CitySide Tickets to Acquire StadiumTickets.com

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Boston
– CitySide Tickets, a Boston-based event ticket purchasing service that caters
to a selection of theater, music, and sporting venues, announced on Tuesday that
it has signed an agreement to acquire StadiumTickets.com, an entertainment and
event ticket broker exchange.

Beginning March 1, StadiumTickets.com will
feature entertainment and event ticket brokering services through a network
across the U.S and Europe.

Brokers will be
able to negotiate rates, see ticket availability, and trade across the fully
featured online portal, according to the announcement.

Terms of the acquisition
deal were not disclosed.

 

Related Links:
http://www.citysidetickets.com

http://www.stadiumtickets.com

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Pact Draft Lacks Three-Strikes Penalty

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Los Angeles
– Despite earlier reports to the contrary, a leaked draft of the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) currently being negotiated behind
closed doors does not appear to contain a mandate that signatories establish
"three-strikes" penalties that would sever the Internet connections
of repeat file-swappers, Billboard and others reported.

Instead, the relevant
sections of the draft ACTA hew closely to current U.S. copyright law, specifically
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

In particular, the ACTA includes provisions
that prohibit the circumvention of copyright control measures.

Previous
reporting on the ACTA indicated that it would include a
"three-strikes" provision — currently the law in France and several other nations, and under
discussion in the U.K.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhhj2
(Billboard)

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4808/125/

http://snipurl.com/uhhjc
(Copyrights and Campaigns)

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

Study: Worldwide Mobile Subscriptions to Top 5 Billion in 2010

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Geneva
– The number of mobile phone subscriptions is set to pass 5 billion in 2010,
representing a penetration rate of 67% across all countries, according to a
report from the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations
agency.

While the penetration rate actually averages more than 100% in
developed countries, the penetration rate in developing nations has more than
doubled from 23% in 2005, to 57% today.

"Demand for mobile telephony is fairly
resilient with consumers willing to spend their disposable income on mobile
services even at times of financial constraints," statistician Esperanza
Magpantay told a news conference, according to Reuters coverage.

The study also
examined broadband penetration, finding 23% penetration in developed countries, while some developing countries saw penetration rates as low as 3.5%.

 

Related Links:
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2010/08.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100223/wr_nm/us_telecoms

China: New Website Operators Must Meet Regulators In Person

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Beijing – China has
imposed new Internet rules that will compel individuals wanting to operate a
website to first meet in person with regulators, the Associated Press reported.

The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology froze all new
site registrations back in December, framing it as a bid to crack down on
pornographic Web content.

The Ministry now says it will resume accepting
applications for registrations, but would-be site operators must now first meet
in person with regulators, and present identity cards and photos of themselves.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhh1q
(AP)

FTC Warns Organizations of Data Leaks on P2P Networks

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday issued notices to some 100
organizations, warning them that personal information, including sensitive data
about customers or employees, is being shared on peer-to-peer file-sharing
networks. Recipients of the notices included schools, local governments, and
both private and publicly-traded businesses, who were urged by the FTC to
"protect such information from unauthorized access, including taking steps
to control the use of P2P software on your own networks and those of your service
providers."

The FTC said that the data being shared could potentially be
used to commit identity fraud, corporate espionage and other crimes.

The FTC
added that it has opened non-public investigations of other companies whose
data has been exposed on file-sharing networks.

The agency also issued a new
business education brochure, entitled "Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: A Guide
for Business," intended to explain the technology and address potential
risks of its use by employees.

 

Related Links:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/p2palert.shtm

Reports: Twitter Working on Ad Platform; May Debut at SXSW

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Twitter is working on an advertising platform for its microblogging service,
and may announce details at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival next month,
according to published reports.

Speaking at an Interactive Advertising Bureau
event, Twitter head of product management Anamitra Banerji confirmed the
company is "working on an ad platform, but it’s only in the test phase,"
according to MediaPost’s coverage.

