September 5, 2005
Volume 10, Issue 5
TrustyFiles 3.0 Launches
DCIA Member RazorPop last week announced general availability of TrustyFiles 3.0. The new software uniquely connects to and simultaneously searches and downloads from all major P2P networks and the web. Its 'Ultimate P2P' enables the redistribution of files across BitTorrent, eDonkey/Overnet, Gnutella/Gnutella 2, and Kazaa/FastTrack.
"P2P is very different from the Internet," said RazorPop CEO Marc Freedman. "Once you connect to the Internet, you can access any web user or server. In contrast, the P2P universe is composed of several different and non-connecting P2P networks."
"We designed TrustyFiles 3.0 so that people no longer have to be limited to one network. Users can search and download from the top six P2P networks that account for over 99% of files being shared. With TrustyFiles, file sharers now get significantly more results, variety, and faster downloads."
RazorPop's 'Branded P2P' program enables major artists, entertainment companies and distributors, consumer marketers and advertisers, and tech companies to leverage the 80 million strong P2P market. Companies can brand the software and customize the client and networks, whether open or closed, private or public, and with whatever filtering or other third-party software is required.
PlayFirst Partners with WildTangent
DCIA Member PlayFirst, a leading full-service publisher of popular games, announced a global licensing and distribution deal with WildTangent, a publisher of online games. Under terms of the agreement, WildTangent will feature PlayFirst's portfolio of downloadable games – including the award-winning Oasis from developer Mind Control Software and the hit game, Diner Dash, from gameLab – on its popular game portal WildGames.
"The PC OEM arrangement with WildTangent will help PlayFirst reach its target audience – the mass market – in a whole new way," said Rich Roberts, VP of Sales and Business Development, PlayFirst. "By bringing great games to the desktops of new PCs, we educate these consumers about the downloadable model plus the level of quality and fun they should come to expect from publishers."
This partnership marks the collaboration of two key players in the casual games industry which has grown to more than $200 million in just four years. According to the industry analyst firm IDC, casual games are expected to break the $1 billion mark by 2008.
Nettwerk Signs with iLoop Mobile
iLoop Mobile, a mobile application service provider, announced that DCIA Member Nettwerk, a leading record label, artist management company, and music publisher, has selected iLoop Mobile to create Nettwerk's mobile storefront to distribute ringtones, screensavers, and additional mobile content in the US, with rollout to Canada, Europe, and other regions within the year.
Nettwerk's roster of artists includes Avril Lavigne, Sara McLaughlin, Barenaked Ladies, Sum 41, BT, Dido, Delerium, The Be Good Tanya's, Jars of Clay, Skinny Puppy, Tiesto, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
"Nettwerk sees the mobile handset as the future for personal music distribution and fan enjoyment," said Brent Muhle, General Manager of Nettwerk. "iLoop Mobile will help us offer our unique musical and visual content without limits. The mobile channel offers Nettwerk a powerful one-to-one communication and sales channel that will be available anytime, anywhere."
Established in 1984, the Nettwerk Music Group is comprised of Canada's largest independent record label, Nettwerk Productions, and internationally acclaimed Nettwerk Management.
SnapStream Selects Digital River
DCIA Member Digital River, a leading provider of e-commerce outsourcing, announced that it is providing support for SnapStream Media, which markets digital home entertainment products.
To help SnapStream extend its international online marketing and sales efforts, Digital River is providing localized e-commerce solutions for SnapStream's new German, French, and English sites. On the new sites, which feature SnapStream's popular 'Beyond TV' digital video recording software, consumers can shop in their native language and make purchases in their national currency.
Digital River is hosting the online stores as well as providing order management, fraud prevention, reporting, digital product fulfillment, e-marketing, and localized customer service.
Rakesh Agrawal, SnapStream's President & CEO, said, "Digital River offered us an end-to-end solution that addressed our growing technology and market requirements, as well as catered to the needs of our international customer base."
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, has inspired traditional and digital media to respond with fund-raisers.
As a trade group representing the newest online distribution channel, we felt we should also take responsibility to help victims.
The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) is offering P2P users a way to help victims of the hurricane by buying and sharing music with others.
The program kicked-off over Labor Day Weekend with the new original song, "THIS TOO WILL PASS" written and performed by Scooter Scudieri, distributed via major open P2P software programs – such as BearShare, eDonkey, Kazaa, and TrustyFiles – by INTENT MediaWorks.
P2P users can preview the song for free, then download and purchase it for eighty-nine cents ($0.89). Of proceeds from each sale, eighty cents ($0.80) will go to the American National Red Cross to help support victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The music track is secured using the Weed technology of Shared Media Licensing.
Scooter Scudieri is the 'most-searched-for' independent artist on P2P, logging over 50 million searches to date. His current music video, "MOTHER OF GOD," has been downloaded more than 200,000 times.
