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Today's Topics:
1. Apple Teams Up With Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates,
KLM & United to Deliver iPod Integration (Monty Solomon)
2. Broadband: Not Always Full Speed Ahead (George Antunes)
3. Universal Music Sues MySpace for Copyright Infringement
(George Antunes)
4. Iran: Ted Koppel 2 Hour Discovery Channel Documentary Airs
Sunday (George Antunes)
5. 1 Shot in Conn. Amid PlayStation Mayhem (George Antunes)
6. Miller's AOL Innovation Speeded His Demise (George Antunes)
7. New Brain Trust Plans Microsoft's Future (George Antunes)
8. Target, Disney in DVD truce (George Antunes)
9. Delta rocket launches GPS satellite into space from Cape
Canaveral (George Antunes)
10. Leonids to peak tonight (Greg Williams)
11. Target backs off in online movies feud (Greg Williams)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:33:17 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Teams Up With Air France, Continental,
Delta, Emirates, KLM & United to Deliver iPod Integration
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Teams Up With Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM
& United to Deliver iPod Integration
- Nov 14, 2006 08:30 AM (PR Newswire)
CUPERTINO, Calif., Nov 14, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/
--
Apple(R) today
announced it is teaming up with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM
and United to deliver the first seamless integration between iPod(R) and
in-flight entertainment systems. These six airlines will begin offering their
passengers iPod seat connections which power and charge their iPods during
flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the their
seat back displays.
...
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=62402949
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:41:00 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Broadband: Not Always Full Speed Ahead
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
November 18, 2006
Not Always Full Speed Ahead
By MATT RICHTEL and KEN BELSON
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/technology/18broadband.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print
What is a megabit worth? And what the heck is a megabit anyway? These
questions are hard to avoid for consumers trying to make sense of the
fast-growing menu of options for high-speed Internet access.
More than ever, the nation?s phone and cable companies are trumpeting the
speed of their Internet connections with ads that pitch ?blazing broadband?
at ?up to 100 times faster than dial-up.? But as with so many consumer
services, the devil is in the fine print.
In more densely populated areas, many Americans now have not only a choice
of broadband providers but also a range of different speeds to pick from.
As the options proliferate, consumer advocates say it is getting tougher
for people to tell what service is best for them ? and which packages
promise more than they deliver.
Confusing matters, broadband lines are increasingly being bundled with
television and phone services, making it difficult to determine how much
the high-speed connection actually costs.
The offers, consumer advocates say, are not always straightforward. With
few exceptions, they include language that says consumers will get ?up to?
a certain speed, typically expressed in megabits per second. (An MP3 song
file that takes 12 minutes to download over a dial-up line would take 27
seconds on a 1.5-megabits-per-second broadband line, and 8 seconds on a
5-megabit connection.)
In many cases, consumer advocates and industry analysts said, customers do
not get the maximum promised speed, or anywhere near it, from their cable
and digital subscriber line connections. Instead, the phrase ?up to? refers
to speeds attainable under ideal conditions, like when a D.S.L. user is
near the phone company?s central switching office.
?They don?t deliver what?s advertised, and it?s inherently deceptive,? said
Dave Burstein, editor of DSL Prime, a newsletter that tracks the broadband
industry. ? ?Up to? is a weasel term that should be taken out of the
companies? vocabulary.?
The companies argue that their marketing is not misleading because the
speeds they promise can actually be reached.
Steve Howe, vice president for voice products at EarthLink, said his
company?s use of the term ?up to? was accurate even though the speeds
actually provided depended on other factors. The maximum is ?a number that
you very much can get to,? Mr. Howe said.
Eric Rabe, a spokesman for Verizon, acknowledged that the maximum speed
promised was what was available ?under optimal conditions.? He argued that
advertising those numbers was not disingenuous because the optimal speed at
least provided a benchmark for comparison. Verizon cannot control, among
other things, how quickly Web sites can deliver information that is
requested by users.
?Once you get on the public Internet, all bets are off,? he said.
While Mr. Rabe defended his company?s advertising policies, he said he
could not do the same for competitors, particularly in the cable industry.
?We deliver the full speed or close to it more often than our competitors,?
he said. But Mr. Rabe said he did not have statistics that would back up
that contention.
Determining the speeds consumers are actually getting is tough to measure.
Cable speeds can vary if many people in one neighborhood are online at the
same time, like after dinner. Access over phone lines can be slower if the
customer is far from the switching office, where the Internet signal
originates.
Consumers may end up with slower browsing speeds if they use computers with
older processors or visit crowded Web sites, things that are beyond the
control of the cable or phone company.
In a survey last summer in which 12,000 readers of PC Magazine downloaded
software to test their connections, the magazine found that the average
speed provided by major broadband companies during surfing of popular Web
sites was typically less than half of the advertised speed.
DSL Reports, a news and discussion Web site for broadband customers, keeps
track of the results of speed tests that its users perform on their
connections. In one recent week, the average speeds of major providers
included 5.97 megabits a second for Comcast and 2.84 megabits for
BellSouth. But those numbers can include results from customers who are
paying for different speeds of service.
Given all the variables, ?it?s getting more tricky to know what speed
you?re really getting,? said Justin Beech, the founder and operator of DSL
Reports. But Mr. Beech said he felt providers were getting more reliable
with their speeds, in part because all the speed-test sites were enabling
people to verify if they were getting what was advertised.
