yowasuphomeboy

The ClickBank affiliate network has announced that they’ve expanded the services offered to international markets.

While ClickBank serves more than 114 countries on 6 continents, they just recently initiated a phased approach of translating the order form and all customer related material into German, Spanish and French.

They completed that phase last year, and just completed phase two: translation of the entire ClickBank site into German, Spanish and French.

In addition to offering content in multiple languages, ClickBank accepts 13 international currencies, including the Euro, the British Pound, and the Swedish and Danish Kroner.

via Shawn Collins @ AffiliateTip

Los Angeles, Ca Oct 30, 2009: Young Dre the Truth is creating major attention in the Music Industry with UpCode USA new partnership

Just as Hip-Hop fans had began to look toward the East for rap lyrics with messages, along comes 'Young Dre the Truth" brings the West Coast back on the map. EA's Madden game franchise knew exactly what they were doing when they signed Young Dre to their music label Artwerk Music.

Young Dre recorded the song "Working", with the band Good Charlotte for Madden 09', as well as collaborating with Snoop Dog on the song "Cheah-Bah" which is the main track on EA Madden Fight Night Round 4. When Young Dre was asked about the theme of the song Cheah-Bah, he responded with - "'Cheah Bah' is not a dance, it's just about positive energy and a new movement." Now with my new distribution platform I can connect all my fans directly to me. Young Dre stated just in 2 days we have had over 300,000 downloads just from the song "Tell Them I Did It" all coming from Japan, Germany, Sweden, US, The Netherlands, and the UK. I couldn't believe the demand for my music. I was reading comments all over the web that people wanted and was anticipating my album it made me think. Even on you tube thousands of people was leaving comments telling me that I was the best rapper. Young Dre also stated now he will take a different approach and look to new media to touch his fan base and interact with them.

Young Dre the Truth is also on NBA Live 2010 game, which features his remix of "All Eyes on Me", with 2Pac Shakur. Which was released on October 27th, 2009, the buzz has already hit the pipelines and radio is anxiously anticipating its debut.

Young Dre The Truth has also announced that his label KC3 Monumental has struck a deal with Upcode a new music distribution company which delivers music from 2d bar codes and gives artist global distribution by using UpCode. With UpCode now Young Dre can deliver his music to his fans from billboards, magazines, and through his music video including of his social network pages. UpCode has already made much noise with Universal Music Group and Sony BMG in Latin Amercia and proved there is a new way for music distribution and a demand without being in a store or sitting in front a computer. Now UpCode is in North America and Young Dre is the star and one of first to go full fledge with the new platform.
Jerald Cavitt CEO of UpCode USA stated we are very excited to start our new music division. We have put a'lot of resources into Young Dre The Truth including new marketing strategies and a whole new distribution method. I have to say when I heard his music I was really moved and UpCode wanted to get behind that. Now Young Dre will have the ability to deliver his music via UpCode from candy wrappers, soda cans, and magazines including television screens anything with a surface Cavitt stated.

To hear more of Young Dre's music including the soon to be released "All Eyes of The Truth" visit his website at: www.youngdrethetruth.com or Scan Young Dre the Truth's UpCode. Simply go to www.upcodeusa.com from your mobile phone to download the free UpCode software and then scan the UpCode to hear snippets, watch videos and purchase the album including chat with Young Dre personally.

Dj's Contact: music@upcodeusa.com
Young Dre The Truth Blog: www.youngdrethetruth.blogspot.com
UpCode Solutions USA: www.upcodesolutionsusa.com
Young Dre the Truth is represented by:
Face2Face Entertainment – 818.823.4409
13547 Ventura Blvd. # 144, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
via Hip Hop Press

Though they've been aggressively pursuing web content for the past few years in multiple forms, Marvel Comics made the leap today that many have been speculating will be the next big wave in comics distribution: comics on the iPhone. Starting today, the publisher will have titles ranging from classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko issues of "Amazing Spider-Man" to modern hits like Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men" for purchase on Apple's signature smart phone and the iPod Touch through comics-specific app sites Comixology, iVerse, and Panelfly as well as general publishing site ScrollMotion.

