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RealNetworks to Offer Digital Music Services at Two Universities

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 24, 2004 - 2:00am.
Seattle -- RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology, announced on Tuesday agreements with two universities to offer its Rhapsody digital music service at a "deeply discounted" price to students. The company's first on-campus distribution deals will provide 80,000 students at the Univ. of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota with access to its 725,000-song catalog. Berkeley students will have access to Rhapsody for free through Oct. 31, and afterwards at a sharply reduced monthly price; Minnesota students can sign up for either the monthly renewal service or for three-month or annual subscriptions at a further discounted rate. Rhapsody's rates for general consumers are $10 per month and $0.79 per song. Seattle-based RealNetworks also announced that it sold more than one million songs last week from its RealPlayer Music Store, fueled by its Freedom of Choice $0.49 per song download promotion.
tags: RealNetworks | Digital Music | Universities |

Cdigix to Provide Digital Music, Video-on-Demand to Six Universities

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:17am.
Denver -- Cdigix (formerly Cflix), a provider of digital entertainment and educational media for colleges, announced on Thursday that it has signed agreements with six schools to provide downloadable music, video-on-demand and educational media services to students. The company will provide its services at Marietta College, Ohio University, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the University of Denver, Wake Forest and Yale University. Digital music downloads will be provided through MusicNet, a service launched by a group of major record labels that offers an 800,000-song catalog. The campus music service will cost $2.99 per month or $0.89 per track, while the video-on-demand service will be available for a monthly $9.99 subscription or else $3.99 per movie. The company's educational course curriculum will be free to enrolled students.
tags: Video-on-Demand | Digital Music | Cdigix | Universities |

Streaming Patent Holder Acacia Targets Universities With Licensing Campaign

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2004 - 3:06am.
Newport Beach, Calif. -- Acacia Research Technologies, a firm claiming patents on basic streaming media technology that have been licensed by companies including Disney and Playboy, has now sent letters to dozens of colleges, asking for license fees for distance learning and other video-related technology or else face litigation, Forbes.com reported. The company sent similar letters to several universities last year, with a couple of them agreeing to license fees. At least 48 schools had received letters from Acacia as of Friday, according to the American Council on Education. Washington College in Maryland was told a minimum annual license fee of $5,000 would cover use of Acacia's technology by its 1,400 students, who view streaming video of lectures and school sports highlights. "Acacia wants to extract a toll on each and every lesson that a student learns over the Internet," Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Jason Scultz told Forbes.com. "I think that's despicable." The company recently suffered a setback when a judge ruled last month that several of Acacia's patents were indefinite, in a case between the company and adult websites it has pressured to license its technology.
tags: Acacia | Universities | Licensing Campaign |