?In general, an I.S.P. that advertises a speed and doesn?t provide it will
get crucified online until they fix it,? he said, referring to an Internet
service provider. ?The vocal minority will check the line ? sometimes daily.?
Upload speeds, the rate at which information is sent from the subscriber?s
computer, are often far slower than download speeds. This is typically only
a concern for customers who often need to upload photos and other large
files, or those doing tasks where split seconds count, like online gamers
and day traders.
Complicating the debate, analysts and consumer advocates say consumers
often do not need the high speeds that companies are pitching to them. The
companies, they say, are spreading the false premise that more speed always
leads to a better online experience, when in fact most online tasks like
surfing the Web or sending e-mail messages can be done with more modest
connections.
That is what Greg and Robin Bernstein discovered when they wanted to get
rid of their dial-up connection this past spring. They chose
1.5-megabit-per-second D.S.L. service from Qwest, the phone carrier in
their Minneapolis neighborhood, mostly because they already had a local
line from the company.
?The priority was to get faster service,? Mrs. Bernstein said. At the same
time, she said, ?I wasn?t interested in a bill that would creep up. It
doesn?t really matter to me as long as it works.?
Even so, telecommunications providers say many consumers respond to ads for
faster connections.
Verizon, for instance, is building a state-of-the-art fiber optic network
that lets it offer the fastest speeds of any major company. The service,
called FiOS, now passes close to six million homes and includes broadband
speeds of (up to) 5, 15 and 30 megabits per second that sell for $34.95,
$44.95 and $179.95 a month.
Verizon said that about 15 percent of those who can get the service are
signing up within 12 months of it becoming available, a number that
analysts say is promising. The company expects to have 725,000 subscribers
by the end of the year. In parts of the New York metropolitan area, Verizon
this summer raised the maximum speed of the service at no additional cost,
to 10, 20 and 50 megabits.
?The network is future-proof,? said Virginia Ruesterholz, the president of
Verizon?s telecommunications group, noting that the faster speeds are
popular with gamers and people who watch video online.
As Verizon?s network grows it is forcing competitors to respond.
Cablevision, which competes head-to-head with Verizon in New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut, this year raised the speeds of its broadband
connections after Verizon began selling FiOS in its territory.
The company now offers connections at 15 megabits per second for $44.95 a
month, up from 10 megabits last year. Customers can also buy a 30-megabit
line ? faster than is needed by most small businesses ? for an additional
$14.95 per month.
Time Warner Cable, which competes with Verizon in and around New York, has
also raised its download speeds. Its $39.95 plan is now 8 megabits per
second, up from 7 megabits, and its $49.95 plan is now 10 megabits, up from
8 megabits.
All three companies said they were simply ensuring that their customers
would have sufficiently fast connections given the growth in music and
video downloading and other bandwidth-hogging practices.
?We think we?ve found that sweet spot? between speed and price, said Sam
Howe, the chief marketing officer at Time Warner Cable. ?If there?s a speed
arms race, it will become meaningless as consumers find out they?re buying
more than they need.?
Despite the rush of new offers, the United States still lags behind many
countries when it comes to broadband speeds and prices. In 2005, it ranked
sixth globally on a price-per-kilobit basis, according to the International
Telecommunications Union. Prices were cheaper in Japan, South Korea,
Taiwan, Iceland and Sweden, countries where the government took an active
role in promoting broadband use.
If experiences overseas are any guide, Americans can expect advertised
broadband speeds to continue rising and, in places where there are
competing companies, promotional prices to nudge lower or stabilize,
particularly for customers who sign up for bundles of services that include
phone and television.
The variety of broadband speeds, price plans, discounts and technical
hurdles that slow connections, have made it hard for shoppers to decide
what is a good value, said Gene Kimmelman, vice president for federal
policy at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. ?Go into a TV
store and look at different TVs; the picture you see is pretty much what
you?re buying,? he said. ?But with D.S.L., do people really know what
they?re buying??
Promotional offers for service often come with strings attached in the form
of yearlong commitments and penalties for breaking them.
With all the noise in the marketplace, some people shopping for broadband
rely on the old word-of-mouth approach. ?I?m not real familiar with the
technical part of the speeds,? said Lyle Rhodes, who lives near
Chattanooga, Tenn., and recently signed up for a D.S.L. line from
BellSouth. ?But from talking to friends who had BellSouth and Comcast, I
figured it out. The numbers matter less as long as it?s fast.?
Mr. Rhodes, who previously had a dial-up line from AOL, said price was
another factor. His D.S.L. line will cost only a few dollars more than his
dial-up, and he received a coupon good toward a new Dell computer. Comcast
offered a good promotional price for six months, but after that, he worried
that the price would exceed his budget.
While added speed will not make a difference to most people, that is what
the broadband providers are emphasizing, said Jim Louderback, editor in
chief of PC Magazine.
?They?re definitely pushing speed more ? cable providers in particular,
because they need to differentiate themselves from D.S.L.,? he said.
Mr. Louderback had some simple buying advice: ?Unless you?re watching
YouTube, or downloading a lot of video, go with what?s cheapest.?
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:00:11 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Universal Music Sues MySpace for Copyright
Infringement
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
November 18, 2006
Universal Music Sues MySpace for Copyright Infringement
By JEFF LEEDS
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/technology/18myspace.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print
The Universal Music Group, the world?s largest music company, filed a
copyright infringement lawsuit yesterday against MySpace, the popular
social networking Web site, for allowing users to upload and download songs
and music videos.