"We've got those four signed, and we're in active discussions with several others," explained Marvel's Executive Vice President of Digital Media, Ira Rubenstein. He told CBR that the announcement being made across four simultaneous platforms on their own sites was indicative of Marvel's commitment to getting their comics into the marketplace in as many formats as possible. "We want to give the consumers the choice to decide what's best for them. Each software has a world of difference, and each company has a different approach. By going with multiple companies, we're letting the consumer decide."

The comics available will vary from iTunes publisher to publisher, though certain books and issues will be common amongst all the providers, much like the previously available online initiatives like the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service which anchors Marvel's own site and their recent deal with the PSP gaming device. As for why now was the time to make the iPhone service happen and why Marvel went with the companies included in the launch, Rubenstein said "I think the timing was that the applications and the consumer experience was there. A lot of these applications are in their multipled version. This isn't their first program. With any good software, it improves over time, and what we're concerned with is the consumer experience and how our content looks. With all these companies – be it iVerse, Comixology, Panelfly or ScrollMotion – it's a very compelling consumer experience.

"Each one works a little differently, but all of them, for the most part, have a programmed view where you can, similarly to what we have on our Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited reader, hit the forward button, and it kind of programs the page for you. If you don't want to work as hard and have what I think is a bad experience like with a PDF where you have to zoom around and it gets tiring...if you just hit the forward button, it's a natural style to read. Most, if not all the programs, offer you either/or. And again, that's a compelling consumer experience where, if the consumer wants to zoom in on one particular shot, they can. It's very similar to how we approach stores. We service over 3,000 stores, and every store is different, be it the stores in New York, or the stores in Chicago or Florida. Consumers can decide what stores they want to buy our books from."

When it came to what content would be immediately available, Rubenstein and the Digital Media department went to the top of the company's publishing line. "I work very closely with [publisher] Dan Buckley and the rest of the publishing team," he said. "We wanted to get a selection that was compelling to start, and would give us information on what consumers would want to buy. Obviously, you can't roll out with everything, but we wanted to roll out with enough of a selection to really figure out what's happening. Dan and his team say, 'Okay, these are the books we're going to give.' And we'll continue to have more books over the coming months, and we'll continue to see how it goes."

Asked how initiatives like the MDCU program have worked in terms of outreach to readers who may not regularly be buying comics, Rubenstein offered, "What we have been seeing – and we have some research to back this up – is that we're finding that the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited product is actually proving to be a discovery tool for people. They're discovering new concepts and new characters and new storylines, and then going to the stores and buying them. We have research for that, and we have some e-mails from comic book store owners who told us those stories."

Rubinstein stressed that programs such as MDCU, and now the iPhone comics apps, should not serve to drive readers away from traditional comic book stores, a market the company has begun to support with a special retailers-only site. "We're very cognizant of [worries retailers may have.] If anything, we're trying to help enable the brick and mortar stores through the [newly launched] Marvel Retailer Resource Center. Now, they're going to be offering First Looks and things, and we're asking, 'How can we enable them now to offer motion comics through their websites?' and the next extension would be to ask 'How can we enable them to offer digital comics?' It hasn't all been announced yet, but we're looking at it. We've been talking about how to help these very, very important partners, and we do not take them for granted here."

Speaking of Marvel's motion comics program, which saw its second major title launch this week with the MarvelFest NYC 2009 premier of the "Astonishing X-Men" motion comic, currently available on iTunes, the word of iPhone comics comes hot on its heels. Rubenstein said the close nature of the events came thanks to Marvel having multiple irons in the fire. "I've been here a little over a year, and I was brought in to really step up our digital efforts. We've always done a lot here, but we wanted to take it to the next level. I think what you're starting to see now is the fruition of a lot of people's hard work. If it feels like dominos have been falling, it's because we've been working really, really hard, and things are starting to come out now. We can't really talk about it until they come out, but you're going to see a lot more, because now we have some investment and resources dedicated to it."

And more motion comics are on the way, including possible distribution of the format over other smart phones and devices outside the Apple brand. "We are absolutely looking towards other distribution. We're up on the Xbox now. Motion comics aren't on Xbox yet, but they will be shortly, through Xbox Live, and our other video content is up there. We're up on Hulu with "Spider-Woman." So we're looking at legitimate video screens for distributing our motion comics, as well as the video content we have rights to."

