Report: Vevo Censoring Music Videos to Attract Sponsors

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
4

New York
– Vevo, the music video portal joint venture between Sony (NYSE:  SNE) Music, Universal
Music and Abu Dhabi Media Company, has begun to censor the videos that appear
on its service in a bid to encourage brands that may be weary of appearing next
to objectionable content, AdAge.com reported.

To date, YouTube (NASD:  GOOG), which is
powering the video service and hosts a branded Vevo channel on its site, has
only censored instances of pornography or hate speech.

"Our censorship
goal for launch was to keep everything clean for broadcast, ‘the MTV
version,’" Vevo spokeswoman Jennifer Press told AdAge.com.

There is
currently no list of "forbidden words," Press added.

Some videos on Vevo are now seeing
two versions posted, one with an "explicit" label, while other
censored videos will only appear in a "non-explicit" version.

 

Related Links:
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=141638

http://www.vevo.com

MPAA Chairman & CEO Dan Glickman to Step Down

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced on Friday that chairman
and CEO Dan Glickman has resigned to become president of Refugees
International.

The movie studio trade group said that president and COO Bob
Pisano will serve as interim CEO when Glickman steps down in April, while it
seeks a replacement.

Glickman said last year that he would not seek renewal of
his contract beyond September 2010.

After interviews with "studio execs,
MPAA employees, Internet security officials, and lawyers" in October, CNET
reported that some felt Glickman wasn’t aggressive enough against piracy.

In
its statement, at least, the MPAA praised Glickman’s efforts to lobby for the
PRO-IP Act, which beefed up resources to fight piracy worldwide, and
legislation banning camcording in movie theaters.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5vft
(PDF: MPAA statement)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10439572-93.html

Report: Hulu Mulls Subscription Plan for Older TV Episodes

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Los Angles – Hulu, the video portal that so far has offered
all of its TV episodes and movies for free, is considering charging for older
episodes of some popular shows, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing people
familiar with the matter.

After months of consideration, one plan would see
Hulu continue to offer the five most recent episodes of shows like "30
Rock" and "Modern Family" for free, while older episodes of
those and some 20 other programs would be available for a $4.99 monthly
subscription.

Hulu is a joint venture between NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and
Disney (NYSE: DIS).

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5v1u
(Los Angeles Times)

http://www.hulu.com

Italy's Berlusconi Backs Legislation to Screen YouTube Content

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Milan
– Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government is backing legislation
that would mandate that videos uploaded by users to sites like YouTube and
Dailymotion be screened for pornography or excessive violence before being
approved, the Associated Press reported.

The draft legislation would see an
authority appointed by the government empowered to shut down any sites who fail
to screen content deemed harmful to minors, or impose fines of up to $210,000.

The legislation seeks to regulate Internet content in the same way that an EU
directive governing TV network content.

Critics of the plan include Reporters
Without Borders, and Google (NASD: GOOG), the parent company of YouTube.

"If I am the
BBC and I am using the web to broadcast my IPTV (Internet protocol TV), I am in
the scope of the [EU] directive. If I am a user posting on YouTube video of my
son’s birthday, I am not under the scope of the directive," Marco Pancini,
European senior policy counsel of Google Italia, told AP.

Pancini also told AP
that "after meeting with drafters this week that he was convinced they
were open to amending the decree."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5ulu
(AP)

China Says Its "Internet is Open," Derides U.S. Criticism

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
2

Washington – Following a
speech on Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that criticized
Internet censorship in countries including China, China
responded harshly, urging the U.S.
"to respect the truth and to stop using the so-called Internet freedom
question to level baseless accusations," The New York Times reported,
citing the local Global Times. In her speech, Clinton said that "a new information curtain is descending across much of the
world."

Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, asserted
in the Global Times that "The Chinese Internet is open," adding,
"The U.S. campaign for uncensored and free flow of information on an
unrestricted Internet is a disguised attempt to impose its values on other cultures
in the name of democracy."

The blunt talk is the latest escalation after
Google (NASD:  GOOG) suffered a malicious attack on its Gmail service that targeted the
accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

The company responded by saying it
would no longer censor its search results in China at the behest of the Chinese
government, and in fact is considering a complete exit from the Chinese market.

Mrs. Clinton’s speech intensified the dispute, with the Global Times noting in
an editorial that Clinton "had raised the
stakes in Washington’s clash with Beijing over Internet
freedom."