The suit, which also names MySpace?s corporate parent, the News
Corporation, comes as the recording industry contends with how to exploit
its copyrighted material online. The issue has taken on more importance as
services built around user-generated content become popular and generate
advertising revenue.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is seen as part of a
strategy by Universal to test provisions of a federal law that provides a
?safe harbor? to Internet companies that follow certain procedures to
filter out copyrighted works. The law requires sites to remove such content
after being notified by the copyright holder.
If Universal can win in court, it is likely to gain leverage in negotiating
licensing terms with user-driven services ? just at the moment that those
services are attracting deep-pocketed partners.
Earlier this year, Universal?s chief executive, Doug Morris, publicly
identified the YouTube video-sharing site and MySpace as copyright
infringers. Universal successfully negotiated to take a stake in YouTube
shortly before it was sold to Google for $1.65 billion, according to
executives briefed on the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity. But
licensing talks with MySpace recently reached an impasse.
MySpace said in a statement yesterday that it complied with the
requirements of federal law. The company said it had kept Universal, a unit
of Vivendi, ?closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect
creators? rights, and it?s unfortunate they decided to file this
unnecessary and meritless litigation.?
?We provide users with tools to share their own work ? we do not induce,
encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way,? MySpace said.
Last month, Universal filed similar copyright claims against two Internet
companies that allow video sharing, Grouper Networks and Bolt. But in this
instance, the music company is taking on a Web site that has become a
cultural phenomenon, drawing tens of millions of users ? and one that some
see as a powerful tool for performers to get exposure for their music and
build networks of fans.
One of the Universal?s own labels, Interscope Records, has a deal to
distribute music by artists who are signed to a label run by MySpace.
Interscope released a CD from a MySpace act, the Hollywood rap-rock artist
Mickey Avalon, earlier this month.
Universal?s lawsuit comes despite an announcement last month by MySpace
that it had adopted technology to identify copyrighted material in order to
enable compensation for the owners.
MySpace said separately yesterday that it planned to deploy a new tool that
would let copyright owners flag videos posted by users without permission;
it said it would remove any videos that received such a marking.
In court papers, Universal noted that unauthorized copies of music and
video from one of its biggest acts, U2, were easily available on the site,
as is material from an unreleased album by the rap star Jay-Z.
In a statement yesterday, Universal said its music and videos ?play a key
role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of
dollars of value for the owners of MySpace. Our goal is not to inhibit the
creation of these communities, but to ensure that our rights and those of
our artists are recognized.?
Anthony Berman, a San Francisco lawyer specializing in entertainment and
Internet issues, said that while the procedures for an Internet company to
receive a ?safe harbor? under the law were unambiguous, there might be room
for legal debate about exactly which sorts of services could seek it.
Mr. Berman said Universal?s case was intended more to press MySpace into a
lucrative licensing deal rather than into a real court fight. ?It?s a way
to get MySpace to the table,? he said. ?It?s less about piracy. It?s a lot
about control.?
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:07:12 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Iran: Ted Koppel 2 Hour Discovery Channel
Documentary Airs Sunday
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
In 'Iran,' Ted Koppel Explores the Nation Behind the Label
By Tom Shales
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 18, 2006; C01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111702073_pf.html
No one erected a banner that said "Welcome Back, Ted," but there is a
certain historical resonance in Ted Koppel's return to Iran for a new
Discovery Channel documentary. That's because, of course, Koppel's nightly
reports on the Iranian hostage crisis for ABC evolved into "Nightline" and
made Koppel a household name, face and presence back in the days when a
mere four networks ruled the airwaves.
Now a network expatriate, Koppel is able to do on cable what no broadcast
network would likely permit: take two hours of airtime to examine a subject
thoroughly and imaginatively -- exactly what he does in "Koppel on
Discovery: Iran -- the Most Dangerous Nation," a surprisingly lively report
airing tomorrow night at 9. Koppel spent three weeks traveling around Iran,
and though shadowed by government flunkies everywhere he went, appears to
have enjoyed unusual freedom and access.
The "most dangerous nation" tag was hung on Iran by George W. Bush in light
of the Iranian government's apparent insistence on developing nuclear power
and the possibility that doing so would lead to nuclear weaponry. But
Koppel's report shows the country beset by so many internal problems and
generational conflicts that building weapons of mass destruction might, by
default, have a low priority -- and that's assuming the Iranians have the
capability in the first place.
Koppel traces the history of U.S.-Iran relations, and it's anything but a
happy little tale. Enmity toward the United States goes back at least to
the 1950s when the CIA installed the shah of Iran for a 25-year regime
known for fabulous parties here in Washington and human rights abuses back
home. Koppel visits the crumbling remains of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran,
seized by shrieking mobs in 1979.
"This is a nation that relishes the role of underdog," Koppel says, "and
cultivates the image of martyrdom." He even finds a spot in a public square
where young men can sign up for what amounts to suicide training; the sign
above a long table says "Martyrdom Seekers Registration."
Koppel says that 70 percent of the population is under 30, a new generation
that, among other things, is trying to challenge the long-entrenched and
fanatical suppression of women in Iranian society (they are required to
ride in segregated subway cars, as one tiny sign of the pathology).
Meanwhile, the country is run by old men with billowing beards, several of
whom look like the Ayatollah Khomeini, a demagogue who helped foment hatred
of the U.S. during his own notorious and tumultuous reign.
