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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE – Sept. 5, 2000
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o Universal Asks Court For $450 Million From MP3.com
o Pop.com and iFilm Merger Breaks Down
o Amid Legal Troubles, Scour Lays Off Most of Its Workers
o GoTo.com To Pay AOL $50 Million in Distribution Deal
o Briefly Noted: AOL – FTC, FVC.com – Vulcan Ventures,
Microsoft, MTV.com – webeos, Soundbreak.com – MusicToday.com
Versaware – NBCi, FirstLook.com – Filmspeed, www.com
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o Universal Asks Court For $450 Million From MP3.com
New York -- Universal Music Group argued before a federal judge on Tuesday
that MP3.com, a leading online music company, should pay up to $450
million in damages for copyright infringement of Universal's music
collection. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said he would rule on Wednesday
on whether MP3.com willfully infringed upon Universal's copyrights. He may
also decide how much MP3.com must pay in damages. If the judge finds that
MP3.com "willfully" infringed on the copyrights, then he can impose higher
punitive damages. The $450 million figure requested by Universal is based
on a $45,000 penalty for each Universal CD that was used by MP3.com; there
were 10,000 Universal CDs in the MP3.com database.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000905/tc/mp3_lawsuit_4.html
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o Pop.com and iFilm Merger Breaks Down
Los Angeles -- Merger talks between iFilm and Pop.com, a high-profile
Internet entertainment company founded by several top Hollywood
executives, have reportedly broken down without an agreement. Pop.com,
which has not yet launched, was created by DreamWorks SKG and Imagine
Entertainment, with the support of Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen,
Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. It is unclear whether
struggling Pop.com, which has already laid off a significant number of
employees, will find another suitor or whether it will fold its
operations. "Although the Internet continues to represent an exciting,
creative opportunity for us, the market has shifted dramatically since our
original announcement, resulting in this being a less viable business for
us," a Pop spokesperson said in a statement. "We will retain a small staff
to support our creative endeavors. At this time, we've not made a decision
regarding distribution of the original content we produced or acquired."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20000905/en/pop_goes_pop_5.html
http://www.pop.com
http://www.ifilm.com
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o Amid Legal Troubles, Scour Lays Off Most of Its Workers
Los Angeles -- Facing a lawsuit filed by the Motion Picture Association of
America, popular file-sharing company Scour announced that it will lay off
52 of its 70 employees. Scour, which has often been described as a
"Napster for videos," said only executives and key technical personnel
will remain on the company’s payroll. The lawsuit against Scour has
reportedly scared off a number of potential investors in Scour. "We remain
hopeful that our dispute will come out the same way that the original
David and Goliath battle did," said Dan Rodrigues, CEO of the company.
Scour, which is backed by Michael Ovitz, allows users to exchange music,
video and other files over the Internet. Scour said that it receives 3
million unique visitors per month.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000904/wr/scour_layoffs_dc_1.html
http://www.scour.com
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o GoTo.com To Pay AOL $50 Million in Distribution Deal
Dulles, Va. -- America Online and GoTo.com, an Internet search service,
today announced a $50 million distribution agreement. Under the deal,
America Online will distribute GoTo.com's Internet search service on AOL
and Netscape Netcenter. The deal shows that AOL can still extract
lucrative contracts from content companies, despite the decline of the
sector over the last year. GoTo.com has also signed distribution
agreements with Microsoft and EarthLink.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000905/ca_goto_am.html
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000905/news/current/aol_goto.htx?
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o Briefly Noted:
(Washington, DC) The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission wants to impose a number of conditions on
America Online and Time Warner Inc. before approving the companies'
proposed merger. The FTC is concerned that the companies would have an
inordinate amount of power over the high-speed Internet market in areas
where Time Warner is the primary cable operator. On Tuesday, the Post
reported that Federal antitrust officials are also considering requesting
that America Online Inc. divest its $1.5 billion stake in satellite giant
Hughes Electronics Corp, a provider of broadband satellite service.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12146-2000Sep4.html
(Santa Clara, Calif.) FVC.com, a broadband video networking systems
company, announced on Tuesday that Ed Harris, a senior investment analyst
with Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures, has joined the company’s board of
directors.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000905/ca_fvc_boa.html
(New York) The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Microsoft
Corp. plans to incorporate software for digital television set-top boxes
into its next personal computer system software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000905/n05173416.html
(New York) This week MTV.com will launch a number of full-length
interactive music videos designed exclusively for the web – which it is
calling "webeos." The first artists to release online videos will include
Busta Rhymes, Bjork, and Moby.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000905/ny_mtvi_vi.html
(West Hollywood, Calif.) Soundbreak.com and MusicToday.com have announced
a content partnership. Under the agreement, MusicToday.com’s concert event
database will be available on Soundbreak.com.
http://www.soundbreak.com
http://www.musictoday.com
(New York) Versaware, a New York-based electronic book company, and NBCi
today announced a partnership agreement. Under the deal, Versaware will
provide NBCi with access to various eBooks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000905/ca_nbci_ve.html
(Venice, Calif.) FirstLook.com, an online movie preview service, and
Filmspeed, an online syndicator of streaming and downloadable Hollywood
film content, today announced an agreement under which FirstLook.com will
distribute Filmspeed’s Internet video imagery for streaming movie trailers
online.
http://www.filmspeed.com
http://www.firstlook.com
(Los Angeles, Calif.) WWW.com, an application service provider focused on
music, today announced that it will provide Internet radio service to
Earjam.com, a developer of software and services to the music market.
http://www.www.com
http://www.earjam.com
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