American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina's destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands of victims left homeless with critical necessities. Proceeds from the P2P fund-raiser will be contributed to the Red Cross' Hurricane 2005 Relief fund to help provide shelter, food, counseling, and other assistance to those in need.
"Music has healing power. I wrote 'THIS TOO WILL PASS' early in the summer of 2005 coming out of a personal tragedy. When I saw the devastation in New Orleans, I knew something positive could result from releasing the song's energy," noted Scooter Scudieri on his decision to record this new track to help hurricane victims.
INTENT CEO Les Ottolenghi added, "In the coming days and weeks, other DCIA Members and industry participants will join us in contributing additional content to this program, and we expect a strong response from P2P users who want to do their parts."
Indeed, City Canyons Records and iMesh are now providing links to the Red Cross contribution site from their online properties.
Blacksmith, an inspirational grassroots music force, has now also joined the program, providing its music video "WHAT ABOUT YOU" whose theme addresses the homelessness of displaced hurricane survivors, also priced at eighty-nine cents ($0.89) with eighty cents ($0.80) from each sale going to the Red Cross' Hurricane 2005 Relief fund.
And UK artist Tarnia, who visited New Orleans four years ago, has just contributed her original song "THE US OF A" likewise to be priced at eighty-nine cents ($0.89) with eighty cents ($0.80) from each sale going to the Red Cross.
"P2P is an emerging commercial force and we're very pleased to see it put to use to help those in urgent need," Shared Media Licensing President John Beezer concluded.
MSFT Approves Centale's MOD
DCIA Member Centale, an online marketing and technology solutions provider, announced that its newly launched Music on Demand program has been approved and listed by Microsoft as an official plug-in 'power toy/utility' for the Windows Media Player.
Centale's Music on Demand is a search-and-play radio system that allows consumers to use their Windows Media Player as an instantaneous connection to search the Internet for millions of audio and video files and listen to or view them instantly without actually downloading the files.
The high-tech look and performance of Centale's Music on Demand player is sure to appeal to the millions of people listening to and purchasing music via the Internet. Centale's Music on Demand player also allows for Internet advertising creating an additional revenue stream.
Patrick Parker, Chairman & CEO of Centale said, "We believe our acceptance by Microsoft as an official plug-in validates our technology and provides a substantial distribution channel for our Music on Demand, and will bring listening pleasure to millions of people worldwide."
Intel Working with Skype
Excerpted from Australian IT Report
Intel says it is working with DCIA Member Skype to help improve the most widely used Internet phone call service's software.
Intel engineers are helping to modify Skype's program to make it work better on new microprocessors that carry out multiple tasks simultaneously, said Intel VP Patrick Gelsinger.
"Why is Skype interesting? It is the market share leader," Gelsinger said at Intel's Developer Forum conference in San Francisco last week.
Intel wants popular programs such as Skype to work better with its new chips, to persuade PC owners they need to buy the latest machines.
Luxembourg-based Skype accounts for 46 per cent of all voice minutes carried over internet phone services, Gelsinger said.
Future computers will have better built-in microphones, higher quality audio chips and other features that will create what he calls 'business-quality' audio, he said.
Skype users, who download the program free over the internet, can speak to each other using microphones and speakers attached to computers.
Indie911 Launches Caffeinated
DCIA Member Indie911, the Internet's premiere music community for independents, announced the launch of its music distribution platform known as "Caffeinated." Targeting independent coffee shops and stores throughout the US, the platform takes aim at Starbucks and its Hear Music program, which places a select number of compact disc releases in its locations nationwide.
Indie911's Caffeinated Music Distribution tailors music to retail locations that are regionally relevant, offering independent artists a unique outlet for their music. "Independents supporting independents...I love it!" exclaims coffee shop owner Jane Maine of Java Jane's in Billerica, MA.
The music chosen for Indie911's Caffeinated kiosks are hand-selected from Indie911's global network of artists who have proven to be on the verge of breaking through to the mainstream. Indie911's first Caffeinated artist, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, boasts strong independent records sales and a rigorous touring schedule that includes dates with major stars like The Dave Matthews Band, Taj Mahal, John Butler Trio and
Telcordia Approved for Nortel
DCIA Member Telcordia, a global provider of telecommunications software and services, announced that its real-time charging solution has achieved interoperability approval from Nortel Networks. Compatibility approval was achieved using GSM infrastructure equipment located in Nortel Networks' Wireless Interoperability Lab in Richardson, TX.
This approval is significant, because the Telcordia solution enables communications service providers around the world to introduce new pre- and post-paid wireless voice services - and charge for these services in any of the numerous permutations today's mobile customers demand. With the advanced rating capabilities of the Telcordia solution, carriers running Nortel-based networks will be able to effectively and efficiently apply specific rating plans in complex combinations and offer special bonuses to key customers in real-time.