The report is first-rate and often fascinating, as when Koppel tracks down
"Sister Mary," the woman who served as Iran's spokesperson during the
hostage crisis. Feisty as ever, Koppel challenges her to defend the
characterization of America as "the great Satan." But Sister Mary is
feisty, too.
"Death to America" has now become an expression so common in the culture
that it's practically the Iranian equivalent of "Have a nice day." It's
always discouraging to see children being indoctrinated in the hatreds of
their fathers, but sure enough, the report includes footage of sweet-faced
young kids rhythmically raising fists as they repeat the "Death to America"
chant. Anti-American posters are everywhere; one shows the Statue of
Liberty with a hideous skull for a head, and another, less infuriating,
says succinctly, "Bush = Hyena."
Koppel's on-camera presence is more Yoda-like than ever, both in appearance
and in the aura of authority that he carries with him wherever he goes. He
does actually meet an Iranian or two who likes America and a young man who
sends greetings rather than a death threat to President Bush. But when he
listens to a crowd of men chanting their evening prayers, he's dismayed to
hear "Death to America" interpolated into even supposedly sacred rites.
Perhaps Koppel is a trifle too colloquial in his reporting style, saying of
young aspiring martyrs, "These guys will die for their beliefs." If "these
guys" is a little too informal, it hardly mars "Most Dangerous Nation,"
which was produced, as was the Koppel version of "Nightline," by the
estimable Tom Bettag.
Meanwhile, another longtime and legendary anchor, one who also worked with
Bettag during his network career, made his return to American television
this week, though in a vehicle not as soundly assembled as Koppel's show.
"Dan Rather Reports," helmed by the former anchor of the now-sinking "CBS
Evening News," premiered Wednesday night on HDNet, one of media magnate
Mark Cuban's high-definition networks.
Although the Rather hour contained some solid and absorbing journalism, the
program lacked structure and cohesion and seemed chronically
under-produced. Having Rather report all the stories himself, with no other
journalists in sight, amounted to overexposure, and there were "cutaway"
(reaction) shots of Rather in which he looked, justifiably, exhausted.
Still, it was good to see him on TV again -- if you could find him. Very
suspiciously, the DirecTV satellite guide for that night's viewing did not
list Rather's program at 8, when it aired. Instead, the grid said "Title
Not Available," which very rarely happens. DirecTV is now controlled by
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., so it's hardly being paranoid to wonder if
this "mistake" weren't made on purpose.
Years and years ago, when pugnacious personality Jack Paar attacked the
Hearst newspapers on "The Tonight Show," Hearst retaliated by running the
word "Commercials" in TV listings where "Tonight Show" or "Jack Paar"
should have been. Perhaps TV hasn't changed as much as one would think --
or as much as it should have.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:11:42 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] 1 Shot in Conn. Amid PlayStation Mayhem
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
[This gets my vote as the weird news headline of the week!]
1 Shot in Conn. Amid PlayStation Mayhem
By STEVE FEICA
The Associated Press
Friday, November 17, 2006; 10:34 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700325_pf.html
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting
for the new PlayStation 3 game system to go on sale early Friday and shot
one man who refused to give up his money, authorities said.
In Sullivan, Ind., a man was in critical condition after emergency surgery
for a stab wound after he and a friend tried to rob two men of consoles
they waited 36 hours in line to buy, police said.
Nationwide, short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to long lines
of buyers, some waiting for days outside stores. Once the doors opened
Friday, they pushed and shoved their way to the shelves in several cities
to get at the limited supply. Two people were arrested in Fresno, Calif.,
after a crowd trampled people in a parking lot.
It was about 3 a.m. when the two gunmen in Putnam, a town of about 9,000
residents in northeast Connecticut, confronted 15 to 20 people standing
outside a Wal-Mart store and demanded money, said State Police Lt. J. Paul
Vance.
"One of the patrons resisted. That patron was shot," Vance said.
Vance said the gunmen fled after shooting Michael Penkala, 21, of Webster,
Mass., in the chest and shoulder. Penkala was in stable condition at the
University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., with
injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Vance said.
Police were searching for the suspects, both believed to be in their teens,
Vance said. He said one was wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun,
and the other had what appeared to be a shotgun.
About 30 miles away, another shopper was beaten and robbed of his new
PlayStation 3 just minutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester,
police said.
The shopper told police five men surrounded and beat him as he left the
Shoppes at Buckland Hills.
Police Sgt. Chris Davis said the attackers pushed one of their cohorts out
of the car as they drove away. That man, a 17-year-old from Windsor, was
charged with robbery, larceny, assault and breach of peace.
Four other teenagers were arrested, and more arrests were expected, police
told WTNH-TV late Friday.
Andrew Templeton, 20, and David Wiggins, 28, of Sullivan, Ind., were
assaulted by two teens after waiting for 36 hours at a Super Wal-Mart,
police said.
They were unloading their PlayStation 3s from their car when two teens
approached them carrying a chain and a tire iron and demanding their
consoles, said Sullivan Police Chief David Story.
A fight broke out. Wiggins' nose was broken, and he stabbed one of the
attackers, Dylan Moss, 19, police said. Moss was in critical condition
after surgery, officials said.
Sullivan County Prosecutor Bob Springer said he plans to charge Moss and
accomplice Dustin Fagg, 19, with felony robbery.
