Category: Software

The Premier League also called on other publishers – especially from the music industry – to join it in the action against the video-sharing online phenomenon, which could have great effect in laying down legal parameters for the worldwide web.

The response has been strong. Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co an independent music publishers — responsible for catalogues of artists such as Elvis Presley, Quincy Jones, The Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, and more than 65,000 other copyrights — along with the national French tennis organisation (Federation Française de Tennis) and French soccer league (Ligue de Football Professionel) have joined the suit and strongly support the copyright infringement class action claims against YouTube and parent Google.

Since the filing of the suit, plaintiffs and their counsel have been contacted by a large number of copyright holders, including through the toll-free number and litigation website (www.youtubeclassaction.com) established to facilitate communications with prospective Class members.

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson says, “We are pleased to see other copyright holders joining us in what we are trying to achieve. They clearly recognise the need to take action against YouTube and Google to protect the value of their rights.

“The Internet is increasingly important as a medium for distribution of entertainment, sports, and other content, but nothing gives YouTube the right to build its business based on the hard work of others without their permission and without payment. We anticipate these latest parties are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, and more will follow.

“It is our intention to demonstrate the technology currently being used to take and exploit copyrighted works can be just as effectively used to police and prevent unauthorized posting of creative works. This will allow content owners and creators to choose how their works will be distributed electronically without first being subjected to wide scale infringement on the YouTube site.”

The case has been filed in New York. For quite a while now copyright holders have been saying that Youtube is profiting at their expense.

The Premier League is concerned that it could undermine the carefully created rights model that brings in billions for its clubs – ?2.7 billion from its most recent deals.

The suit argues that Google which bought Youtube last year for $1.65 billion should use its technology to monitor clips before they are posted to the site to remove those that breach its copyright, rather than waiting for them to be flagged up by rights owners.

Hundreds of thousands of bootlegged football clips, from Diego Maradona’s amazing 1986 run against England to almost every Premier League goal scored last season, are available through the site.

Google, media reports state, has argued that the case, if successful, could set a dangerous precedent for the way the internet is policed and has called it an attack on “artistic expression”. It has also said in the past that it removes copyrighted works when it receives complaints and isn‘t liable for the actions of users. In March Viacom had filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Youtube and Google citing copyright infringement.

Controller of Certifying Authorities Dr N Vijayaditya told indiantelevision.com that the complaint by the Shiv Sena and the Mumbai police only related to some content, and not the site operated by the internet company Google.

He said the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team was studying the complaint sent to it by the Thane police recommending restrictions across India on Orkut, designed in January 2004 by Turkish software engineer Orkut Buyukkokten.

The team functions under the CCA which was formed in 2003 under the Information Technology Act to regulate online content and has the power to block websites deemed offensive.

Controller for Certification Dr N Vijayaditya told HT: “We have to study the police report before we come to a conclusion.”

Sections 24 to 31 of the Information Technology Act 2000 give powers to the CCA to examine whether any website has violated the Act or rules drawn thereunder, and can suspend the licence to operate the site in India.

According to media reports, Thane Deputy Commissioner of Police Anup Kumar Singh has asked cyber cafes in the region to request customers to refrain from using the website while it waits from the report from the centre.

Another media report said Shiv Sena was working to create its own network to monitor sites that use abusive language about any religion.

CitiBusiness clients will now be able to digitize checks from remote locations, such as their business offices, and transmit them electronically to the bank in real time. Business clients will be offered a comprehensive, remote deposit service including state-of-the-art image processing technology and top-quality scanning equipment with full replacement warranty. The processing technology is being provided by Banklink, a unit of Fiserv, Inc which is a payment processors, with over 20 years‘ experience in processing and imaging technologies, says an official release.

“Our clients will now be able to save time and money by using this remarkable new service,” said Jorge Bermudez, Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup‘s Commercial Business Group. “By reducing or eliminating the need to physically transport checks for deposit, clients will be able to conduct more of their banking business at times which are most convenient for them,” Mr. Bermudez added.

Citibank‘s remote check deposit provides clients with benefits like virtual elimination of geographic limitations, convenience of making deposits electronically directly from a safe and secure business location, an efficient use of working capital and an extended time frame for same day deposits.

The new service has also incorporated numerous safety and security features to protect both the bank and its customers from the risk of mishandling a deposit.

The sector regulator also pointed out to the MSOs that quality of service (QoS) would boil down to the last mile operator.

Amidst top officials at the information and broadcasting meeting today saying that Cas has been slow on the offtake, and payment as per subscriber management system (SMS) is a major issue between MSOs and broadcasters, Trai took from the MSO evidence of the payments they claimed to have made so far to the broadcasters.

Sources attending the meeting said that it was a very detailed exercise and that for the next month or so, the sole focus of Trai, and hence of the MSOs, would be full implementation of QoS.

The meeting, broken up for a while when a fire broke out, lasted for more than three hours, during which first all the MSOs along with Trai officials had an open-house discussion, and later each MSO was asked to make their individual presentations on QoS.

