Sports

THE RECORDING INDUSTRY lost a major ruling in Atlantic v. Brennan when a federal judge in Connecticut ruled that merely making music available to other users is not evidence of copyright infringement. The judge also found that no proof of infringement was supplied by the record companies that brought the suit. With two of three Continue Reading →

Scott Boyarsky, Director of Program Management at the Walt Disney Internet Group called me to chat about an extraordinary website called newsclipper.org. It’s extraordinary for a bunch of reasons (which I shall explain) but the most interesting part of our conversation centered around a simple, unavoidable truth: newsclipper.org does exactly what you or I might Continue Reading →

SHELLY PALMER and KEVIN MARTIN will talk about the transition to digital television on BLOOMBERG TV today at 12:10 ET. THE FCC is backing down from a plan to force TV stations to air up to 12 PSA’s per day warning viewers about the upcoming digital transition. Instead, the Commission is expected to accept a Continue Reading →

GOOGLE CEO Eric Schmidt phoned YAHOO‘s Jerry Yang on Friday to offer some sort of help in avoiding a MICROSOFT takeover. No details of the call have been released but there is speculation that it could involve Yahoo outsourcing its search business to Google. Google has posted a reaction to the takeover bid on its Continue Reading →

THE NFL will allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night’s Patriots/Giants game. This will be the first tri-network simulcast since Super Bowl I. NBC and CBS will carry the NFL Network feed of the game, featuring announcers Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “We have taken this extraordinary step because Continue Reading →

AMAZON unveiled Kindle, its new e-book reader on Monday. The device allows users to download e-books from the Amazon store wirelessly using Sprint’s EV-DO network. Over 90,000 books are available, with new releases priced at $9.99 and classics as low as $1.99. The device is already drawing some negative reviews, with several commentators questioning the Continue Reading →

BEBO unveiled “Open Media,” a new video service offering free content from Turner, CBS, BBC, MTV and others. Broadcasters will create channels on the system using their own players, which allows them to sell advertising and retain control of the user experience. Bebo will not take any advertising money from in-video spots but will offer Continue Reading →

AOL has purchased advertising network QUIGO for around $350 million. Quigo sells ads for the sites of ESPN, Forbes, Time Inc. magazines and more. It will become part of the newly formed Platform A division. Time Warner announced its 3Q earnings yesterday, and AOL revenue was down 38% to $1.2 billion. Almost half of that Continue Reading →

THE WGA began its strike at midnight after Sunday’s 10-hour marathon negotiation broke down. Writers are expected to begin picketing at 9 AM this morning outside high-profile locations, including major studios on the West Coast and Rockefeller Center in New York. The Guild issued a memo telling its writers to spend at least 20 hours Continue Reading →

THE WRITERS GUILD contract expired this morning and no new agreement has been signed. A strike could be ordered at anytime. Last night, in last-minute meetings, the companies and producers told the WGA to withdraw its demand for higher residuals from DVD sales. WGA negotiators rejected the order and halted the negotiations. The Guild has Continue Reading →