Elsewhere, two men wearing black ski masks and sunglasses made off with
five consoles after holding two employees at gunpoint at an Englewood,
Ohio, video game store Thursday night, police said.
A Pennsylvania teenager was also robbed of his new PlayStation by a man who
tapped on his car window with a handgun in Allentown, police said.
In Lexington, Ky., someone fired BB pellets from a passing vehicle at
people waiting outside a Best Buy store, according to WKYT, whose own
reporter said she was among four people grazed while she interviewed buyers
in line.
Police fired a talcum powder ball at the ground outside a Target store in
Henrico, Va., to get the attention of an unruly crowd of about 350 people
who were waiting to buy one of the shop's eight consoles, police said.
In McLean, Va., police fired pepper pellets Friday morning to subdue a
rowdy crowd of about 200 people outside a Circuit City store at Tysons
Corner Center mall. One person complained of shortness of breath after the
pellets were fired and was taken to the hospital, authorities said.
A Best Buy store in Boston, aware it had only 140 of the consoles, got
smart about the big sale _ its employees gave out tickets to the first 140
people in line so everyone could go home until the store opened.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:23:44 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Miller's AOL Innovation Speeded His Demise
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
Miller's AOL Innovation Speeded His Demise
Success of Revised Business Model Cleared the Way for an 'Operations Guy'
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 18, 2006; D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701847_pf.html
Outgoing AOL chief executive Jonathan F. Miller, fired on Wednesday, may
have been a victim of his own last-minute success.
Miller will be replaced by NBC Universal's Randy Falco, known as a top-rate
broadcaster but, more important, as a dot-the-i's operations manager. It
would have been difficult if not impossible for AOL to attract an executive
of Falco's rank and reputation had Miller not helped guide the company to
the turnaround it demonstrated in its most recent earnings report, a source
close to the situation said.
Over the summer, Miller, who joined AOL at its low point in 2002, just
after the federal government began criminal investigations into its
operations, persuaded parent company Time Warner Inc. to ditch AOL's
longtime business model and adopt a new one: give away its content.
The Dulles company, which had been the leading provider of dial-up Internet
access, would allow its subscribers to leak away and hope to make up the
lost revenue by selling high-speed Internet advertising.
Miller had tried other strategies for resuscitation that failed, such as
converting dial-up subscribers to AOL high-speed access. He strived with
varying degrees of success to cultivate high-profile content at the site,
including a heavily promoted Foo Fighters concert in Washington put on by
the company for its subscribers. For more than three years on his watch,
the company's future was in doubt, with talk of spinoffs and other
reorganization.
This time, however, Miller's idea hit something.
When Time Warner's third-quarter numbers came out on Nov. 1, the AOL unit
showed a 46 percent increase in advertising sales, almost offsetting lost
revenue from subscriber drop-off.
A little over two weeks later, once his company had shown demonstrable
value and a potential for growth, Miller was fired. Other than a statement
on Wednesday, Miller has not spoken about his ouster.
In business, there are strategy guys and operations guys. At Time Warner,
Miller -- who ran the Internet side of Barry Diller's USA Networks and
worked for the National Basketball Association in previous careers -- was
seen as a strategy guy. In the old days of AOL, when it was still America
Online, everyone, it seemed, was working on a new project, a new deal. "Let
a thousand flowers bloom" was the motto. On the downside, that led to
fiefdoms, a lack of control -- as seen by the improper accounting that led
to mammoth SEC fines and Time Warner write-downs -- and a bit of a Wild
West mentality.
Miller helped expunge the bad elements of that era, said the source, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity because the executive shake-up is a
personnel matter. Miller was able to put the company firmly on a new
course, one that looks like it might work. In one of the business world's
ironies, strategy guys are often not seen as the best guys to run a company
once it's on the right track.
Falco, the source said, is an operations guy. And Time Warner is no longer
contemplating an AOL spinoff.
Miller and longtime AOL executive Ted Leonsis visited editors and reporters
at The Washington Post on Nov. 3. The Falco hiring took place so quickly,
the source said, that Miller probably did not know that his dismissal was
looming even as he ate lunch at the meeting.
Meanwhile, a fan of Miller's at AOL quit on Thursday in the wake of his firing.
Jason Calacanis, who founded Weblogs Inc. in 2004 and sold it to AOL in
2005, called Miller a personal mentor and a "quiet samurai who saved the
village" in a posting on his blog. "Miller is not a brash self-promoting
CEO, and maybe that worked against him a little," Calacanis wrote.
Calacanis was reached by e-mail yesterday but did not answer questions in
time for this report.
Leonsis also chimed in yesterday on his blog, "Ted's Take," praising Miller
and painting in stark terms the AOL he walked into.
"The outlook was grim, and the mood among employees was even grimmer,"
Leonsis wrote. "People were embarrassed to say they worked for AOL, and
even more embarrassed to say they used it. We were a symbol of dot-com
hubris and a case study in failure for business school classes."
Leonsis said Miller led AOL to standardize its advertising systems to
comply with industry norms, helping AOL compete for ad dollars against
Yahoo and Google; bought companies such as Weblogs that fit AOL's vision,
and knocked down much of AOL's vaunted "walled garden," giving nonmembers
access to AOL content.
The crucial move, however, was persuading Time Warner to let AOL flip its
business model, a move endorsed by Time Warner President Jeffrey L. Bewkes.