Scott Erickson, President of IMS Service Delivery Solutions, Telcordia, said, "Our real-time charging solution provides carriers the capabilities they need to correctly track and charge for next-generation services. In this way, we are not only supporting their bottom-line success, but also helping them maximize customer satisfaction - two of the most important, and often elusive, imperatives in today's competitive telco market."
With proven interoperability on a GSM network, Telcordia is well-positioned to serve Nortel customers around the world, including those moving toward an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based network. The Telcordia real-time charging solution incorporates the emerging IMS standard.
SVC Financial at ICE
DCIA Member SVC Financial Services (OTC: SVCX), a leading innovator of media and mobile transaction solutions, announced the extension of Scoot Mobile Money to additional selected mobile devices. Scoot Mobile Money allows anyone with a cell phone to store, send, receive and transact funds anywhere in the world. Scoot mobile money is a low-cost, global approach to supporting the large and growing markets for funds transfer, un-banked money management, and secure payment remittances and reimbursements.
"Scoot is an innovative, major product for the rapidly growing, global funds transfer markets," said Chris Haigh, President & CEO of SVC. "At Intele-CardExpo (ICE) in Vegas, we'll be demonstrating Scoot Mobile Money along with our distribution partner, MeritCard Financial. We're proud to be taking a leadership role in this exciting new product arena and look forward to extending our distribution to every major global market."
SVC will also be giving a presentation entitled "Mobile Commerce: Using the Cell Phone as a Payment Device during ICE." For those attending ICE in Las Vegas, NV, September 13th-15th at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, please visit SVC Financial at Booth #431.
Sponsoring P2P without Feeling Guilty
Excerpted from 92.5M Report
It's frustrating that the movie and music industries haven't embraced free file sharing as a revenue stream. According to the BBC, as those industries chase file sharers off one P2P network, they simply migrate to another one. To distribute a song or a movie by P2P is as free for the publisher as it is for the downloader. It's viral – as popularity increases, distribution increases exponentially.
Generating revenue through P2P distribution of media comes in two parts: sponsorship integrated into the media file itself (or using it to promote non-P2P content), and tracking the number of times a file is distributed.
Video file producers can make use of product placement, and other visual queues to promote a product or service. The only thing keeping video from generating revenue via P2P distribution is that studios don't measure the amount of exposure they get from file sharing, or charge sponsors for it.
Another thing that can be done is to tack TV or radio-style commercials at the beginning, end, or middle of media files. Something else to consider would be the use of a CNN-style ticker on the bottom of the video, with sponsored text scrolling across it, corresponding to the action on-screen.
Producers of music files will have a problem with the radio-style ad since each music file is only 3-4 minutes long (unless ads are 1-5 sec long and unabrasive). Music files could be distributed as part of something larger, like a single file containing an entire album (12-20 songs), with place markers at the beginning of each song so a person could flip from song to song as if they were separate.
And besides the media file itself, there's also the metadata. There's the file name, which people will probably see even if they don't download the file. And there are the MP3 ID3 tags, which contain information like author, genre, title, album, and track number; and some media files can also store small graphics used as album covers.
Any of these can be made to say "Coca-Cola presents," or "Brought to you by GM." Plus, if quality files are constantly tagged with "Coca-Cola presents," people will come to associate this with quality downloadable media and search for files by those specific keywords.
There's also the option to use P2P as a way to generate interest in non-P2P content. For example, a clever full length commercial that people just have to see to believe could drive them to a particular product or service; a dramatic serial that ends in a cliff-hanger, could drive traffic to a secret website to see the end; or a P2P distributed file could draw viewers into an elaborate 'alternate reality' promotional scheme like Microsoft's iLoveBees campaign for the game Halo 2.
Everything here is theory, of course, but all it takes is for one company to take the leap and prove that money can be made distributing files by P2P. The rest will follow.
Internet TV – Content Will Be Driver
Excerpted from Daily Variety Report by Paul Chai
TV delivered over the Internet – Internet protocol television (IPTV) – has become a hot topic in the Oz market as telcos, terrestrial webs, and feevees all jockey for position.
Earlier this year, Telstra announced a $160 million (US) upgrade of its DSL broadband service to allow customers to download movies – in competition with Foxtel's digital feevee platform in which, ironically, Telstra has a 50% shareholding.
Foxtel views Internet TV as an opportunity rather than a threat. "Foxtel is a content company and if IPTV emerges as a commercially viable medium for delivering continuous broadcast quality television, Foxtel will be in that space," a spokesperson says.
Locally, Telstra has rejected Microsoft's IPTV software, which has found some success stateside but has been shunned in Europe. Telstra has not ruled out working with Microsoft in the future.
One telco bullish on Internet TV is Primus Telecom, which is rolling out a broadband network covering roughly 40% of the Oz population.