Asked what lessons his department has learned from the MDCU launch and applied to this new iPhone program, Rubenstein concluded, "I come from entertainment. I spent 12 years at Sony and four years at Fox, so the lessons I've learned throughout my career are with entertainment and brands. I think entertainment consumers want to consume entertainment content when they want it, where they want it, and how. I'm not surprised when it does well, because people want it. I guess the lesson is, be it comic books, movies or TV, content is content, and it's all about storytelling and great characters. Whether it's in print or video, consumers want to consume it across devices and platforms."

via comicbookresource & Now discuss this story in CBR's Marvel Universe forum.

Affiliate network LinkShare has launched a new tool designed to monetise Twitter feeds.

LinkShare's TweetShop tool allows anyone with a Twitter following to turn customised tweets into a shopping device.

The TweetShop Tool lets publishers customise tweets through the user interface which automatically creates a shortened URL that directs an online shopper to the landing page for the recommended object.

A recent LinkShare survey found that adverts placed on social networking sites need to be targeted or will not receive high consumer interaction. The tool creates an online hub where consumers can find the best buys and share them with their friends and colleagues.

Generally available to publishers in its network, the tool is the latest feature in LinkShare's Bento Box range of tools and applications.

Liane Dietrich, MD, LinkShare said, "In the advent of the Twitter-adoption explosion, this new tool brings a host of new possibilities to our affiliate network that is easy, fun and effective at driving revenue."

More than 50 million live Twitter accounts exist today, a 6.7 per cent jump from August to September to 58.4 million worldwide visitors.

via B2B

Press release from: asknet AG (openPR) - Karlsruhe, October 30, 2009 -- asknet AG, a leading provider of outsourcing solutions for the global electronic software distribution (ESD) industry, is a premium sponsor of the European Software Conference 2009, which will be held in the Kempinski Hotel Bristol in Berlin on November 7-8, 2009. Aston Fallen, President of asknet Inc., will give a presentation entitled "Global reach and emerging markets – eCommerce in North America and Europe versus Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.“ He will discuss future growth regions for software publishers such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Japan, as well as special characteristics of the local markets that must be taken into account in order to successfully enter these markets and distribute software online.

asknet offers online shops in more than 31 languages that support 38 different currencies and 24 different payment methods – which means its clients already have access to all important growth and emerging markets in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The company also has a subsidiary in Japan, the most important Asian sub-market. This allows asknet to offer software publishers a comprehensive range of services to facilitate their successful entry into the Japanese market, for example eMarketing.

The motto of the EWSC is “Open all senses!”, and its agenda is to blend Web, mobile, and desktop into one world of software. One highlight will be a series of first-class lectures by notable software publishers. The current mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, will hold an address of welcome.

About asknet
asknet offers its clients customized outsourcing solutions for global software sales via the Internet. Founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the University of Karlsruhe, one of Germany’s most prestigious technical universities, the company has become the number two independent global provider for electronic software distribution. In addition to its fully integrated shop solutions for software publishers, the company develops and maintains portals for software distribution such as softwarehouse.de, one of Europe's largest. In 2008, asknet had sales of about 74.7 million euros. Among its customers are well-known software publishers such as CollabNet, DivX, Ipswitch, F-Secure, Nero, Panda Security, Steganos, and NetObjects. asknet supplies software products to around eighty percent of German universities.

About EWSC
The European Software Conference with the motto “Open all senses!" is the flagship event for independent developers and the (micro) independent software vendor industry. This annual event will be held for the ninth time on November 7-8, 2009.

Contact partner:
asknet AG
Kirsten Neininger
Phone: +49 (0)721.96458-6399
eMail: kirsten.neininger@asknet.com

asknet, Inc.
Bernard Haug
Phone: +1 (415) 352-2622
eMail: bernard.haug@asknet.com

www.asknet.com

MINNEAPOLIS--(Business Wire)--
Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce
solutions, announced that the company will exhibit, speak and sponsor at the
European Software Conference (ESWC). The conference is being held Nov. 7-8,
2009, at the Kempinski Bristol Hotel in Berlin, Germany. 

Digital River will host an exhibit booth for conference attendees and lead
presentations on a variety of e-commerce topics. Digital River`s e-commerce
experts will discuss the state of the software industry as well as publisher
strategies for increasing online sales and effectively pricing software. 

The European Software Conference is an educational conference for software
developers. To learn more about the European Software Conference visit,
www.euroconference.org. 

About Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds
and manages online businesses for software and game publishers, consumer
electronics manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its
multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect
sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as
well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The
company`s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order
management, fraud management, export controls, tax management, physical and
digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting
and strategic marketing services. 

Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices
across the U.S., Asia, Europe and South America. For more details about Digital
River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com or call +1
952-253-1234. 

Digital River is a registered trademark of Digital River, Inc. All other company
and product names are trademarks, registrations or copyrights of their
respective owners.

Digital River, Inc.
Media:
Heather Morris, +1-952-253-1234, ext. 38828
Public Relations Specialist
publicrelations@digitalriver.com
Investor Relations:
Ed Merritt, +1-952-540-3362
Vice President, Investor Relations
investorrelations@digitalriver.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009

So just when you thought that the story of China’s attempt to mandate Internet filtering software on all new PCs had ended, we learn that U.S. software maker Solid Oak Software has sued ZDNet China, for helping the Chinese government distribute a filtering application incorporating stolen code. The Chinese application, called Green Dam-Youth Escort has been accused of copying almost 3,000 lines of code from Solid Oak’s 14-year old website blocking software CyberSitter. Independent analysis by researchers from the University of Michigan confirmed the inclusion of CyberSitter code in the Green Dam software.

So if we don’t dispute the legitimacy of the accusation — although I’m sure that both the Chinese government and the two Chinese software companies, Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering Ltd. and Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy Ltd., would dispute it — the real question is why Solid Oak has chosen to sue ZDNet China. Well it’s important to first learn that ZDNet China is a subsidiary of CBS Interactive Inc. , which we in the US call a “deep pocket.”

Solid Oak claims that since ZDNet China allowed visitors to link to the free-download, it willingly participated in the “largest case of software piracy in history.” The specific accusation is detailed below from the complaint:

“[Solid Oak's software program was disseminated to] tens of millions of end users in China and elsewhere with the willing participation of Internet sites such as CBS Interactive, Inc.’s ZDNet China. CBS participated in this Chinese government-led initiative to proliferate the pirated program amongst the Chinese-speaking population by offering the program for free download on its website. CBS did so in order to promote its website, generate web traffic and advertising revenue, and gain increased access to the vast Chinese-speaking market.”

Solid Oak is asking for $1.23 million in damages. This calculation is based on the 31,000 downloads attributable to ZDNet China’s website and the retail cost of $39.95 for a copy of CyberSitter program.

Although I’m not a lawyer I do agree with CBS that this suit is without much merit (angry comments are welcome) since Solid Oak never legally proved that the Green Dam software violated its right so that it could request an injunction on its distribution. The fact that it may subsequently be shown to be true does not prove that ZDNet abetted piracy at the time that it made the download available. In fact, the lawsuit filed against CBS Interactive names the Chinese government and the two software firms as being behind the violation but does not name them as defendants in the suit. In effect Solid Oak doesn’t think it can successfully make a case against the Chinese companies but faults CBS for not just independently agreeing with their assertion that the software violated their rights and should not be distributed.

“We’ve reviewed the complaint and believe the allegations against CBS are without merit. As is evident from the complaint, this is a dispute between Cybersitter, the two Chinese companies that allegedly copied their filtering technology, as well as the Chinese government that backed these companies and the distribution.”
– Sarah Cain, Spokeswoman, CBS Interactive.

It’s clear to me that Solid Oak feels like they had their IP violated but now they are just looking for a company in the US to sue. The idea that the free downloads of the Chinese product had any impact on sales of CyberSitter — has anyone in China ever purchased the product? — is ridiculous. PLUS, in terms of damages, maybe they could sue CBS for the revenue it took in that can be attributed to ads on the free download page. Since there were only 31,000 downloads then it is likely that at any CPM we are talking about hundreds of dollars not millions.

Related Digital East Asia posts:

ShareThis

via digitaleastasia

A couple of very informational videos recorded at the Digital Distribution Summit in Melbourne, Australia on September 29th were recently posted up for viewing online. In the first clip, David Edery (former Worldwide Portfolio Manager for XBLA) discusses about getting your game into the console downloadable market, how to do well with a digitally-distributed game, and tips on designing a great pitch for XBLA and PSN. His keynote presentation starts at the 7th minute mark.

