Court Orders Satellite TV Software Pirate to Pay $51 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Englewood, Colo.
– A federal court in Florida
has ordered a man who posted software online that helps users illegally receive
satellite TV programming from DISH Network (NASD: DISH) must pay $51 million in damages.

The
summary judgment was lodged against Robert Ward; other parties to the damages award
include DISH sister companies EchoStar (NASD: SATS) and NagraStar.

The companies said that
the decision was significant because "the court held that the posting of
pirate software constitutes a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and
that statutory damages should be calculated based on how many individuals
downloaded the pirate software."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u1r2d

AOL Cuts Over 1,000 Jobs After Voluntary Program Falls Short

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

New York
– Unable to sufficiently reduce its headcount through voluntary layoffs, AOL (NYSE:  AOL)
said on Monday that it will lay off more than 1,000 employees this week, with
the bulk of those affected set to be notified on Wednesday. The company said
that only 1,100 workers volunteered to leave — far short of its goal of up to
2,500.

"At the time we announced the voluntary program we noted that if we
didn’t reach our target reduction of a third we would need to follow the
voluntary program with an involuntary action," the company said in a statement. "We did not reach that target."

AOL also said that it plans to shut
down many of its offices in Europe, beginning with those in Spain and Sweden.

The cuts, aimed at cutting
expenses by $300 million a year, will leave AOL with about 4,400 employees,
down from a high of more than 20,000.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u1qt4
(All Things D)

http://snipurl.com/u1qt8
(PaidContent)

Ticketmaster, Live Nation Shareholders Vote to Approve Merger

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

West Hollywood,
Calif. – The shareholders of
Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM) voted on Friday to approve the company’s proposed merger with
concert promotion giant Live Nation (NYSE:  LYV). Ticketmaster said that more than 98% of its
shares voted were in favor of the merger, while over 99% of Live Nation’s
shares favored the deal — which still must pass regulatory muster.

The U.S.
Justice Department is reportedly seeking additional concessions from the
companies before deciding whether to approve the deal, people with knowledge of
the deal told BusinessWeek.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u1qoy

http://snipurl.com/u1qpa
(BusinessWeek)

http://snipurl.com/u1qqx
(DMW previous coverage)

Warner Music Gets $9 Million Return on Lala Investment

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Major record label Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) saw at least a $9 million return on its
investment in music streaming service Lala when the company was acquired by
Apple (NASD: AAPL), PaidContent reported, citing a regulatory filing.

The company wrote down
$11 million of the $20 million in total that it invested in Lala last year.

PaidContent noted that Warner Music wrote off an even larger sum related to its
investment in imeem, the music service acquired by MySpace.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u1qd0
(PaidContent)

http://secwatch.com/filings/view.jsp?formid=6955419

http://www.lala.com

CitySquares Acquires Local Products Search Firm Yokel.com

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Boston
– CitySquares, the provider of a search engine for local businesses, announced
that it has acquired Yokel.com, a site that lets users search online for
products available at local retailers.

Financial terms of the deal were not
disclosed.

Founded in 2005, Boston-based Yokel now counts over 2 million
retailers whose products are listed on its service.

CitySquares, which has also
founded in 2005, has raised around $2 million in funding to date.

"We see
many potential opportunities to combine the power of product and hyper-local
search to help local merchants across the nation build a stronger and bigger
customer base," CitySquares said in a blog post.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u1qdw

Wattpad Raises Funding for "YouTube for E-books"

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Toronto,
Canada –
Wattpad, the provider of an online community where users publish written works,
announced on Monday that it has closed its first round of venture capital
financing.

Investors included Harvey Beck, Alan Levine and Bert Amato; the
amount of funding raised was not disclosed.

Founded in 2006, Toronto-based
Wattpad operates a "YouTube for e-books," that allows anyone to
upload and share fiction or other original writing.

The site currently featured
over 250,000 e-books created by the community, which counts 10 million monthly
visits.

 

Related Links:
http://www.wattpad.com/press?pr=011110

Google Debuts "Near me now" Mobile Location Feature

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Mountain View,
Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) has integrated a
new location-based feature into the version of its Google.com website used on
an iPhone or Android-based mobile phone. Visitors to the site can click on a
new "Near me now" button, and receive results for nearby restaurants,
coffee shops, bars, banks and more. If the location provided by the phone is
accurate within a city block, another "Explore right here" feature
appears, which lists businesses within that block radius.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u0m2h
(Google blog)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10430000-36.html

Mobile Content Firm Thumbplay Launches Music Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Las Vegas
– Thumbplay, a mobile entertainment distributor, this week launched a beta of
its unlimited streaming music application, which is initially available for
BlackBerry and as an Adobe Air desktop application. The company has licensed
"millions" of songs from all four major labels, as well as from CD
Baby, INgrooves, IODA, The Orchard and others for the service. Songs can be
cached locally on a user’s phone, so listening is possible without a network or
Wi-Fi connection. After a three-day free trial, Thumbplay Music will cost
subscribers $9.99 per month.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u0m4q

Slacker Adds Local Song Caching to Mobile Radio Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Las Vegas
– Slacker, the provider of a music streaming service, on Friday announced new
versions of its mobile applications for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry that
allow songs to be cached locally on the phone for listening without a network
or Wi-Fi connection. The company also released a free Slacker Radio mobile application
for Palm’s Pre and Pixi smartphones, and said it added ABC News to its radio
offering.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u0m85

Spring Design's Alex eReader to Feature Borders eBook Store

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Fremont,
Calif. – Spring Design, maker of
the new Alex eReader e-book reader device, said this week that it has signed a
deal to feature the Borders eBook store powered by Kobo on its devices later
this year. Retail store chain Borders (NYSE: BGP) recently announced plans to launch a new
e-book store on Borders.com, offering more than 2 million titles, as well as
Borders-branded e-book applications powered by Kobo. The Alex eReader is
expected to ship on Feb. 22 with a $359 price tag.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u0m78

http://www.springdesign.com

http://www.kobobooks.com

http://www.borders.com

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