The MSOs had been asked to come with several sets of data, including the number of boxes seeded, the number of CRF forms filled, the payments made so far and whether they were made as per the CRFs, and evidence of the payments made.

While all the MSOs could not be contacted after the closed door meeting, two major MSOs said that they have already switched off those subscribers who had failed to fill up the CRF forms.

Trai has also said today that invoices should be strictly raised as per SMS with details of channels watched by each subscriber and payments made accordingly.

One MSO said that they have cleared their dues from their SMS data till April.

Trai had held a meeting on this issue last in May, and MSO sources said that most of them have made their payments till April.

The MSOs do not want an issue on this score with the broadcasters any more, because it is in their interest to ensure Cas succeeds, a senior MSO source told indiantelevision.com.

Trai also had asked MSOs for detailed statement on payments received and made so far. This was made available to Trai individually, sources said.

MUMBAI: Gaming portal Zapak.com has launched the game Zuma through its partnership with ‘casual’ games publisher PopCap Games.

Zapak has launched this game in the free to play and downloadable category. The online free to play version in its first week itself has given Zapak an average of 1,40,000 page views a day and 10000 users have downloaded the free trial version every day.

While the downloadable version of Zuma on international portals is sold for $ 20, Zapak has brought in this game at a price of Rs 149. Zapak.com is the only website in India to offer this game.

Zuma, which was launched by PopCap in 2003, has been a best seller in the casual games category for a long time. There have been over 25 million downloads of this game worldwide, and the game has won several awards from IGN.com, Real Arcade and Adrenaline Vault.

Zapak will make available 16 games from PopCap to its users in India including Bejeweled, Big Money, AstroPop and Bookworm. All these games will be available in free to play web versions along with downloadable deluxe versions. Deluxe versions of all games will be available with a 60 minute free trial.

Zapak Digital Entertainment COO Rohit Sharma says, “Zuma has been an enormous blockbuster in the Casual Gaming segment, it is one of the most engaging games. Zuma appeals to the broadest possible audience – it is as addictive for a five year old as for a 70 year old. Zuma is now available on Zapak and we are proud to have broken the price barrier for the Indian Audience by introducing some of the best international content at 1/10th the International pricing.”

PopCap VP Asia Pacific James Gwertzman adds, “India is a growing market that everyone is taking note of. We are happy to make our entry into India with Zapak.com. Our games have been top grossers globally and we are sure the Indian audience will embrace them. Zuma is one of most popular games in the Casual Games category globally. The pricing at which Zapak is introducing it in the Indian market is sure to lure a lot of gamers.”

It uses Airtel‘s mobile network to cover all roads across Bangalore and provide real-time updates on traffic to users. Airtel has joined hands with the Karnataka government to jointly develop an urban traffic information system to be made available on mobile phones and through the internet.

Mapunity‘s predictive and analytical algorithms would then develop live traffic information using the various inputs, and these would be made available through Airtel‘s phone network. Airtel has provided the capital expenditure for setting up the micro towers and the data for ‘Travel time estimation‘, based on which Mapunity has designed a predictive algorithm to anchor and co-ordinate technology and output the information.

The Bangalore Transport Information System (BTIS) is governed by what Airtel claims to be the state-of-the-art technology that is based on recording traffic densities in real-time. It will use Airtel‘s mobile network to keep the public informed and updated in order to facilitate and steer towards optimal road choices. BTIS will bring together a wide range of information located on the urban map of Bangalore city and make it accessible to Airtel mobile users in order to facilitate their easy and convenient travel.

How BTIS works:

1) The number of transaction counts from a cell tower is correlated to the number of people within the tower‘s range of detection.

2) The number of people in a given location is correlated with congestion in that location.

3) Therefore, using transaction data, it is possible to establish an indicator for congestion at key locations of interest.

Cell phones / SIM cards on vehicles moving along known routes (e.g. public buses) can be mapped in real time to determine congestion at different points as well as travel times between locations. By this, bus routes and arrival times can also be accessed on the phone.

BTIS services in the pipeline for which Airtel is awaiting the state government‘s nod are:

1. Developing an Integrated Parking Information System to indicate locations and availability of parking spaces.

2. Developing a Route and Passenger Information System for BMTC based on real-time bus locations and traffic speeds.

MUMBAI: The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) has presented Ericsson Group‘s Tandberg television with an InfoVision Award during a ceremony at the Broadband World Forum Asia 2007 in Beijing.

Tandberg television‘s iPlex ultra compression HD and SD IPTV head-end solution chosen by a group of judges, won in the ‘Access Networks Technologies and Services‘ category.