In the second video, Simon Carless talks about the eight 'rules' for digital game distribution success, which is a great set of guidelines that developers can follow when considering marketing methods for their digitally-distributed games. More recordings can be found at the official site for the 2009 Digital Distribution Summit event.

Related:
The World of Indie Games (Gamasutra)
Nicalis' Rodriguez Talks Indie Realities (Gamasutra)

via indiegames

Top IT Distribution Partner Recognizes Top Performing Technology Vendors for
Impressive Growth, Execution and Partner Enablement Programs at 2010 Marketing
Symposium

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Congratulating IT vendors for
superior performance, collaboration and partnership, Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE:
IM) today announced the winners of the 2009 Ingram Micro U.S. Vendor Awards of
Excellence. The prestigious industry awards were presented yesterday at the
distributor's annual Marketing Symposium in Anaheim, Calif.


This year's winners include Business Intelligence Award winner Belkin, and
Channel Community Award winner Hewlett-Packard. Industry leader Cisco Systems
walked away with the 2009 Services Award for its success within Ingram Micro's
Seismic Virtual Services Warehouse and also earned this year's Networking
Award. The coveted 2009 Partnership award was presented to Juniper Networks in
recognition of its accelerated growth and ongoing collaboration with Ingram
Micro's sales, marketing, technical support and vendor management teams. 

Ingram Micro's 2009 Vendor Awards of Excellence recognize many of the
distributor's top-performing technology manufacturers and software developers
for outstanding IT Channel performance and partnership, as well as
achievements against measurable objectives, such as growth, revenue,
profitability, marketing programs, solution provider support and services.

The winners of Ingram Micro's 2009 U.S. Awards of Excellence are:


   Business Intelligence                   Belkin
   Channel Community                       Hewlett-Packard
   Components                              Western Digital
   Data Center                             EMC Corporation
   Digital Signage                         Samsung Electronics America
   Document Management                     Kodak Scanners
   Emerging Technology                     Data Domain
   Mobility                                Nokia
   Networking                              Cisco
   Partnership                             Juniper Networks
   Peripherals & Accessories               Ergotron
   Security                                Symantec
   Services                                Cisco Systems
   Software                                Citrix Systems, Inc.
   Systems                                 Apple

"Working side-by-side with Ingram Micro, the winners of our 2009 Vendor Awards
of Excellence continued to invest, innovate and achieve impressive growth
despite a challenging economy," says Keith Bradley, President, Ingram Micro
North America. "We're pleased to recognize each of these vendors for their
ongoing commitment and partnership with Ingram Micro and our channel
partners."

The 2009 annual awards ceremony was hosted by Ingram Micro's channel marketing
and vendor management executive team and took place at the distributor's 2010
Marketing Symposium on Oct. 8, 2009. To learn more about Ingram Micro's
marketing services, visit http://www.ingrammicro.com/marketingservices.

About Ingram Micro Inc.
As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and
profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing
programs, outsourced logistics services, technical support, financial
services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves 150
countries and is the only broad-based global IT distributor with operations in
Asia. Visit http://www.ingrammicro.com.

SOURCE  Ingram Micro Inc.

In this World Wide Wrap: Amazon offers PS titles, the iPhone gets rocking, and games conference predicts trends.

Online retailer Amazon is offering download codes for the PlayStation Network (PSN) via its video game store, reports Digital Spy.

According to Sony, digital access codes for more than 200 titles are currently available to purchase via the Internet store. Additional content is expected to be added in the future.

"We are excited to expand our current library of video game platform downloads," said Amazon vice-president Paul Ryder. PSN's senior vice-president of marketing Peter Dille added: "With more than 600 million pieces of content downloaded to date, consumers are turning to PlayStation Network more than ever for digitally distributed entertainment content.

The iPhone gets rocking

Rock Band's unstoppable march toward dominating every gaming platform will soon include the iPhone, as EA Mobile announced that the popular music game will make its App Store debut later this month, writes Macworld.

Rock Band lets users progress from an unknown artist to rock superstar by tapping along to popular songs. In the iPhone version from EA Mobile, they can choose to play as a drummer, guitarist, bassist, or vocalist at any one of three difficulty levels.

Rock Band for the iPhone promises to let users play solo or play with friends via the Bluetooth multiplayer features introduced with the iPhone 3.0 software update. EA Mobile hopes to make this game the first full-band multiplayer experience on the iPhone.

