CNM Short Takes

BC considering ESRB system as base of legislation The province of British Columbia is reportedly taking a serious look at the games rating system from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). BC is searching for ways to classify violent and sexual content in video games. The ESRB has been in place since 1994, and is run in Canada by the Canadian Interactive Digital Software Association. The Vancouver Sun reports that the Attorney General is looking at the system for potential legislation.HP Garage program signs vendor dealHewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd has announced a $1.5 million investment in Victoria-based Dittybase Inc. The investment is in the form of vendor financing, with proceeds to be used buying products and services for Dittybase’s music industry ecom site. The company makes available a music catalog and manages licensing for the entertainment, advertising and corporate industries. It will use UNIX servers and new HP disc arrays to handle all the processes involved in acquiring, distributing and licensing digitized production music.Home Media completes $3 million CDNX IPOCalgary-based Home Media Corp has concluded a $3 million IPO, with trading in common shares starting last week. The proceeds will be used to expand its product line and acquire new markets. HMC builds sites for the construction, home builder and automotive markets.Online gambling firm in the black with increased top lineToronto-based dot com Entertainment Group Inc generated a positive third quarter bottom line on increased year over year revenue. In 2000, the company saw the quarterly top line grow from US$156,703 to US$529,571. As a result net income for the first nine months of 2000 rose to US$114,220 from a loss of US$99,488. The company licences gambling software, and has recently boosted the number of customers for its software.Song Corp signs Liquid Audio to distribution dealThe Song Corp, Toronto, has signed Liquid Audio Inc as a digital distributor for digital music. Song Corp’s catalog includes recordings by Maestro, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pocket Dwellers and The Special Guests. The company owns 300 masters which make up the Attic Records catalog. Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Liquid will provide Song with a variety of digital distribution services including encoding, hosting, distribution, digital rights management and clearinghouse functions. It will also deliver Song’s content in both Liquid Audio and Windows Media formats via web sites in the Liquid network. Executives at the indie record label say it will build digital distribution rights into artist contracts.Prozzak for PMCanadian pop music group Prozzak has waded into the election fray with a special section of its site devoted to the upcoming federal ballot. The band will conduct polls, follow the candidates, host a discussion forum and provide information about the importance of voting and understanding the political process. The band will also be running their animated characters’ campaign on a platform of paying kids to attend school, and "dating and party education". The section will be hosted on the group’s site, www.prozzak.com.Telesystem creates wireless entertainment firmTelesystem Ltd, Andy Nulman and Garner Bornstein have joined forces to create a new wireless entertainment company dubbed Airborne Entertainment Inc. Nulman is a former CEO of the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, and Bornstein is founder and former CEO of Generation Net. The new biz will create, aggregate, manage, format and distribute entertainment-based content and applications specifically for wireless devices. Airborne has already signed partnership agreements with several major device manufacturers, portals, ASPs and all of Canada’s carriers. It forecasts deals with U.S. and European players in the first quarter of next year. Bornstein will act as CEO with Nulman as president. The company won’t divulge the exact ownership percentages, but the venture is a three-way partnership with Telesystem as a minority owner.Teleglobe inks Inktomi dealTeleglobe Inc has chosen CA-based Inktomi to provide streaming services for its worldwide ISP base. As part of the deal, Teleglobe will deploy Inktomi’s streaming media caching software within its Internet backbone network and at customer sites. The technology was chosen, in part, for its ability to be extended to satellite-based streaming.ExtendMedia blames slowing growth for layoffsInteractive TV product developer ExtendMedia Inc has reportedly let more than 40 staff, a quarter of its workforce, go. The cuts are reportedly due to slower-than-expected growth in the developing industry. The company is 26% owned by BCE Inc, and best known for ITV series such as Drop the Beat and cooking show Dish it Out.Toronto Film Festival teams with Bell Canada on re-broadcastsThe Toronto International Film Festival has been given some additional legs with the webcasting of Preludes from the prestigious event. Bell Canada is re-broadcasting the series of 10 original short films on the Internet. The telco has been a sponsor of the festival since 1995. The shorts can be seen online until July 2001 at www.bell.ca/filmfest/preludes.Bell ExpressVu to develop more Ka-band capacityBell ExpressVu has gained access to additional capacity on a new DBS satellite to be launched by Telesat Canada. It has also received a satellite authorization to use Ka-band frequencies on the Nimiq satellite which is located in the 91 degrees west orbital position.Auction dedicated to .ca TLDsBuyers and sellers for .ca top-level domain names can now visit www.domaina.ca to bargain for the monikers. Edmonton-based Domainia.ca will bring buyers and sellers into a neutral web auction site where they can hammer out deals. The company will also hold sale proceeds in escrow until all parties are in agreement that the transaction has been successful.Virtual Museum calls for first round of applicationsThe Virtual Museum of Canada has issued its first call for proposals due January 2, 2001. Guidelines for the program are available online at http://www.chin.gc.ca/Vmc/e_update.html. The Virtual Museum is a Canadian Heritage program to be overseen by the Canadian Heritage Information Network with funding of $3.5 million per year. The program will encourage the digitization of all manner of Canadian content residing with museums across the country, available as stand-alone web properties or through a network of sites searchable through a central portal. A second round of proposals will likely be due in the early spring. While the overseeing body had the option of choosing an "umbrella" priority for funding, a short lead time means proposals of all types will be considered for acceptance. Funding will be in the form of partnerships, with winning proposals expected to use partnership dollars from the private and public sector.CAB welcomes multimedia players at Calgary conferenceMultimedia players can now become associate members of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters for an annual fee of $1,605. Interactive media companies who are streaming over the web, Internet-based companies who offer goods and services related to Canadian interactive broadcasting efforts and current CAB members can sign on for the CAB’s Interactive Media Forums, the first of which was held Tuesday. The CAB plans to host four such forums per year for its multimedia associate members. The next forum is set for Toronto in February, followed by Montreal in May and Ottawa in October.CAB to absorb SPTV by year-end, Logan to step asideThe Specialty and Premium Television Association (SPTV) will be absorbed by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters by year end. SPTV president and CEO Jane Logan will step aside and take time out for family after overseeing a joint CAB-SPTV transition task force. The merger will see the CAB’s specialty and pay services sector more than double its current representation of 27 pay and specialty services to well over 60.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | November 15, 2000

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