"So Jon took a step that will serve as a new case study for future business
school classes, a case study in courageous and visionary leadership,"
Leonsis said.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:26:05 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] New Brain Trust Plans Microsoft's Future
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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New Brain Trust Plans Microsoft's Future
Emphasis Is Shifting From Desktop to Web
By Alan Sipress
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 18, 2006; D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701838_pf.html
REDMOND, Wash. Gary Flake recalled scanning the faces of the three other
senior Microsoft Corp. executives at a meeting last month and noticing
that, like himself, they were new to the company.
They had all been key players in Internet services, a field that threatens
the empire of desktop software that made Microsoft one of the world's most
influential corporations. Before the meeting was over, he said, the
executives agreed to complete this Internet coup -- from the inside.
"We had this realization," Flake, a senior engineer, said after the meeting
adjourned. "We came to Microsoft to change the world. But the only way
we're going to change the world is we're going to change Microsoft."
Never before in its 30-year history has Microsoft faced a more pressing
need to turn its innovative prowess inward and remake itself. The company
that became synonymous with computing for hundreds of millions of users
worldwide is confronting an onslaught by rivals bent on stripping away
Microsoft's customers by providing cheaper -- or free -- software over the Web.
Microsoft faces a dilemma common to many major corporations, including
telephone companies, newspapers and automakers, as they wrestle with how to
break loose from their traditional businesses before it's too late. Many
have been unable to cannibalize their core operations, remaining
intoxicated by the high profits they still provide. But the burden of
maintaining the old businesses that made them titans can starve companies
of the investment and initiative they need to innovate.
In the next several weeks, Microsoft plans to release new versions of the
software responsible for its profitability and industry clout: a more
sophisticated version of its Windows operating system called Vista and an
updated business-productivity suite called Office 2007. Those two marquee
products embody the essence of desktop computing and are on track for
release to businesses on Nov. 30 and to consumers in January, Chairman Bill
Gates said this week at the company's annual shareholders meeting.
Microsoft is at the same time reinvigorating its effort to scale the
heights of the Internet with the release of Office Live, an Internet
service for small businesses unrelated to the desktop programs Word and
Excel that offers Web sites, domain names, company e-mail accounts and
shared online workspaces. The service is part of Microsoft's bid to thread
the Internet through its many of products and platforms, including game
consoles, media players and corporate servers. Chief executive Steven A.
Ballmer told shareholders that online services, along with entertainment,
would drive growth in the future.
But for now, Windows and Office account for most of the company's revenue,
an estimated $6.7 billion in the past quarter, about 62 percent of the
total. And they present a fundamental challenge: each new release carries
the baggage of the past because it must be compatible with all the software
and hardware that ran on earlier versions.
Tens of thousands of engineering hours were spent on Vista, analysts said.
It contains about 50 million lines of computer code, 40 percent more than
the previous version of the operating system, Windows XP.
All that is hamstringing Microsoft's efforts at competing online.
"When I came to the company, I could see some people really got it with
respect to the shift in the industry," Ray Ozzie, a celebrated engineer who
joined Microsoft last year, said last week at an Internet conference in San
Francisco. But, he added, "some people were heads down working on Vista,
working on Office."
This is not the first time Microsoft and its 70,000 employees have revised
its Internet strategy. But in the five years since Windows XP was released,
the success of Microsoft's online ventures has taken on new urgency as
high-speed Internet access proliferated, software migrated online and Web
advertising spawned new media models.
The standard-bearer of the new Internet movement, Google Inc., has emerged
as a pretender to Microsoft's throne. It dominates Web search and has
introduced other services, including online spreadsheets and word
processing programs that compete with Excel and Word. Google is also making
the guts of its Web offerings, such as Google Maps, available to software
developers so they can build their own products on top of them, much as an
earlier generation engineered its software on top of Windows. Google's
revenue last quarter increased nearly six times faster than Microsoft's,
and its stock price is soaring while Microsoft's is generally unchanged
since early 2004. The very mention of Google's name rankles many in Redmond.
For Microsoft, the Internet challenge is ironic because as much as any
other company, it pioneered the age of personal computing.
"Anyone who writes them off does so at their own detriment," said Robert
Horwitz, chief executive of the independent Directions on Microsoft
research firm. "But it's not like the old days when they were quicker and
more nimble. Microsoft has been surprised how difficult it is to create a
new, profitable business."
To help it compete, Microsoft has been raiding Internet rivals and hiring
people such as Flake, one of 14 Microsoft employees honored with the
corporate distinction of "technical fellow." Flake and his colleagues at
the meeting last month have already demonstrated they get the Internet.
They included Steve Berkowitz, a former chief executive of the Internet
search company Ask.com who became Microsoft's senior vice president for
online services, and Debra Chrapaty, a former president of the E-Trade
Group Inc. who is now Microsoft's vice president for Windows Live operations.
"Our products on the Internet are not today where they should be," said
Flake, a 39-year-old with a strong, stubby jaw and even stronger opinions.
"Part of the reason it's not there is because we've been focusing on a lot
of different things."
Still, Flake said, he voted with his feet on the future of Microsoft. Early
last year, he uprooted his family from California, where he had run
research and development for Yahoo Inc., for a job in Redmond overseeing
the laboratory that is developing Microsoft's online products. "The company
is redefining and reinventing itself," he said.
Ozzie, the fourth and most prominent member of this insurgent fraternity,
was named Microsoft's chief software architect in June, replacing Gates.