"The U.S.
government’s ideological imposition is unacceptable and, for that reason, will
not be allowed to succeed," said China’s Ma Zhaoxu.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/world/asia/23diplo.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10438686-265.html
(Clinton
speech)

Some Google Book Settlement Critics Withdraw Opposition

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Several parties who had previously been opposed to Google’s (NASD: GOOG) settlement with
authors over the creation of a digital book index have removed their
opposition, saying they believe edits to the settlement have alleviated their
concerns.

The Authors Guild, a party to the settlement, said that the families
of author John Steinbeck and musician Woody Guthrie no longer oppose the deal.

Gail Steinbeck, the wife of John’s son Thomas, told The New York Times that
"the majority of the problems that we found troubling have been
addressed."

After the settlement was first announced in October 2008, a
range of critics emerged that included both authors and technology firms.

The
Justice Department also stepped in and voiced concerns in September, prompting
Google to work on a revised settlement proposal, which was submitted in
November.

The changes included a loosening of licensing restrictions on
Google’s index from third-party companies, and the creation of an independent
trustee to control the fate of orphaned copyrighted works.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5sv4
(N.Y. Times)

http://snipurl.com/u5snm
(Wired.com)

http://www.authorsguild.org

Report: Live Nation May Divest Assets to Win Merger Approval

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Concert promotion giant Live Nation (NYSE:  LYV) is mulling the sale of at least some of its venues to
rival AEG in a bid to win antitrust approval of its proposed merger with
Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM), the New York Post reported, citing "a person involved with
the process." "The fact that they are out there talking with others
about deals suggests that they are nervous about getting approval," said
The Post’s source.

"They are trying to pretty up the deal as much as
possible for the regulators."

It’s typical in such large mergers
undergoing antitrust review for the parties to divest some of their assets to
ensure that competition remains after the deal is completed.

Hypebot noted that
Ticketmaster has previously signaled it may be willing to divest its TicketsNow
secondary ticket sales marketplace.

The Post said that the Justice Department,
which is handling the antitrust review of the deal, may issue its decision as
early as next week.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5sdl
(N.Y. Post)

http://snipurl.com/u5sbi
(Hypebot)

Hello Music Gets $4 Million for Web A&R Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Cannes, France – Hello Music, a new
Web-based talent discovery service for musical artists, announced on Friday that
it has raised $4 million in funding from KVG Partners.

The company was conceived
and incubated by digital music product design firm Wilshire Media Group, whose
partners include Zack Zalon — former president of Virgin Digital and an early
employee of Farmclub.com.

KVG lead investor and Lyric Opera president and CEO
Dick Kiphart will serve as chairman of Hello Music.

The site lets artists
upload their music and information, which are then screened by the company’s
evaluation team, made up of "industry advisors, songwriters and composers,
world-class musicians, ex-label A&R people, and independent music aficionados."

These screeners provide feedback both to the artists, and to its partners, who
may choose to utilize their songs for various opportunities.

If the artist
decides to capitalize on the offer, Hello Music takes a cut of any revenue
generated.

Initial partners include synchronization services AudioMicro and
Getty Images; booking service GigMaven; LyricFind; analytics firm Next Big
Sound; marketing firm Topspin; Web radio services Slacker and Yahoo Music; and
distributors TuneCore and MediaNet.

"Technology has created infinite
possibilities for musicians to distribute and promote their music, but there
are fewer gatekeepers to identify quality acts and actually help them connect
to the opportunities that power a career," said Zalon.

"Hello Music
believes you need a team of industry professionals — real people — to
evaluate that music to find those artists whose careers will grow."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5rxx

http://www.hellomusic.com

Nokia to Offer Free GPS Navigation on Smartphones

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Espoo, Finland – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) on Thursday
announced that it will offer a new, free satellite navigation service for its
smartphones. The company said that its new Ovi Maps, which offers car and
pedestrian navigation — including turn-by-turn voice guidance — for 74
countries in 46 languages, "has the potential to nearly double the size of
the current mobile navigation market."


 

Related Links:
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1375569

http://snipurl.com/u5ejw
(Reuters)

YouTube Tests Music Discovery and Playlist Creation Tool

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Bruno,
Calif. – Google’s (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has
begun testing a new music discovery and playlist creation tool, NewTeeVee
reports. A user enters an artist or song title, and the tool returns a list of
music videos that are related to the user’s selection in the form of a playlist
— which users may then delete and add to as desired. NewTeeVee reports that,
at least at launch, the YouTube Music Discovery Project and Playlist Creation
Tool is likely to disappoint users of services like Pandora or Last.fm as
lacking in diversity of content.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5eg2
(NewTeeVee)

http://www.youtube.com/disco

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