Band Using Fan-Funded Site Slicethepie Signed to Atlantic

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Scars on 45, a U.K.
band that used fan-funded recordings site Slicethepie, has signed a multi-album
deal Warner Music Group’s (NYSE: WMG) Atlantic Records/Chop Shop Records, Billboard
reported. Slicethepie lets bands post songs, which are then reviewed by users;
if they like the songs, users can pledge money to the band, and in return
receive various incentives as well as a potential monetary return on their
investment for every 1,000 albums sold. Billboard notes that the band’s signing
by Atlantic "triggered a buyout clause and fan shareholders were bought
out at a 50% premium to the then market price."


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2m8a
(Billboard)

http://www.slicethepie.com/

Report: Verizon FiOS TV to Double Early Termination Fee

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Verizon (NYSE: VZ) plans to double the early termination fee for its FiOS TV service, according
to reports from DSL Reports, the Philadelphia Inquirer and CNET. The fee is
expected to jump from $179 to $360 for customers who leave before their
two-year contract expires — although it will likely be pro-rated depending on
length of contract remaining. The Inquirer noted that one impetus for the hike
could be that Comcast is reportedly offering to pay the early termination fees
of FiOS TV subscribers who switch over to Comcast.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2mdp
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10433549-266.html

Warner Bros. Game Studio to Develop Sesame Street Titles

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Burbank,
Calif. – Warner Bros. Interactive
Entertainment, a unit of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), announced on Wednesday that it has signed
a multi-year exclusive deal with Sesame Workshop, to create video games based on
"Sesame Street."
Warner Home Video also has an exclusive deal to distribute Sesame Workshop DVD
titles.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2mjd

http://www.sesameworkshop.org

U.K. Copyright Bill Sees Amendments, Proposal From Labels

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – A provision that
would have empowered U.K.
ministers to change copyright law to address new technologies used for
infringement has been stricken from a sweeping Digital Economy Bill, Billboard
reports. The provision — opposed by Google, Facebook and others as potentially
stifling technology innovation — would have allowed for the creation of new
anti-piracy measures without parliamentary approval.

Meanwhile, The Register
reports that record label trade group BPI has submitted amendments to the
Digital Britain bill that "would grant copyright holders injunctions
against websites and service providers similar to the US DMCA act — but with
no ‘safe harbour’ provision to verify whether the claim is merited."

The
BPI told The Register its edit to the bill is needed because "it provides
a mechanism to deal with the increasing threat of illegal downloading from
non-P2P sources and other future threats."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2kj5
(Billboard)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/12/bpi_uk_takedowns/

http://www.bpi.co.uk

RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser Steps Down

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Seattle
– Rob Glaser announced on Wednesday that he has stepped down as CEO of
RealNetworks (NASD:  RNWK), the media delivery technology company he founded in 1994. "After
nearly 16 years, I’ve decided it’s time for me to step away from day-to-day
operations," said Glaser. "I remain committed to the company and look
forward to continuing to serve in my capacity as board chairman."

Seattle-based RealNetworks said that its board appointed Rob Kimball as
president and acting CEO.

Kimball, who joined real in 1999, was most recently
the company’s general counsel and executive vice president of corporate development.

The company said it will soon begin a formal search process for a new CEO.

 

Related Links:
http://realnetworks.com/pressroom/releases/2010/corp_glaser.aspx

http://snipurl.com/u2lv4
(PaidContent)

France Proposes Own Book Index, Google Partnership

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Paris – France’s culture minister Frederic
Mitterrand has announced plans for the country to launch its own digital book
index to feature the work of French authors. The Gallica service will receive
funding from the French government initially, but will aim to derive revenue
from advertising.

CNET noted that Mitterrand is unhappy with the way Google (NASD:  GOOG) has
gone about its dealings with French publishers in the company’s effort to build
a massive digital index of the world’s books.

The company has already struck a
deal with the Library of Leon, and has held talks with France’s
National Library.

