Paris
– France-based streaming music service Deezer has named Axel Dauchez as its new
CEO, replacing Jonathan Benassaya, who was recently ousted by investors,
TechCrunch reported. Dauchez was previously chief executive at animation firm
Moonscoop. "Deezer is already a fantastic success but is still far from
having exploited its full potential," Dauchez said in a statement.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u83xm
(TechCrunch)
Dallas, Texas – In a major boon to area business
travelers, Southwest Airlines announced on Friday that it is set to begin
rolling out its new onboard wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) service this spring, with
the carrier’s full fleet of 540 plans expected to be outfitted by early 2012.
"We ended the equipment ‘testing’ phase and signed an equipment purchase
contract with our Wi-Fi provider, Row 44. That means we now begin the process
of getting equipment ordered and aircraft scheduling in place to begin our full
fleet installation," Southwest said in a blog post.
The company plans
to install equipment on 15 planes a month initially, with the goal of
increasing that number to around 25.
No price for the access has been
announced, with Southwest saying that it is testing a variety of price points.
Wi-Fi is now being offered by several carriers, including Air Canada, AirTran, American, Continental, Delta, United, US
Airways and Virgin America.
Related Links:
http://blogsouthwest.com/blog/it-is-official-wi-fi-is-on-the-way
New York
– Nations involved in talks around the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement
(ACTA) are "secretly" discussing the possibility of enacting
"three-strikes" measures that would sever the Internet connections of
repeat file-swappers, the Financial Times reports, citing leaked drafts of the
agreement. If ratified, the pact "would transform copyright law in the U.S. and European Union," analysts told FT.
EuroISPA, an Internet service provider (ISP)
trade group with 1,700 members, told FT that the three-strikes proposal is
"severe and wide-ranging, including the possibility of users being
disconnected from the Internet."
"Proposals include fines and
imprisonment for non-commercial file sharing, increasing the liability of
internet service providers for copyright infringements by their customers and
much more," Duke University law professor James Boyle told FT.
Diplomats involved in the talks told FT that the
ACTA can’t impose new legislation on signatories, but "could mandate new
obligations as far as punishing Internet users that breach existing laws."
Related Links:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aeecd740-0c55-11df-8b81-00144feabdc0.html
New York
– Vringo, a provider of mobile video-sharing and video ringtone services, has
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public
offering (IPO) that aims to raise $64.3 million.
Founded in 2006, New
York-based Vringo has to date raised a total of $17.5 million, from investors
including Warburg Pincus.
The company plans to move from its current free model
to a subscription offering, where users will pay a monthly fee for a basic
service and additional fees for premium content.
Vringo will use the expected
$10.3 million in proceeds from the offering for capital expenditures; cost of
revenue; research and development; sales and marketing; and general corporate
purposes, including repayment of part of a loan facility.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u837l
(PaidContent)
New York
– Activist investor Carl Icahn has purchased an additional million shares of
video game publisher Take-Two Interactive (NASD: TTWO), Silicon Alley Insider reported,
citing a regulatory filing.
Icahn previous paid about $70.6 million for 9.1
million shares and an 11.3% stake in Take-Two, saying that he believed the
company was undervalued.
In recent days, Icahn paid about $9.20 for the
additional shares, and now owns about 12.3% of Take-Two.
Icahn also recently
won the right to seat three directors on the company’s board.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u82o9
(Silicon Alley Insider)
http://snipurl.com/u82of
(DMW previous coverage)
New York
– Fabulis, a start-up social network targeting gay men, has raised $625,000 in
its first round of financing, from investors including The Washington Post Company.
Also participating in the round were Fabulis founder and CEO Jason Goldberg,
angel investors Allen Morgan, Lars Hinrichs and Don Baer, and several investors
in Goldberg’s previous company, Socialmedian.
New York-based Fabulis aims to be
"a website and mobile service that helps gay men discover and share where
to go, what to do and who to meet."
The company will use the financing to
prepare for its upcoming launch in the spring.
Related Links:
http://blog.fabulis.com/post/359842440/announcing-the-first-fabulis-financing
New York – AOL’s (NYSE: AOL) Seed.com freelance content site is
recruiting writers to pen bios and Q&A interviews with all 2,000 bands
performing at this year’s South by Southwest music festival, and paying them
$50 per assignment, PaidContent reports. The 1,000-word pieces will be
published on AOL’s Spinner.com music site and on Seed.com. AOL’s Bangalore, India
operations will reportedly be handling copyediting duties.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u7uua
(PaidContent)
New York
– Universal Music Group said on Thursday that it ahs partners with Netbiscuits
to expand its direct-to-consumer mobile content and services. Under the deal, Universal
will use Netbiscuits’ platform to launch additional artist-branded mobile sites
and services, offering features like the ability to make purchases directly
from their phones.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u7uy4
San Francisco – Motally, a provider of mobile analytics services, said on
Thursday that it has launched a new analytics service for Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) new iPad. The
company said it will track usage of applications developed for the iPhone which
are being used on the iPad, as well as iPad-specific apps, once Apple releases
the iPad software development kit to the developer community.
Related Links:
http://blog.motally.com/2010/01/motally-launches-analytics-for-apple-ipad/