The iPlex combines the broadest choice of density and enhanced features with a good picture quality performance through bandwidth improvements of up to 50 per cent over previously deployed MPEG-4 AVC units. Tandberg television EVP and GM Asia Pacific Graham Cradock said, “It is a great honor that the IEC, an internationally recognized institution, has chosen to highlight our new iPlex ultra compression solution. This award is yet another indication of Tandberg television‘s market leading position in IPTV across the globe. It reflects the quality of our best-in-class solutions in addition to the hard work of our development team.”

The InfoVision awards are designed to recognize the top broadband innovations in Asia, with companies rewarded according to the following criteria: value of the service in solving technology problems; overall quality of innovation and contribution toward industry growth technology advancement; originality and vision; market success and contribution to the quality of the viewing experience for the end user. IEC VP conference development Tom Costello commented, “We are pleased to recognize Tandberg television as an InfoVision Finalist and we appreciate it as a significant contribution to the industry.”

MUMBAI: Travel portal Arzoo.com has revamped their entire website to mark the completion of their first year of soft launch. With a more vibrant and user-friendly look, the refreshed website focuses more on holiday packages and airline bookings.

Airline fares are now available in grid based fare display that offer customers easy fare comparison. The US to India operations has also been introduced which would facilitate NRI‘s including those based in US and Canada to book air tickets, hotels and holidays to and within India at economical prices.Online car hire, visa information and payment through ITZ cash card are other new services that have been introduced.
Arzoo.com COO Yogesh Patel said, “Our customers can now book tickets and plan their entire holiday trip to India by sitting in US itself. They can enjoy seven nights and eight days trip to India only for US $560 per person.”

India operations head Amal Purandare said, “To mark the successful completion of one year, we thought we should expand our basket of products and hence we have launched many new holiday categories like Mind, Body and Soul; Roads Less Traveled and Monsoon Masti.”

Infront claims this will make it the first sports marketing group to develop and build a parallel universe of sport.

The online gaming platform is designed to allow millions of players around the world to simultaneously exist in an online universe, where their alter egos socially interact, train, compete, attend events and acquire the goods and services they need to build a parallel sporting existence.

Gaming, the firm notes is one of the fastest growing of all entertainment sectors, outstripping feature films in terms of revenue generation. The gaming sector shows particular strong growth with on-line gaming – where players interact with others via the Internet – in particular in Europe and in Asia.

To capitalise on this trend, Infront has formed a joint-venture with F4, a video game development company based in Paris, known for its expertise for online worlds and state-of-the-art graphics. Between them, they have created a gaming platform, where players can train and compete, form teams and leagues, even take coaching lessons.

Within this environment, players are also able to interact with brands and their products and services to enrich their virtual life.

Infront president and CEO Philippe Blatter says, “This is part of a new strategic direction for our company. The special skills that Infront applies in the real world, deploying sports marketing as a medium for reaching consumers, are totally applicable to this virtual world – it’s the perfect preparation and a logical step. While the world we have created may be virtual, the user experience and the opportunities for brands will be very real.”

Dr. Christian Müller, who is the managing director of the project said, “This is the first-ever virtual online multi-sports world with role-playing elements. There are single sport online games but no one has seamlessly integrated multiple games around the entire sports lifestyle. The user becomes a 3D avatar, capable of developing his or her virtual body, skills and capabilities through sport and training all-the-while socialising within the Empire of Sports community. In Empire of Sports everyone can become a real sports star.”

The multiple player sports games available at launch of Empire of Sports will be basketball, skiing, tennis and a series of fitness / exercise games. Other major games will be announced as the platform develops. The target user base is in the millions after one year, but the platform is highly scalable and can host tens of millions of users.

“The primary value proposition for brands is the integration of their services or products in the world as virtual items used by the characters ‘like in real life’ – other possibilities include sponsoring of virtual events and advertisements. It is of utmost importance to us that the integrated products and services enhance the gaming experience for the consumer, and through that they become the most powerful marketing tools available today,” adds Blatter.

A new 24/7 communication channel Empire of Sports aims to not only a revolutionary new communication and business development opportunity for commercial partners, but offers also great value to sports rights holders world wide. The platform represents an opportunity for federations, clubs and athletes to strengthen the relationship to their primary target groups, even in markets they do not have immediate access to.

MUMBAI: aMap and Medialogic have announced their entry into Pakistan through a strategic tie up to set up an overnight television audience ratings panel there.

As per the partnership, aMap will be a consultant to MediaLogic for setting up the Pakistan panel. MediaLogic will also have access to aMap‘s experience, models, applications, and proprietary tools that are crucial for establishing and running an overnight ratings panel.

An official announce states that the electronic measurement of TV audiences is being introduced in Pakistan for the first time.

Medialogic has been awarded the Television Audience Measurement contract by Pakistan Advertising Society (PAS). MediaLogic, with the help of aMap and Telecontrol, competed for this contract against TNS AFTAB, and Kantar IMRB.

While aMap is an overnight TV rating system that provides multi-dimensional TV viewership data in Asia, Medialogic is a media research firm set up by private investors in Pakistan to introduce modern media measurement and analysis tools in Pakistan.