"Google came to Europe
as a conqueror, and many (publishers) have opened the door by signing
agreements that I find unacceptable," Mitterrand told Le Monde.

"They
are based on excessive confidentiality, impossible exclusivity, and a casual,
even one-sided approach to copyright."

While
Mitterrand backs the creation of a French digital library, he also still
envisions a partnership with Google, and an exchange of files between the two
indices.

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10433854-93.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60B20K20100112

DOJ: No Kindle in Classroom Until Support for Blind Added

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Washington
– Several universities that had begun using Amazon’s (NASD: AMZN) Kindle e-book reader in
classrooms have agreed, under the terms of a settlement with the Justice Dept.,
to halt those experiments until the device is upgraded to provide functionality
for blind students, the Associated Press reported.

The agreement came after the
National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind, along
with a blind student at Arizona
State University,
filed suit last year over the use of the Kindle in classrooms.

While the Kindle does have
a text-to-speech feature that reads e-books out loud, it has no similar
"spoken" controls that would help a blind person navigate the buttons on the device.

The Justice Dept. says that the agreement also covers other e-book readers on the market.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2kio
(AP)

Fantasy Sports Firm RotoWire Buys MockDraftCentral.com

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Madison, Wisc. – RotoWire.com, a provider of fantasy sports
games content, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired
MockDraftCentral.com, which provides mock drafts and real-time draft software
used in fantasy games.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MockDraftCentral.com will continue to operate as a standalone site.

RotoWire.com
offers fantasy sports games players news and other content for MLB, NFL, NBA,
NHL, golf, auto racing, soccer and college sports.

"It’s a great fit
because both businesses have subscription models that focus on customer service
and offering products that are worth paying for to give a fantasy owner a
competitive advantage," said RotoWire.com president Peter Schoenke.

 

Related Links:
http://www.rotowire.com/rotowireacquiresmdc.htm

http://www.mockdraftcentral.com

Google Mulls China Exit; Will Cease Censoring of Results

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– Daunted by a series of security breaches and continuing government censorship
of its search results, Google (NASD:  GOOG) said that it is considering exiting the Chinese
market. The company, which entered China in early 2006, said that it
recently uncovered a "highly sophisticated and targeted" hack into
the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. The investigation
uncovered a larger pattern in which Google said that the accounts of dozens of
activists have been "routinely" accessed by third parties, either
through malware or phishing scams.

"These attacks and the surveillance
they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further
limit free speech on the web — have led us to conclude that we should review
the feasibility of our business operations in China," David Drummond,
Google’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal
officer, wrote in a blog post.

Drummond added that the company is "no
longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn," and will
hold discussions with the Chinese government on possible ways that it could run
an unfiltered search engine.

"We recognize that this may well mean having
to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China," he said.

 

Related Links:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html

Court Revives Antitrust Suit Against Major Record Labels

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

New York
– A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit that alleges the major
record labels have engaged in the fixing of prices and terms for selling music
online, according to published reports. While a lower federal court dismissed
the antitrust claims in October 2008, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of
Appeals in New York
said that the allegations are "sufficient to plausibly suggest" a
conspiracy among the major labels, Reuters reported.

The plaintiffs in the case
— a combination of nearly 30 lawsuits brought between 2005 and 2006 — argued
that the labels agreed to a wholesale price of 70 cents per song, and enforced
this artificial price floor through licensing agreements.

The court said
that "some form of agreement among defendants would have been needed to render
the [online music] enterprises profitable," according to Reuters’
coverage.

The Second Circuit noted that eMusic was charging 25 cents per song,
and none of the major labels would do business with them, according to AP coverage. Coincidentally, Warner Music (NYSE:  WMG) signed a licensing deal with eMusic yesterday, and
the company had also recently struck a deal with Sony Music.

Defendants in the case include Bertelsmann,
EMI, Sony (NYSE:  SNE), Time Warner (NYSE:  TWX), Vivendi and Warner Music Group.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u2kaz
(Reuters)

http://snipurl.com/u2kbw
(AP)

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