A source told GigaOM that the company may
introduce the new ad platform at the South by Southwest conference in Austin next month.

Twitter
announced recently that its service is now distributing 50 million tweets every
day, or about 600 per second.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhggl
(MediaPost)

http://gigaom.com/2010/02/23/twitter-to-launch-ad-platform-soon/

Report: Fan-financed Album Site Sellaband Declares Bankruptcy

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Amsterdam
– Sellaband, a site that facilitated fan-financed recordings for musicians,
filed for bankruptcy in a Dutch court on Monday, Hypebot reported.

The
company’s website is currently down and features a note that reads: "Dear
Artists and Believers, We have extended our maintenance window. We expect to be
back tomorrow at the end of the day."

Founded in 2006, Amsterdam-based
Sellaband has helped artists raise more than $3 million from their fans to
produce several dozen albums.

The company has raised at least $5 million in
financing, from backers including PrimeTechnology Innovation.

Last week, it was
reported that one of the site’s most high-profile artists, the veteran hip-hop
group Public Enemy, fell short of its $250,000 fundraising goal — and had
actually lost fan-investors in recent months.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhg5s
(Hypebot)

http://snipurl.com/uhg7r
(Billboard)

http://snipurl.com/uhg73
(DMW previous coverage)

http://www.sellaband.com

Mail.com Media Corp., Zee Team on India Content Portal

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Mail.com Media Corp. (MMC), the publisher of a network of
entertainment-focused websites, announced on Tuesday that it has formed a joint
venture with India-based media company Zee Entertainment Enterprises, to create
a local portal on the domain India.com, PaidContent reported.

Arvindra Singh
Kanwal was named CEO of the joint venture.

"We are thrilled to be entering
India through this long-term partnership with a pioneer like Zee Entertainment —
and look forward to leveraging our digital capabilities and content, to enable
the portal to meet the evolving online and mobile needs of audiences of India,"
said MMC founder and CEO Jay Penske.

MMC’s other properties include the Nikki
Finke-penned Deadline.com; Hollywood Life, headed by former US Weekly editor
Bonnie Fuller; and Movieline.com, run by former editors at Defamer.

 

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

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/zeel-joins-handsmmc/86455/on

http://www.zeetelevision.com

http://corp.mail.com/

Warner Bros. Acquires U.K. Game Developer Rocksteady Studios

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Burbank,
Calif. – Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) Warner
Bros. Home Entertainment Group on Tuesday announced that it has acquired a
majority stake in London-based video game developer Rocksteady Studios.

Financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2004, Rocksteady is best known
for developing last year’s "Batman: Arkham Asylum," which shipped
over three million units worldwide.

The studio is currently working with Warner
on a sequel to the game.

Warner has previously expanded its portfolio through
the acquisition of developers such as TT Games ("LEGO Star Wars"),
Snowblind Studios ("The Lord of the Rings") and Midway Games
("Mortal Kombat").

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhfg9

http://www.rocksteadyltd.com

Mobile Games Firm Ngmoco Lands $25M, Acquires Freeverse

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Ngmoco, a developer and publisher of games for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch,
announced on Tuesday that it has raised nearly $25 million in its third round
of funding, led by Institutional Venture Partners, and acquired mobile game
studio Freeverse.

Financial terms of the acquisition deal were not disclosed.

Other
investors in the round included previous backers Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers, Norwest Venture Partners and Maples Investments.

The company plans to
use the new funding to grow its team and product portfolio.

Founded in 2008, San
Francisco-based Ngmoco has produced titles including "Eliminate Pro,"
"Touch Pets Dogs" and "Epic Wars," that have to date
generated more than 12.5 million downloads.

New York-based Freeverse, formed
more than 15 years ago, has developed App Store titles including
"Skee-Ball," "Moto Chaser" and "NBA Hotshot."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uhfd0

http://www.ngmoco.com

http://www.freeverse.com

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