In This Update:
• News Corp Taking DRM Firm NDS Private in $3.6 Billion Deal
• Google and Creator of ‘Family Guy’ Strike Syndication Deal
• Rhapsody Launches DRM-Free Music Download Store
• TravelGuru Sells Majority Stake to Expedia For $17 Million
• AOL to Guarantee CPM Rates to Bebo, Facebook Developers
• eBay Loses Suit Over Luxury Fakes
• Marc Andreessen Joins Facebook’s Board of Directors
• Tech Giants Join Together To Buy Patents
• Study: TV Viewers’ Average Age Hits 50
• Sony to Distribute ‘Hancock’ to Homes via Internet Before DVD Release
• Time Inc. Setting Up Netflix-Like Magazine Site
• Chinese Video Sharing Site Youku Raises Another $40 Million
• StoredIQ Raises $12.2 Million for File Management
• White Label Social Net Lithium Gets $12 Million Second Round
• Social Gamer I’m In Like With You Raises $1.5 Million First Round
• Social Group Web Services Company Grou.ps Raises $1.1 Million
News Corp Taking DRM Firm NDS Private in $3.6 Billion Deal
PAIDCONTENT
NDS, the UK-based DRM and conditional access firm which is majority owned by News Corp, is now being taken private: News Corp is teaming up with Permira Advisers, the big European private-equity firm for this deal which is worth $3.6 billion. News Corp. will reduce its stake in NDS to 49 percent, from its current level of 72 percent equity and 96 percent of the voting, and Permira will end up as the majority owner. NDS has a market cap of about $800 million. The offer represents a 20.7 percent premium over NDS’ Friday closing price of $49.70 a share…NDS is traded on Nasdaq.
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Google and Creator of ‘Family Guy’ Strike Syndication Deal
NEW YORK TIMES
Google is experimenting with a new method of distributing original material on the Web. In September, Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy” on television, will unveil a carefully guarded new project called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.” The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a “Cavalcade” video clip.
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Rhapsody Launches DRM-Free Music Download Store
REUTERS
Digital music seller Rhapsody is launching a $50 million marketing assault on Apple’s iTunes, offering songs online and via partners including Yahoo Inc and Verizon Wireless, Rhapsody said on Monday. The songs will be sold in MP3 format, which means users of the Rhapsody service will be able to play them on iPods. Before now Rhapsody, jointly owned by Real Networks Inc and Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks, had focused on a subscription service, allowing unlimited song streaming for $13 to $15 a month, rather than selling downloads.
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TravelGuru Sells Majority Stake to Expedia For $17 Million
CONTENTSUTRA
Expedia has acquired a majority stake in India’s top online hotels aggregator TravelGuru for $17 million. The deal values TravelGuru and Desiya.com (which was acquired by the former in December last year) at about $30 million, which, according to industry sources, is a modest valuation. Expedia, which recently launched its India operations, has also retained the option to buy more of Travelguru in the future, according to sources. The deal is believed to have been signed a few days ago. Travelguru is funded by Sequoia Capital India and Battery Ventures.
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AOL to Guarantee CPM Rates to Bebo, Facebook Developers
CNET
AOL announced Monday that it will guarantee CPM revenues to developers on Facebook and Bebo’s platforms if they opt to use its Platform-A ad technology. If a developer pulls in three unique ad impressions, AOL will pay an undisclosed flat fee. For AOL, it’s a way to get a leg up on the dozens of small- and medium-size ad networks, not to mention Google’s AdSense, that are catering to social-network platform developers, specifically those building on Facebook.
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eBay Loses Suit Over Luxury Fakes
WALL STREET JOURNAL
A French court on Monday ordered eBay Inc. to pay Louis Vuitton and other luxury-goods brands 40 million euros ($63.1 million) in damages for fake goods sold through the online retailer, a ruling that is likely to force eBay to take greater steps against detecting and blocking counterfeits.
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Marc Andreessen Joins Facebook’s Board of Directors
TECHCRUNCH
Marc Andreessen founder of Netscape, Opsware and Ning and the former CTO of AOL, is adding a new notch in his belt: he has joined the board of directors of Facebook , two sources close to the company confirmed. The company should be announcing it shortly, perhaps this week. Andreessen will join Mark Zuckerberg , Peter Thiel and Jim Breyer on Facebook’s board.
