"In late 2004, some people at Apple leaked information about a couple of the company's upcoming products to at least two websites. Since then, it's turned into a focal point for arguments about the First Amendment and what makes a journalist.
The leaked information, which was about a new audio interface for Apple's GarageBand (codename: 'Asteroid') was published on PowerPage and AppleInsider, both of which feature Apple-related news. Apple wasn't happy about product info leaking, even if it was about a comparably minor product. It demanded to know the leakers. It sued the unknown individuals, called 'Does,' and demanded as part of the suit that the websites reveal their names. The sites refused, so Apple took them to court. It won, at least the first round; Judge James Kleinberg of the Santa Clara County Superior Court said that the sites didn't have First Amendment protection because they published trade secrets. Apple, he ruled, could subpoena the information. '?The United States and California Supreme Courts have underscored that trade secret laws apply to everyone regardless of their status, title or chosen profession,' he wrote. And then the interesting part: 'The California Legislature has not carved out any exception to these statutes for journalists, bloggers or anyone else.' "
GigaOM : Veoh Raises $12.5 million: "Veoh Networks, announced that it had raised $12.5 million in a Series B venture capital financing from Michael Eisner, former chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Todd Dagres, managing partner of Spark Capital, and Time Warner. Previous investor in the company, Shelter Capital Partners also participated in this round of financing. (The New York Times has details on Michael Eisner?s new investment company, Tornante, and life after Disney.)"
WSJ.com - Misery Begets Art -- And an Emmy Nomination: "After the success of the movie 'American Splendor', many misfits and malcontents might think their story is worthy of the big screen, but Jerry Zucker and his brother have focused on the small screen. Their site combines unusual animation with comic relief and recently garnered an Emmy nomination.
The Gimmick
Mr. Zucker lives the unassuming life of an all-American schlub. He tends to date women that aggravate his allergies. He admits that a stern remark from an unkind waitress can stir a wave of insecurity. And his list of petty grievances and personal objections is finely honed. "I hate moths. Last summer my apartment was attacked by those flying vermin," says Mr. Zucker, 46 years old. He has turned these degradations into an animated Web site appropriately named ItsJerryTime.com, on which he battles a cast of tormentors that includes the Meal Moth, his landlord and an alleged telephone conspiracy perpetrated by a duo of old ladies.
Jerry, who has polished these seething complaints into an art form, created the cartoon character "Jerry Zucker," an online alter-ego in a cartoon series that mixes the personal style of a blog with the comic sensibility of a sitcom.
Launched in November as a collaboration with his brother, Orrin Zucker, a graphic designer with his own animation studio, the Web site now includes six installments of Jerry's mild misadventures. The action, or what passes for action, takes place either in an apartment cluttered with the nostalgic debris of his 1960s childhood or in the course of his mundane daily travels."
Networks Tout Podcasting for Promos: "Sometime this summer, Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ron Moore will sit his writing team down at an undisclosed location to begin mapping out the upcoming season of the Sci Fi Channel hit. And before the team gets started, someone will hit the record button to tape the session for a future podcast.
Moore typically records a weekly podcast and fans eat it up (2.4 million Battlestar podcasts have been downloaded to date). Witness this comment, recently posted on iTunes: ?For diehard sci-fi fans, it?s as if Gene Roddenberry called you after each original of [Star] Trek and told you what he was thinking that week.
Steve Youngwood, executive vp at Nickelodeon Digital Media, added that Nick has deliberately released podcasts for big events like the Kids Choice Awards or the recent release of the Zoey 101 movie. “We usually don’t do these things in isolation,” he said.
In terms of a business, Sci Fi’s Howe said an ad-supported model will likely evolve, though it’s early. Advertisers are watching closely, particularly video podcasts, according to Greg Smith, executive vp, director of insights, planning and data analysis at Carat Fusion. “We’re actually teaching our network people to buy video in all forms,” he said."
"In a famous medical study, scientists hooked the pleasure center of a lab rat's brain up to a self-controlled switch. The rodent practically wore out the button by repeatedly pushing it -- to the exclusion of even feeding itself. I exhibit similar behavior whenever I go to the YouTube website. Lately, I've been compulsively clicking my mouse to rerun 'The Easter Bunny Hates You,' which, as far as I'm concerned, is 112 seconds of bliss. The short film's plot solely consists of a guy in a white bunny suit chasing down people and wailing on them with violent creativity, like forcing cellophane Easter basket grass into one victim's mouth. For a one-joke clip, its action-movie vocabulary is pitch perfect. I can't get enough. YouTube.com doesn't always originate material like 'The Easter Bunny Hates You,' but since its start just over a year ago, the self-described 'digital video repository' has become a one-stop shop for the funny/strange ephemera of the World Wide Web."
