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Google Vows to Fight U.S. Justice Department Request for Search Records

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:54am.
Washington - In a move being watched by Internet privacy advocates, search engine giant Google said that it plans to "vigorously" fight the Bush administration's demand to reveal what million of its users have been looking up on the Internet, several media outlets reported on Friday. The Justice Department is asking to see a random sampling of one million searches conducted on Google over a one-week period as part of its effort to revive the 1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA), designed to protect minors from sexually explicit material. The measure was previously struck down by the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. Though several of Google's competitors, including Yahoo, America Online and MSN, already have complied with the request, Google told CNN that the government's demand for information "overreaches." "We had lengthy discussions with them to try to resolve this, but were not able to and we intend to resist their motion vigorously," Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel for Google, wrote in a statement to the network. The government filed a motion on Wednesday demanding that Google turn over the records.
tags: Google | U.S | Records | Justice |

Senate Committee Calls for Adult Website Ratings

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:52am.
Washington - The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday called on the online adult entertainment industry to come up with a ratings system and clearly label its content as intended only for adults, CNET News.com reported. "Too few adult Web sites are taking the extra step to create another obstacle, another barrier, that can keep youngsters from accessing or stumbling on pornography," said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). CNET reported that a Web browser standard called Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) currently exists that allows parents to restrict access to websites rated as explicit, and many adult sites like Penthouse.com have so labeled themselves. The hearing came in the same week the Bush administration asked Google and other search engines to turn over data it intends to use in defense of the Child Online Protection Act, a law that would restrict explicit material on commercial websites.
tags: Adult | Website | Senate |

Washington Post Shuts Down Comments Section of Blog Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:51am.
Washington - The Washington Post has "indefinitely" shut down the comments section of its online "post.blog" site after angry readers bombarded the forum with comments regarding a column by the newspaper's ombudsman. Deborah Howell wrote on Sunday that lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the target of a Congressional bribe investigation, gave made "substantial campaign contributions to both major parties." The column prompted an outcry from many readers, who flooded the site with what the Post called personal attacks and profanity. "We have shut off comments on this blog indefinitely," wrote Jim Brady, the executive editor of washingtonpost.com, in a message to online readers at 4:15 p.m. Thursday. "It's a shame that it's come to this." Brady said that the paper is "not giving up on the concept of having a healthy public dialogue with our readers, but this experience shows that we need to think more carefully about how we do it."
tags: Website | Washington | Blog Site | Comments |

Report: iTunes Use Grows 241% in 2005; Reaches 14% of Internet Users

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:50am.
New York - Traffic to Apple's iTunes website and use of its iTunes application has grown 241% over the past year, to 20.7 million unique visitors, and now reaches nearly 14% of the Internet population, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings. The site's users are more likely to be teenage and male, as 12 to 17-year-olds are nearly twice as likely to visit iTunes as the average Internet user, and 54% of iTunes visitors are males. Nielsen/NetRatings also surveyed brand preferences of iTunes users, and found that their favorite car make is Volkswagen; that they are more likely to drink hard cider than domestic beer; and that they are more likely to read Wired and Rolling Stone, and to watch Cartoon Network and BBC America, than average Internet users. "As networks begin to decide what types of programs to either produce or distribute through iTunes video, they should match the TV audiences' offline purchase and media consumption behavior with that of the iTunes users to maximize the success of video downloads," said Jon Gibs, director of media analytics for Nielsen/NetRatings.
tags: Internet | Reports | iTunes |

EMI Considers Outside Inspection of CD Copy-Protection Technology

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:49am.
London - In the wake of the Sony BMG CD copy-protection debacle, major record label EMI is considering a request from a digital civil liberties group to enable security researchers to examine its own copy-protection technology for potential risks, ZDNet UK reported. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sent an open letter to EMI, asking for assurances that researchers would not face legal recourse when studying its copy-protection technology, which is provided by Macrovision; the EFF claimed some researches have previously received legal threats from copy-protection vendors. "Music fans deserve to know whether EMI's copy-restricted CDs are exposing their computers to security risks," said EFF senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann. "When it comes to computer security, it pays to have as many independent experts kick the tires as possible, and that can only happen if EMI assures those experts that they won't be sued for their trouble." An EMI spokesman told ZDNet UK its copy-protection has "no rootkit issues" and "never loads DRM onto a user's hard drive without the user's permission."
tags: CD | EMI | Copy-Protection | Inspection |

VNU to Buy Majority Stake in Media Analytics Firm BuzzMetrics

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:47am.
Amsterdam - VNU NV, the Netherlands-based publisher of Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, and currently the largest market-research firm in the world, announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in BuzzMetrics, a New York-based media analytics firm. VNU said the deal, for which financial terms were not disclosed, would enhance its media-measurement capabilities and extend its reach into the "fast-growing sphere" of consumer-generated media, such as blogs and public message boards. Under the terms of the deal, VNU will acquire a 50.1% stake in BuzzMetrics, which today agreed to merge with Intelliseek, a Cincinnati-based consumer-generated media analytics firm.
tags: VNU | Stake | BuzzMetrics |

U.K. Mobile Firm Monstermob to Buy China's M Dream for $35.2 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:46am.
London - Monstermob, a U.K.-based mobile games and ringtones publisher, announced that it has agreed to acquire M Dream, currently the largest maker of mobile games in China, for as much as $35.2 million in shares. The acquisition is not Monstermob's first in China; last August, the company paid about $99 million for ATOP Century, a provider of ringtones and mobile pictures. According to Monstermob, gaming is the fastest-growing segment of the Chinese mobile-entertainment market, set to grow from $41 million to more than $241 million over the next three years.
tags: Mobile | China | U.K | Monstermob | M Dream |