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Tech Giants Join Together To Buy Patents
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Several tech-industry heavyweights are banding together to defend themselves against patent-infringement lawsuits. Their plan: to buy up key intellectual property before it falls into the hands of parties that could use it against them, say people familiar with the matter. Verizon Communications Inc., Google Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and Hewlett-Packard Co. are among the companies that have joined a group calling itself the Allied Security Trust, these people say.
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Study: TV Viewers’ Average Age Hits 50
VARIETY
The broadcast networks have grown older than ever — if they were a person, they wouldn’t even be a part of TV’s target demo anymore. According to a study released by Magna Global’s Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets’ average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo.
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Sony to Distribute ‘Hancock’ to Homes via Internet Before DVD Release
NEW YORK TIMES
In an industry first, Sony Pictures’ hoped-for blockbuster “Hancock,” starring Mr. Smith as a bungling superhero, hits theaters on Wednesday and will be available – after its theater run but before release on DVD – over the Internet, directly to viewers’ television sets. That is, if they own a Sony Bravia TV with a Web connection. The announcement is significant in what it means for the future of movie watching, and for the future of Sony itself.
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Time Inc. Setting Up Netflix-Like Magazine Site
WEBPRONEWS
Magazine subscriptions are strong commitments of a sort; after forking over a few bucks, you’re locked into receiving a single publication for a year (or more) or your life. Time Inc. aims to loosen things up by launching a Netflix-style site for magazines called Maghound. Starting this September, members will get to pick any three out of an initial 300 or so titles for $3.95 per month. A full 400 titles are supposed to become available by year’s end, and people are encouraged to change their selections as often as they like.
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Chinese Video Sharing Site Youku Raises Another $40 Million
CENTERNETWORKS
Chinese online video sharing site Youku.com has raised an additional US$30 million in private equity funding, and secured a US$10 million equipment loan. From the release, “Maverick Capital led the financing round and joined the Board of Directors. All existing investors in the company, including Brookside Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Farallon Capital, and Chengwei Ventures, participated. The US$10 million equipment loan is provided by Western Technology Investment.” This brings the total amount raised to $80 million. Youku self-reports over 100 million unique visitors per month.
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StoredIQ Raises $12.2 Million for File Management
VENTUREBEAT
File management company StoredIQ has raised USD12.2m of a USD13.1m round from Techxas Ventures and S3 Ventures. Founded in Texas seven years ago, StoredIQ helps businesses search, store and organise what is known as “unstructured” information. This refers to all the data from sources such as emails, documents, multimedia and telephone conversations, which is typically difficult for computers to understand, as opposed to structured information that makes up relational databases.
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White Label Social Net Lithium Gets $12 Million Second Round
PAIDCONTENT
Lithium Technologies, an Emeryville, CA-based provider of white-label social networking tools, has raised $12 million in its second round funding, led by Benchmark Capital. Benchmark joins Emergence Capital and Shasta Ventures, which co-led a $9 million first round in April 2007. The company, which has been around for almost seven years now, has been working with clients such as AT&T, Comcast, Dell, Sprint and others to power their online community. The technology was originally created as part of online gaming portal Gamers.com.
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Social Gamer I’m In Like With You Raises $1.5 Million First Round
CNET
I’m In Like With You, a social-network-turned-gaming-site that caught a brief flurry of press for its eye-popping design when it launched, has just closed a $1.5 million round of venture funding led by Spark Capital. It’s the first funding the site has received since its angel round last year. In addition to Spark, the round includes current investors Baseline Ventures, Betaworks, and veteran investor Ron Conway, as well as an investment from Netscape and Ning founder Marc Andreessen.
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Social Group Web Services Company Grou.ps Raises $1.1 Million
VENTUREBEAT
Grou.ps, a San Francisco start-up that lets you build a social web applications site and run it yourself, has raised $1.1 million in financing. The site includes ways to add wikis, social networking-style user profiles and other features that help groups of people easily share information. The round was led by Golden Horn Ventures.
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