"NEW YORK/ATLANTA (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ABC television network will offer some of its most popular shows, such as 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Lost,' for free on the Internet in a two-month trial, the company said on Monday.
The move was the latest effort by leading U.S. media companies to experiment with the delivery of programs through new technologies and still maintain revenue as viewership for prime-time television schedules slowly erodes.
ABC already sells digital downloads of its highest-rated TV shows for the popular iPod music and video player, while other networks have been testing online and video-on-demand formats for airing shows soon after they first appear on broadcast TV." (Read More)
WNBC Adds Second Multicast Channel: "While many of the nation?s TV stations are still prepping their first digital channel, WNBC, NBC Universal?s flagship in New York will be the first to launch a second.
“We wanted to utilize our digital tier and have another platform to make money on,” said Frank Comerford, president and general manager of WNBC, which also multicasts NBC Weather Plus. “We can either become a victim of technology or become one of the players.” Available over the air since last December, the station also recently secured carriage on Time Warner’s digital tier. In May, WNBC4.4 will also be available on Cablevision Systems’ digital tier. In total, WNBC4.4 will reach about 2.5 million homes. WNBC4.4 content will eventually be archived on WNBC.com, bringing the branding, reach and promotion of all WNBC’s digital content offerings full circle.
The second phase of the launch, in progress now, will increase the loop to 12 hours and fold in programming from the station’s content partners such as Tribeca Film Festival, Lincoln Center, MOMA, the New York Public Library and the Bronx Zoo. There are also plans to carry some shows from other NBC-owned stations that are relevant to New Yorkers, such as Wine Country and Tech Now from KNTV in San Francisco. By September, WNBC4.4 will unveil original programming, including some viewer-contributed video content, which Comerford described as “blogging for TV.”
The station is also looking for a more creative approach to advertising sales that harks back to TV’s early days when entire programs were sponsored by pursuing advertisers that want to “own” specific programming events. “We’re not relying on the 30-second model,” said Comerford. “And that may help us handle programming and advertising on the big channel.”
"MEDIA MINDS interviews Charles Hope, one of the founders of blip.tv.
blip.tv is a video sharing site whose goal, according to its website, is to change the world by bringing videoblogging to the masses. I don't know about the world, but it's sure given me a great place to keep my videos. What is blip.tv, and how did you get involved with it? In a nutshell, blip.tv is the easiest place for videobloggers to upload their videos. I'm one of the co-founders. We were working on building some blogging software, but in the Spring of 2005 we discovered videoblogging and realized we'd found a perfect fit for our project. With very little work we adapted what we had for videoblogging, and created the first dedicated videoblogging platform. Before blip.tv people had to upload their videos to the Internet Archive, create a blog somewhere else, and then join the two together. We built a complete solution for videoblogging and the only one developed in close contact with the videoblogging community. " (Read More)
Video Blogger Halcyon interviewed a bunch of digital explorers at SXSW1 2006 about how video is empowering the individual.
Features: Eddie Kodel (GETV.com), Craig Newark (craigslist), Jason Carlin (ifilm.com), Jon Lebkowsky, Eric Rice, Nancy White, Matt Mullenweg (wordpress), Dana Boyd, Srini Kumar (unamerican.com), Peter Merholz (adaptive path)
This trio walked into the resident artist studio that we were using to interview artists at the grand opening of the Inn at Port Hadlock, WA gallery opening, Artmine.
NOTE: If you are a "trio member", send me an e-mail. I'm interested in showcasing your music, artwork, photos and adventures on the4-H Network News.
videoblogging : Message: big announcement: "I have wanted to tell people this for a long time, but I wasn't allowed to. So sorry to a bunch of you who should have known this, sorry for having to keep you in the dark.
I received an offer I couldn't refuse from Yahoo to buy Mefeedia.
I'm sure you all will have lots of questions (sellout?), and I'll talk more about this in time, but I just wanted to get this out there. I am very excited, particularly because my new boss is Lucas Gonze (from Webjay fame). So there we go! Lots of exciting future plans.
Just let me assure everyone: in my discussions, I emphasized the importance of a good directory that is focused on *videobloggers*, and Lucas is totally with that."
"I hate moths. Last summer my apartment was attacked by those flying vermin," says Mr. Zucker, 46 years old. He has turned these degradations into an animated Web site appropriately named 