Report: Women Out-Shop Men Online for First Time During Holidays

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:44am.
Herndon, Va. - For the first time since the inception of online retailing a decade ago, more women than men purchased items online during the 2005 holiday shopping season, according to a new study by WebSurveyor. The firm said that the data is part of a larger trend that has seen the Internet transform from a male-dominated shopping bastion into one that must take into account the buying preferences of women. Among the key findings, women out-shopped men in every age category, including 75% of women in the 31-40 year-old age group who called the Internet their preferred purchasing method. "As a result of this, many online retailers must now consider transforming themselves from male-oriented 'hunter' sites to female-oriented 'gatherer' sites that provide a richer online purchasing experience," said WebSurveyor.
tags: Internet | Reports | Women | Out-Shop | Men |

TVMyPod Selling iPods Pre-Loaded With Movies, TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:42am.
Los Angeles - A Massachusetts-based start-up called TVMyPod is selling pre-loaded iPods with movies and TV shows, possibly in violation of current copyright laws. TVMyPod founder Vijay Raghavan told The Hollywood Reporter the service is legal because it does not involve decryption of DVDs, and because customers get both the original DVD and the iPod's "fair use" copy protected by law. The company doesn't currently charge for its service, apart from the price of the DVDs and iPod, but plans to eventually let consumers send in their own iPods.
tags: TV | Movies | iPods | TVMyPod | Pre-Load |

The Orchard Launches Music Licensing Division

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:41am.
New York - The Orchard, a digital distributor of independent label music, announced on Friday the creation of a new licensing division, Orchard Music Services, which will offer help placing songs from artists on Orchard-represented labels in film, TV, advertising, games and other commercial exploits. The service will offer mechanical licensing and royalty administration, song sync placement, royalty collection, copyright and publishing administration, and international label deals. New York-based The Orchard represents a catalog of 700,000 tracks from artists on independent record labels.
tags: Music | The Orchard |

Digonex Debuts Dynamic Online Retail Pricing Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:39am.
Cannes, France - Digonex Technologies on Friday introduced a dynamic online retail pricing service that "systematically changes pricing based on Internet economics and behavioral principles." The Indiana-based company's Digital Online Exchange (DOE) uses a proprietary algorithm to find the "sweet spot" where prices follow perceived market value and generate the maximum economic return. Using DOE, newly released digital songs, for example, might sell for $1.19, while back catalog tracks may sell for $0.49. "We believe that artist contributions that are in higher demand are worth more that those in less demand, and that fixed and tiered price models are inefficient," said Digonex vice president Michael Wanchic. "DOE provides the music industry with a tool to provide fair prices for all digital music."
tags: Internet | Digonex | Dynamic |

2006 World Cup Could Generate $6.35 Billion in Mobile Revenue

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:38am.
San Francisco - The month-long 2006 World Cup soccer tournament is projected to generate $6.35 billion in mobile revenue, through text-messaging, ringtones, gambling, video clips and mobile games, according to a report from market research firm Visiongain. The tournament, which launches in June in Germany, is also expected to be a testing ground for live mobile TV services. "The telecoms industry has the potential to generate significant revenue from the 2006 World Cup," said Visiongain's Adam Walkden. "However, operators aiming to utilize the tournament's popularity to push 3G at the expense of more traditional services will miss out. The key revenue generators will be tried and tested text services, ringtones and logos."
tags: Mobile | VC | World Cup |

Countering Sales Slump, Electronic Arts Discounts Game Titles

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:36am.
London - Electronic Arts has cut prices on its games by $10-$20 in North America, in a bid to increase slumping sales, GamesIndustry.biz reported. Forty-eight of EA's titles for current-generation game consoles will be discounted, including its top-selling "Madden NFL 06," which will drop from $39 to $29. Some premium-priced titles, like "Need for Speed: Most Wanted," will also be slashed, from $49 to $39. "We expect more price cuts to come from other publishers, and believe very few new current gen releases will be able to charge a premium price," reads a research note from analysts at Banc of America Securities.
tags: Games | Electronic Arts | Slump | Discounts |

Game Developers Conference to Feature Concert of Game Music

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:34am.
San Francisco - CMP Game Group, a producer of video game publications and conferences, said on Friday that the closing night of its Game Developers Conference will feature a performance of video game music by Symphony Silicon Valley. The "Video Games Live" production on March 24 will feature music from game franchises including "Mario," "Zelda," "Halo," "Castlevania" and "Final Fantasy."
tags: Games | Music | CMP | Game Music |

Codemasters to Distribute "ArchLord" Online Game in Europe, North America

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:32am.
New York - U.K. game publisher Codemasters said on Friday that it has acquired the rights to distribute Korean developer NHN Games' "ArchLord" massively multiplayer online game in North America and Europe. Currently in beta launch in Korea, the game is slated for release in Europe and North America in the third quarter of 2006.
tags: Games | Internet | Europe | North America | Codemasters | ArchLord |

Navarre to Publish DreamCatcher's "Painkiller: Hell Wars" for Xbox

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2006 - 2:27am.
Minneapolis - Navarre, a publisher and distributor of video games, DVDs and other entertainment software, announced on Friday that it has signed an agreement with game developer DreamCatcher, to distribute its "Painkiller: Hell Wars" Xbox version of the original PC game. The title is set for release on Feb. 28.
tags: Xbox | Navarre | DreamCatcher | Painkiller |