Flake said the appointment shows that Microsoft is "unambiguously"
committed to expanding its presence on the Web above all else. "It went
from being a strategy to being the strategy," Flake added.
Ozzie is the rare pioneer who scored big not once but twice, first creating
the e-mail software suite Lotus Notes and then founding Groove Networks
Inc., which provides software that lets people work together on the Web.
Four months after Microsoft bought Groove and hired Ozzie, he circulated an
internal memo urging employees to rethink how the company is adapting to
the Internet. "It's clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know
it is at risk. We must respond quickly and decisively," Ozzie wrote.
Microsoft first turned to the Internet more than a decade ago with its MSN
online service, which failed to produce big revenue and drew inconsistent
corporate support. In the past two years, however, Microsoft's research and
development spending for online services has more than doubled to $1.1
billion a year, Ballmer said. Capital spending in this area is up fourfold,
to $500 million annually.
Even traditional software that runs on desktop computers is being
redesigned to exploit the Internet, in a new hybrid approach. Windows
Vista, for example, includes a feature that appears on users' desktops and
offers online functions, such as weather reports and news feeds from the
Windows Live service, Microsoft's latest Internet initiative.
The centerpiece of Windows Live is a search engine that Microsoft considers
crucial because search is the primary method for navigating the Web. "We've
come a long way. But our market share is down," said Christopher Payne,
corporate vice president for Windows Live Search, who won approval from
Gates and Ballmer three years ago to invest in search. He noted recent
research showing Google pulling farther ahead.
Payne and other Microsoft executives stressed that the battle for the
Internet is far from over. With a history of successful corporate
makeovers, climbing revenue, $35 billion cash on hand and an army of expert
software engineers, Microsoft remains formidable. Executives across the
company concur that the company is uniquely positioned to marry features of
desktop computing with the potential of the Internet.
But there is no consensus inside Microsoft over whether Internet services
have ousted packaged software as the company's top priority -- or even
whether they should. "The center of gravity is moving toward the
combination," said Jeffrey S. Raikes, president of the business division
responsible for Office software. "The best thing is to optimize the
combination of that horsepower."
Ozzie said Microsoft's dominant position in desktop computing gives the
company a rare advantage as it turns its attention to the potential of the
Web. "I've got this audience," he said at the conference last week. "All we
have to do is show them that we get it."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:39:05 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Target, Disney in DVD truce
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-target18nov18,1,5367050.story?coll=la-headlines-business
Target, Disney in DVD truce
The upcoming release of 'Pirates' prompts the retailer to back off in a
dispute over terms.
By Joseph Menn
LA Times Staff Writer
November 18, 2006
With the holidays and the DVD release of the blockbuster "Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" approaching, Target Corp. and Walt Disney Co.
appear to have reached an uneasy truce in their standoff over terms in the
rapidly changing home-video business.
Target made Disney testy in September, when it fired off a letter demanding
the same low wholesale prices on DVDs that Apple Computer Inc. is paying
Disney to offer movie downloads over iTunes. At the time, Target threatened
to cut back on its efforts to sell Disney's DVDs.
Disney countered that DVD buyers get something different from what iTunes
customers get: an actual disc packed with commentary, deleted scenes,
trailers and other extras. Disney charges conventional retailers about $16
for new DVD releases, between $1 and $2 more than Apple pays.
The dispute set off a game of chicken that, at least for now, has eased,
according to accounts provided by people familiar with the details. They
asked not to be identified because the subject remains tense. Disney
declined to comment, and Target executives didn't return numerous calls
over the last two weeks.
Shortly after sending its letter, Target ordered its stores to take down a
multitude of internal signs steering customers to Disney products. Target
also bumped an end-of-aisle display of Disney DVDs to a less favorable
location, store employees said. In its place went displays of new
children's releases, the vast majority of them distributed by Disney's
competitors.
"Everybody sort of assumed that Target would retaliate," said a former top
Disney competitor who has been following the dispute.
But Target had a dilemma. It didn't want to bury "Cars," the hit animated
film made by Disney's Pixar Animation Studios. Retailers count on hit DVD
titles to bring customers into stores, hoping they'll spend money in other
departments. "Cars" has had the strongest DVD debut this year.
Disney tried a gentle approach to appease Target, but it also hinted at
more dire consequences if the retailer didn't cooperate with the Burbank
entertainment giant.
Disney suggested sealing a deal that was in the works to license a Disney
character for a product line made exclusively for Target. Target was hoping
to build on the success of a 2-year-old contract that gives it exclusive
use of an older rendering of Winnie the Pooh on infant clothing, strollers
and lotion containers.
But Disney also indicated that it could play rough if pushed, inviting
Target to contemplate a Christmas season without "Pirates," the No. 1 film
of the year, due on video Dec. 5.
After that, the negotiations turned a corner. Target even agreed to put a
display of "Cars" DVDs in a much-prized position in front of its checkout
lanes. Target is expected to get its new character license this month, and
negotiations on other issues are said to be continuing in a conciliatory vein.
In Disney's quarterly earnings conference call with investors last week,
Chief Executive Robert Iger acknowledged "some tension" with Target and
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest seller of DVDs.
"We ultimately believe that that tension is going to dissipate over time,"
he said. "Have we had discussions? Yes, absolutely. In general, though, I
think our relationship with these retailers is in good shape."
Executives have said Disney is working with Wal-Mart on that company's
plans for its own download service, alleviating the pressure from the
biggest retailer.
