British Columbia Offers Game Developers Tax Credit

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Vancouver, Canada – The government of the Canadian province of British Columbia
has announced changes to its tax credit system that will create an incentive
for video game development in the province, as well as sweeten enticements for
film productions, the Vancouver
Sun reported.

Labor costs associated with video game production will receive a
17.5% credit, while the credit offered to film productions will be boosted to
33%, up from 25%.

A qualified labor expenditure cap will grow from 48% to 60%,
while the tax credit for digital animation and visual effects was bumped from
15% to 17.5%.

The changes are still subject to approval by the
legislature, but the tax credit would apply to game development projects
beginning after Aug. 31, and film productions that begin principal photography
after Feb. 28.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9wl8
(Vancouver Sun)

http://snipurl.com/u9wkn
(GamePolitics)

Epix Movie Channel Signs Carriage Deal With Charter

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Epix, the pay-TV movie channel joint venture between Viacom (NYSE:  VIA), its Paramount
Pictures unit, MGM and Lionsgate, announced on Thursday that it has signed a
carriage deal with Charter Communications, the nation’s fourth-largest cable TV
provider.

Charter, which said it will launch Epix on its service in May, joins
Cox, Mediacom and Verizon’s FiOS TV as carriers of Epix.

Epix said its channel
will be available in nearly 16 million homes total when it launches with
Charter in May.

The channel will offer some 15,000 titles from its backers’
libraries.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9wi6

http://www.charter.com

http://www.epixhd.com

Google Enlists NSA for Help Following China Attacks

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Ft. Meade, Md.
– Plagued by a series of sophisticated hacking attacks in China, Internet
search giant Google (NASD: GOOG) has turned to the National Security Agency (NSA) for help,
The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Under a deal still being finalized,
the two organizations would share key information — not including specific
user searches or email accounts — in an effort to analyze the attacks and
build better defenses for the future, according to people familiar with the
situation.

Google announced last month that it is considering pulling out of China following
what it called a "highly sophisticated and targeted" hack into the
Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

The company said that the
accounts of dozens of activists had been "routinely" accessed by
third parties, either through malware or phishing scams.

The Post reported that
Google approached the NSA shortly after the attacks, and has since been
attempting to negotiate an agreement.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9u7r
(Washington Post)

AT&T Allows Live TV Streaming on iPhone via SlingPlayer

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Dallas
– AT&T (NYSE: T) has reversed its stance and will allow live TV streaming over its 3G
network to iPhones using Sling Media’s streaming service.

The company had
initially said such a service would "create congestion," but now says
that it worked with Sling on an "optimized" version of the application
that it will allow to run on its 3G network.

The SlingPlayer Mobile application
for the iPhone costs $30, and requires that users also have a Slingbox set-top
connected to their home network.

"Just as we’ve worked with Sling Media in
this instance, we look forward to collaborating with other developers so that
mobile customers can access a wider, more bandwidth-sensitive, and powerful
range of applications in the future," said AT&T mobility and consumer
markets president and CEO Ralph de la Vega.

Skype recently announced plans to
release a VoIP application for the iPhone that operates on AT&T’s 3G
network, following another recent decision by AT&T to allow a 3G
application that it previously prohibited.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9uwq
(Wired.com)

iiNet

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Aussie Court: ISPs Not Liable for Users' Copyright Infringement

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Sydney – A federal judge in Australia has ruled that Internet service
providers cannot be held liable for copyright infringements committed by their
subscribers, dealing a blow in a closely-watched lawsuit filed by U.S. movie
studios against Aussie ISP iiNet, according to published reports. Justice
Dennis Conroy found that, while it was shown that iiNet had knowledge that its
customers were committing copyright infringement, this knowledge did not equate
to "authorizing" the activities.

"While I find that iiNet had
knowledge of infringements occurring, and did not act to stop them, such findings
do not necessitate a finding of authorisation. I find that iiNet did not
authorise the infringements of copyright of the iiNet users," Justice
Conroy wrote in his ruling.

The ISP had refused to forward file-sharing warning
notices to its subscribers on behalf of the studios, saying they violated
privacy provisions in Australian law.

Instead, iiNet had taken to forwarding
the notices from copyright holders to the police, along with its own terms and
conditions showing it prohibited copyright infringement.

The lawsuit was
originally filed in November 2008, by a group of 34 studios and movie companies
that includes Universal, Warner Bros. (NYSE:  TWX), Paramount (NYSE:  VIA),
Sony (NYSE:  SNE), Fox (NYSE:  NWS) and Disney (NYSE:  DIS).

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9vi0
(Sydney Morning Herald)

http://snipurl.com/u9uwd
(AP)

http://snipurl.com/u9uwh
(TorrentFreak)

AppFund to Fuel Development of Apple iPad Applications

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– CNET and E! Online co-founder Kevin Wendle and MusicNation fo-founder Daniel
Klaus have teamed to form AppFund, a new investment firm that will provide
funding and expertise to developers working on applications for Apple’s new
iPad.

New York-based AppFund’s investments will range from $5,000 to $500,000,
"depending on the complexity of each application and its potential to tap
into the mobile end user market."

The firm said it is now accepting
proposals to be part of the launch of the first iPad applications by the summer
of 2010.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9uz3

http://snipurl.com/u9uyg
(TechCrunch)

http://appfund.com

NYT: Amazon Acquires Touch-Screen Developer Touchco

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has acquired Touchco, a developer of touch-screen display
technology, The New York Times reported, citing a person briefed on the deal.

Terms
of the transaction were not provided.

Touchco was spun-off from New York University’s Media Research Lab, and
counts around six employees.

The Touchco team will be integrated with Amazon’s
Lab126 Kindle hardware unit, based in Cupertino,
Calif., according to The Times’
source.

Currently, Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader devices do not feature
touch-screen technology.

Touchco’s technology could enable the company to
offer full-color, touch-screen displays, as well as features like a virtual
keyboard.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/technology/04amazon.html

http://www.touchco.com

Terra Firma Seeks Another $160 Million for EMI

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London
– Terra Firma, the private equity firm that owns major record label EMI, is
seeking to raise an additional $160 million to help repay loans to Citigroup,
which helped finance the firm’s $4.7 billion acquisition of EMI, according to
published reports. Terra may soon default on loan payments due, if it fails to
raise the additional capital.

The Wall Street Journal noted that one loan, tied
to EMI Music Publishing, is not in as much danger as the one backed by EMI
Music, which is struggling in relation to the music publishing unit.

A source
told The Journal that the $160 million, if secured, would enable EMI Music to
keep current with loan requirements through March 2011.  

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9ubz
(Financial Times)

http://snipurl.com/u9ucf
(WSJ)

http://www.terrafirma.com

http://www.emi.com

LensVector Gets $30 Million for Camera Phone Lens Tech

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Mountain View,
Calif. – LensVector, a developer of
autofocus technology for camera phone lenses, announced on Thursday that it has
raised $30 million in a third round of financing, led by Institutional Venture
Partners.

Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Samsung, Silicon Valley Bank,
Mitsui and Kodak also participated.

Founded in 2006, Mountain
View, Calif.-based LensVector says it has developed optical
technology "that can shape, steer and focus light without mechanical
movement."

The company will use the funding to expand its operations.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9u85

http://snipurl.com/u9u7k
(VentureBeat)

http://www.lensvector.com

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