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DMW Daily, October 5, 2007

Top Stories
o Microsoft to Spin-Off "Halo" Game Developer Bungie Studios
o Appeals Court Looks to Favor TiVo Over EchoStar in Patent Case
o Report: U.S. Online Ad Spend Nears Record $10 Billion in First Half
o Sony to Launch Cheaper 40GB PlayStation 3 in Europe
o China Digital TV Shares Jump After $192 Million IPO
o Time Warner's TBS Completes Buy of Latin American Pay-TV Network
o Liberty Media to Buy Remaining Common Shares of FUN Technologies
o Electronic Arts Acquires PC Game Tools Firm Super Computer
o HD Videoconferencing Developer Vidyo Raises $12 Million
o Mobile Marketer Air2Web to Merge with Germany's MindMatics
Opinion & Analysis
o The 2007 Digital Music Forum West in Pictures
o Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride: “RIAA's Victory Is A Step Backwards”
o Buzz Watch: Danny Bonaduce's 'Fairplay Incident' Gives Fox Reality Channel a PR Boost
Briefly Noted
o iLike Lets Artists Post Updates to Fans via Facebook
o Social Network imeem to Allow Major Label Songs in Slideshows
o The CW to Offer Free iTunes Downloads of Season Premieres
o MySpace, PayPal Enable Virtual Fundraising for Non-profits, Candidates
o Sony BMG Launches Interactive E-card to Promote "DYLAN" Album
o Burger King Taps Mobliss to Develop Mobile Games
 Top Stories
o Microsoft to Spin-Off "Halo" Game Developer Bungie Studios 
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft on Friday announced plans to spin-off its Bungie Studios game development unit, creators of the "Halo" franchise, while retaining an undisclosed stake in the company. [more..]
o Appeals Court Looks to Favor TiVo Over EchoStar in Patent Case 
Washington - A panel of judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has signaled that it will likely rule at least partially in favor of TiVo in the company's patent infringement case against satellite TV firm EchoStar Communications, the Associated Press reported. [more..]
o Report: U.S. Online Ad Spend Nears Record $10 Billion in First Half 
New York - Online ad spending in the U.S. during the first half of 2007 hit a record near $10 billion, with second quarter sales climbing over 25% from the same period a year ago to reach $5.1 billion -- another record -- according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. [more..]
o Sony to Launch Cheaper 40GB PlayStation 3 in Europe 
London - Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced on Friday that it will launch a new 40GB PlayStation 3 model across Europe next week that will be priced at EUR399 ($564), as well as cut the price of its 60GB model to EUR499 ($705). [more..]
o China Digital TV Shares Jump After $192 Million IPO 
Beijing - China Digital TV, a provider of smart card systems for pay-TV operators in China, raised $192 million in an initial public offering of shares on Friday, then saw its shares more than double in value from $16 to a high of $35 during their first day of trading. [more..]
o Time Warner's TBS Completes Buy of Latin American Pay-TV Network 
New York - Time Warner's cable television network Turner Broadcasting System announced that it has received formal approval from the Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia in Argentina for the acquisition of seven pay television networks currently operating in the Latin American market. [more..]
o Liberty Media to Buy Remaining Common Shares of FUN Technologies 
Toronto - FUN Technologies, a developer of online casual and fantasy sports games and sports information, said on Friday that John Malone's Liberty Media has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares it doesn't already own, for about $3.57 per share. [more..]
o Electronic Arts Acquires PC Game Tools Firm Super Computer 
Redwood City, Calif. - Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts announced on Friday that it has acquired Atlanta-based Super Computer International (SCI), a provider of PC gaming client applications and software tools. [more..]
o HD Videoconferencing Developer Vidyo Raises $12 Million 
Hackensack, N.J. - Vidyo, a provider of Internet-based, high-definition video conferencing technology, has raised $12 million in its second round of venture capital, led by Rho Ventures. [more..]
o Mobile Marketer Air2Web to Merge with Germany's MindMatics 
Atlanta - Air2Web, an Atlanta-based mobile marketing services provider, announced that it plans to merge with MindMatics, a Germany-based provider of mobile marketing development and execution technologies. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o The 2007 Digital Music Forum West in Pictures 
n/a
o Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride: “RIAA's Victory Is A Step Backwards” 
Jay Baage blogs about Terry McBride's response to the verdict in the RIAA file-sharing lawsuit during a keynote at DMW's Digital Music Forum West.
[more..]
o Buzz Watch: Danny Bonaduce's 'Fairplay Incident' Gives Fox Reality Channel a PR Boost 
Jay Baage blogs about the now infamous "Fairplay Incident" at an upcoming Fox awards show, where reality TV star and former child actor Danny Bonaduce face-plants a presenter on stage, knocking his teeth out.
[more..]
 Briefly Noted
o iLike Lets Artists Post Updates to Fans via Facebook 
Los Angeles - iLike, a social music discovery service, this week announced an upgrade to its application for the Facebook social network that lets artists communicate with fans. [more..]
o Social Network imeem to Allow Major Label Songs in Slideshows 
Los Angeles - Online social network imeem has secured deals with a number of record labels to allow users to embed their songs as the background for photo slideshows, Wired reported. [more..]
o The CW to Offer Free iTunes Downloads of Season Premieres 
Los Angeles - The CW network announced on Friday that it will offer the premiere episodes of several of its fall series for free on iTunes, which will be made available for a week following their broadcast debuts. [more..]
o MySpace, PayPal Enable Virtual Fundraising for Non-profits, Candidates 
Los Angeles - MySpace on Friday announced an agreement with online payments firm PayPal, which will enable non-profits and political candidates to fundraise directly through MySpace's Impact Channel. [more..]
o Sony BMG Launches Interactive E-card to Promote "DYLAN" Album 
New York - Sony BMG's Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings this week launched an interactive marketing campaign for the release of Bob Dylan's "DYLAN" greatest hits release, where fans could generate personalized versions of the cue card sequence to "Subterranean Homesick Blues" made famous in the film "Don't Look Back." [more..]
o Burger King Taps Mobliss to Develop Mobile Games 
Miami - Burger King on Friday announced a deal with Seattle-based mobile content provider Mobliss, which will create a mobile game for the fast food chain. [more..]