Although apparently resolved, the fight underscores the continuing tensions
between studios that are trying to move to the digital age by offering
their movies for download and retailers that have been important partners
in turning DVDs into a gold mine for Hollywood.
If Target had imposed drastically reduced shelf space on Disney, other
studios would have been more reluctant to make their own cut-rate deals
with Apple, which wants uniform pricing in its catalog. Rival studios are
suspicious of the deal because Apple CEO Steve Jobs has become a major
Disney investor and director ? thanks to the sale of Pixar to the company.
A rapprochement was the best outcome for both sides, analysts said.
"It's like jockeying for positions in a long-distance race," said retail
industry analyst Mark Husson of HSBC. "You throw some elbows, but you can't
win if you're jockeying the whole time. A natural commercial accommodation
is made."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 14:40:27 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Delta rocket launches GPS satellite into space
from Cape Canaveral
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed;
x-avg-checked=avg-ok-4F6C56B
Delta rocket launches satellite into space from Cape Canaveral
Associated Press
November 17, 2006 18:09 EST
http://www.weartv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.fl/39be278e-www.weartv.com.shtml
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A Boeing Delta 2 rocket blasted off today,
carrying another global positioning satellite into space.
The new satellite will be used by the military and civilians to provide
navigation and timing data.
Seven of Boeings Delta rockets have been launched this year.
A Boeing spokesman says the launch was delayed earlier in the week due to
technical difficulties and foul weather.
The 75 million dollar satellite will replace another craft that was put
into place in 1993.
The older craft will be used as a backup.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:57:51 -0500
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Leonids to peak tonight
To: Media News <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Weekend Meteor Shower for New England
http://www.physorg.com/news83049313.html
(AP) -- Stargazers in New England, New York and Western Europe could see
an "outburst" of hundreds of meteors this weekend during the annual
Leonid meteor shower - if the skies are clear enough.
A typical Leonid shower in November brings 10 to 20 meteors an hour
under ideal viewing conditions - a dark sky filled with stars and free
of light pollution.
But this year, the Earth is passing through a denser trail of debris
left by the Comet Tempel-Tuttle, causing a higher concentration of
meteors, said Brian Marsden, a senior astronomer at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge.
Meteors are caused by bits of space debris, in this case debris left by
the comet. Dust and debris from the comet burn up in the atmosphere and
create the streaks of light.
The Comet Tempel-Tuttle passed through the inner solar system in 1998,
and Marsden said the longer its been since the comet passed, the fewer
meteors are expected.
"The surprise is that we are already eight going on nine years after the
comet was here," he said.
The rush of meteors was expected between 11:45 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. EST
Saturday and Sunday. Meteor forecasters predict 100 to 200 meteors an
hour during the peak, said Alan MacRobert, the senior editor of Sky &
Telescope magazine, based in Cambridge.
Skygazers in New England, eastern New York and eastern Canada have the
best chance of catching the action in North America because they'll most
directly face the oncoming shower, MacRobert said.
"The place you really want to be is westernmost Europe or England," he
said. "They'll be ideally placed."
But other parts of the country may catch sight of the outburst if it
arrives a few hours late, he said.
The National Weather Service predicts partly cloudy skies in southern
New England and mostly cloudy weather in northern New England and New
York for Saturday and Sunday.
"It's probably not going to be an ideal time to view any meteor
showers," meteorologist Charlie Foley said.
--
Greg Williams
K4HSM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.etskywarn.net
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:59:28 -0500
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Target backs off in online movies feud
To: Media News <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Target backs off in online movies feud
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061118/ap_on_hi_te/online_movies
By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer Fri Nov 17, 7:32 PM ET
LOS ANGELES - Discount retailer Target backed off plans to pull in-store
promotions of products from Walt Disney after Disney threatened not to
ship DVDs of hit movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," a
person familiar with the situation said Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The companies are at odds over The Walt Disney Co.'s decision to sell
movies online through Apple Computer Co.'s iTunes store for less than it
charges Target and other retailers.
The dispute is part of a feud between a number of major retailers and
Hollywood studios over online movie sales.
Target Corp. stores had removed signs promoting the DVD of the
Disney-Pixar animated film "Cars" and other Disney products, according
to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak
for either company.
The two sides are discussing their differences after resolving the
standoff, the person said.
A Disney spokeswoman declined comment. A call to Target for comment was
not immediately returned. The situation was reported on the Disney
Internet fan site JimHillmedia.com and in the Wall Street Journal.
Studios selling digital copies of films for less than the wholesale
price of DVDs rankles retailers, who see Internet distribution of films
as a threat to their business and have reminded studios that DVD sales
provide the majority of profit for most films.
Studios counter that digital versions of films should be less expensive
because they are lower quality and typically do not contain the kinds of
extra features included on DVDs.
Last month, Target President Gregg Steinhafel sent a letter to every
Hollywood studio warning them about undercutting the wholesale price of
DVDs by giving online services a better deal on digital offerings.
"Target cannot be expected simply to accept that risk and continue to do
business as usual," Steinhafel wrote.
"Our space, signing, promotional programs and the hundreds of millions
of consumers in our stores annually should not be undervalued," he wrote.
Disney so far is the only studio offering films over iTunes, which sets
its own price for all titles.
Disney and other studios also sell films through other online services,
which allow the studios to set their own prices.
--
Greg Williams
K4HSM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.etskywarn.net
------------------------------
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