"Broadband providers have a network that is already paid for via voice and broadband customers," Primus' Campbell Sallabank says. "So it lends itself to an additional product like IPTV or video-on-demand."
This triple-play, where one provider services phone, Internet and video content, effectively shuts out competitors.
One of the main hurdles for will be content: convincing studios and production companies to work with them on the new delivery method. The industry is slow on the uptake when it comes to new platforms, and issues such as piracy and security are bound to loom.
New BBC Programming Online
Excerpted from Media Life Report
The BBC is embracing on-demand webcasting. BBC director general Mark Thompson said that the company's new MyBBCPlayer will let viewers download a week's worth of programs and listen to the radio. Yet to be decided is if a fee would be charged for the player and how BBC will protect digital rights to the programming.
Thompson said radio listeners can also click a link to purchase songs via the internet and said the BBC is considering alliances to sell music downloads. The MyBBCPlayer is part of a greater plan to expand to new forms of media. The service is expected to launch next year, with a trial coming this month.
P2P Developer Raises $4 Million
Rawflow, a London-based developer of P2P streaming media technology, announced that it has received a $4 million investment from Benchmark Capital. Founded in 2000, Rawflow developed Intelligent Content Distribution (ICD) technology that distributes a live broadcast to users' computers connected through a P2P network; the system is being used by customers including the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. The company will use the funds for marketing and sales efforts for its ICD technology.
Coming Events of Interest
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CPTWG Meeting – The next Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG) meeting will be held September 8th at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. If you are interested in offering a presentation, please respond as soon as possible. Presentation guidelines can be found on the CPTWG website. If you wish to book a meeting room at CPTWG, please contact Brenda Coykendall at 310-649-7023 or via e-mail at brenda.coykendall@fourpointslax.com.
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IBC in Amsterdam – DCIA Member RightsLine's Rights Intelligence System will be showcased at IBC in Amsterdam September 8th-13th. RightsLine was invited by Microsoft to participate in its Digital Studio where attendees can see a demonstration of RightsLine's solution working with Microsoft's Connected Services Framework. Please call Steve Stebbins at 714-397-0561 or e-mail sstebbins@rightsline.com.
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Future of Music – September 11th-13th in Washington, DC. Since 2001, the FMC Policy Summit has played host to over 500 stellar panelists and speakers including musicians, business leaders, scholars, policymakers, legal experts, and advocates. The DCIA will participate in the panel entitled "The Ethics of Innovation." FMC's events have gained the reputation as a kind of Geneva where all sides in any number of contentious music industry fights can get together and play nice for a few days.
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Kagan Digital Media Summit – The theme of this year's conference to be held September 12th-13th at the Four Seasons / Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV will be "New Opportunities for Monetizing Content." DCIA Member INTENT MediaWorks' CEO Les Ottolenghi will participate in the panel entitled "MIXING MEDIA'S POTION: Content Security Plus E-Commerce Fulfillment and On-Demand Delivery." DCIA Members receive a 50% discount on registration. Please contact DCIA Member Services leader Karen Kaplowitz for more information at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info.
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Digital Hollywood Fall – "Transforming the Entertainment Industry." September 19th-21st at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. The preeminent digital media and entertainment conference in the country. This year featuring a series of special University Project workshops. The DCIA will moderate "Track I: Next Generation P2P Music and Film - DRM, Paid for Pass-Along and Other Legal Distributed Computing Models and the Entertainment Industries." The DCIA Fall Meeting will be held Thursday morning September 22nd from 9:00 AM to noon at AGSK in Santa Monica. Please contact DCIA Member Services leader Karen Kaplowitz for more information at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info.
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Technology Law Institute – A Digital Media Rights panel will be featured September 20th at the Headquarters of the State Bar of Georgia, in downtown Atlanta, GA. Kilpatrick & Stockton's James Trigg will moderate with speakers Renay San Miguel from CNN, Kevin Lapidus from YellowBrix, and Marty Lafferty from the DCIA.
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OMMA East – In NYC on September 27th-28th, you can be a part of the most thought-provoking, timely and insightful marketing events of the year. Topics include ad networks, desktop and adware programs, local search, publishing consumer generated content, word-of-mouth online, RSS, podcasting, blogging, and integrated search planning. Click here to save 30% off of on-site registration.
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IP3 Awards – Join Public Knowledge in celebrating its 4th Anniversary and 2nd Annual IP3 (Intellectual Property, Information Policy & Internet Protocol) Awards September 29th at the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, DC. Tickets are $100 per person for individuals/private corporations and $50 per person for academics/non-profits.
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Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO – DCIA Member Skype CEO and founder Niklas Zennström will deliver the keynote address at this major conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center, CA October 24th–27th. His address, which will be delivered live from London via Internet Telephony Videoconference, will take place Tuesday, October 25th at 12:15 PM PT. Click here to register for the show.
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