some 8% of the copies of Coldplay's "X&Y," last week's top-selling album in the U.S., were purchased as downloads from online music stores, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing data from Nielsen SoundScan. The 62,000 copies downloaded (of a total of 740,000 sold) doubled the previous record for first-week album downloads. Most were sold at Apple's iTunes Music Store, which offered a month-long pre-order for the digital album that included two tracks not available on the physical CD. Coldplay's label, EMI, reported $64 million in digital sales last year, representing about 2.2% of its overall revenue.
tags: Downloads | Sales | Top-Selling | Coldplay Album | Digital Downloads |

Porn Site Operators Plan Federal Suit Over Recordkeeping Requirements

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:10am.
San Francisco -- The Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry advocacy group, plans to ask a federal court for an injunction against the enforcement of laws that would require porn site webmasters to keep records confirming the legal age of all performers in all pictures and videos they offer, Wired News reported. The law requiring the keeping of such records has been on the books for 15 years, but webmasters are worried about new federal enforcement efforts against online sites that could bring 10 year prison terms for each image in violation. One porn webmaster told Wired News he estimates more than half of explicit websites will have to remove some material, because they either don't possess such personal information on performers, or else ripped their photos off of another site. "If the original content producer can't be found or went out of business or is unwilling to release information, that causes this content to become criminal overnight," adult industry attorney Lawrence Walters told Wired News. "These webmasters are facing felony charges if they continue distributing images they've been distributing for the last five to 10 years."
tags: Law | Porn Site Operators | Federal Suit | Recordkeeping Requirements |

Yahoo Lets Users Search Content on Paid Subscription Sites

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:08am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo on Thursday launched a new search engine feature that lets users search the archives of multiple publications available only with a paid subscription. The Yahoo Search Subscriptions service lets users search "deep web" content on sites like The Wall Street Journal Online, Financial Times, Consumer Reports and TheStreet.com -- which search engines typically cannot access. While the new search feature will let users in the U.S. and U.K. determine which paid content sources to include in their searches, they will still have to pay to access the full article or content returned in those search results. Yahoo said it plans to add paid sites like Factiva, LexisNexis and Thomson Gale to the service in coming weeks.
tags: Yahoo | Website | Search Content | Paid Subscriptions |

U.K. Poker Site PartyGaming Looks to Raise $2.1 Billion in London IPO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:06am.
London -- PartyGaming, a U.K.-based online poker site, plans to raise up to $2.1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) on the London stock exchange, Reuters reported. The company takes about 3% off the top of all hands played for money on its sites, pulling in an estimated $100,000 every hour. However, some investors are wary due to the questionable legal status of online gambling in many nations; 87% of PartyGaming's customers are in the U.S., where online gambling is illegal. "There is a significant risk that criminal or civil judgments may be sought against the group of directors," the company noted in the prospectus for its IPO. While PartyGaming does not operate in the U.S., it does advertise in U.S. media and receives funds from U.S.-based credit card and payment processing companies.
tags: VC | London IPO | PartyGaming | U.K. Poker Site |

Study: Fifth of Newspaper Readers Now Rely on Web Editions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:04am.
New York -- More than one-fifth of Internet users who read newspapers now rely primarily on web editions, according to a new study by Nielsen/NetRatings. The firm found that 21% rely on Internet editions, while 72% still access print editions. Another 7% said that they split their time evenly between the online and offline editions. "A significant percentage of newspaper readers have transferred their preference from print to online editions," said Gerry Davidson, a senior media analyst for Nielsen//NetRatings. "Accordingly, many online editions now feature original content and have developed an online strategy that includes online message boards and editorial blogs, which leverage the medium's strengths of interactivity and immediacy."
tags: Study | Rely | Newspaper Readers | Web Editions |

Report: DVD Recorder Market to Grow 87% This Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 16, 2005 - 3:03am.
Dublin -- The DVD recorder market doubled in size in 2004, to 9.4 million, and is projected to grow another 87% this year, according to a report from Research and Markets. Worldwide DVD recorder shipments are expected to grow to 67.7 million in 2009. The data does not include DVD recorder drives installed in PCs. The firm noted that digital TV tuners will be federally-mandated standard equipment in U.S. DVD recorders in July 2007, and are being added to DVD recorders in increasing numbers in Japan. "In 2004, Japan DVD player shipments declined, while DVD recorders grew by over 100%," the report said.
tags: Report | Market | Grow | DVD Recorder |