Games conference predicts trends

Digital distribution is poised to outstrip traditional retail sales within three years and 40% of companies within the games sector are unprepared for the rate at which this shift will take place, states MCV.

These are just two of the claims that will be made by speakers at the London Games Conference, which takes place at BAFTA on 27 October. The conference will look at every aspect of this seismic shift within the industry with speakers drawn from the development, publishing, retail and distribution communities.

Nick Parker, of Parker Consulting, will provide an overview of how the digital map is set to change over the next few years. He believes 2013 and 2014 will be the likely dates for the next generation global launches respectively from Microsoft and Sony, and that, as a result, traditional box product sales will begin to fade from 2010. via ITWEB

A small amount of controversy has surrounded Valve’s highly-praised and successful digital distribution service, Steam, this past few weeks. Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software has been on record to state his belief that the service exploits some smaller developers and, last week, our friends over at Blend Games got the opportunity to speak with Theodore Bergquist, the CEO of one of Steam’s largest digital store competitors, GamersGate.

BlackBerry releases Mac-synching software, Oracle updates PeopleSoft Enterprise, and OSS organisations merge.

BlackBerry releases Mac-synching software

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac allows people to sync data with Mac apps for contacts, appointments, tasks, and notes. The software also allows people to schedule back-ups, encrypt files, and perhaps most importantly, install software updates for their BlackBerry devices.

Apart from the business side of things, RIM said the software features BlackBerry Media Sync, allowing people to sync their iTunes music with their BlackBerry. According to the company, people can choose the playlists they want, and all the included tracks will be transferred to the smartphone.

via mydigitallife

When Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers all but announces he's going on a shopping spree, does his list include a smart-grid tech startup, consumer electronics — or both? And what might be next for Oracle's Larry Ellison, assuming the $7.4 billion deal for Sun Microsystems gets finalized?

Mergers and acquisitions, also known as M&A, are back on the front burner in Silicon Valley. Corporate chieftains, venture capitalists, startup entrepreneurs and their attorneys have been busy cooking up deals large and small in an atmosphere that blends calculation, optimism and, in some cases, desperation.

The optimism arises from the renewed confidence in the economy. Deals such as Cisco's $3 billion acquisition last week of Tandberg, a videoconferencing innovator, and Adobe's $1.8 billion acquisition two weeks ago of Omniture, a Web analytics firm, wouldn't have happened amid the financial industry meltdown and the tumult on Wall Street, analysts say, because values were so hard to determine.

Giants such as Cisco, which has $35 billion cash on its balance sheet, and smaller public companies such as Intuit, with $1.4 billion in its wallet, have emerged from the crisis in a mood to buy. Leaders of such companies "are thinking, 'What will drive growth? What will drive innovation?' " said venture capitalist Bruce Golden of Accel Partners.

"It's an interesting time for the large-cap companies to acquire growth stories, talented teams anddistinctive (intellectual property) and then leverage that through their giant distribution systems," he added.

Mountain View-based Intuit aimed to do that this summer by paying $170 million each for valley startups PayCycle, an online payroll service, and Mint.com, an online system for managing personal finances, according to Intuit's chief corporate strategy officer, Greig Coppe.

The Darwinian economy, Coppe noted, minimized competition for appealing companies and allowed more time for due diligence. "We have had a number of potential acquisitions go pretty far down the pipeline that we did not close, because something hasn't proven out," Coppe said. Intuit, he said, is actively scouting other possible deals.

September brought a sharp uptick in M&A activity, according to the 451 Group, a firm that analyzes the tech industry. The month began with the $2 billion "carve out" deal for Skype, in which eBay sold 65 percent of the company to a consortium led by the Menlo Park-based private equity group Silver Lake Partners, with participation by venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures.

David W. Healey, co-chairman of M&A for law firm Fenwick & West, said the recent deals have largely advanced strategic interests of the companies involved, "which is healthy," as opposed to deals based more on "financial engineering" involving private equity and hedge funds that characterized much of the M&A earlier this decade.

Many small deals involve startups struggling for survival. Healey recalled the comment of an executive at a big valley company: "People are calling me and saying, 'We've got a month's worth of capital left. Will you buy me?' "

Such calls are often prompted by venture capitalists practicing portfolio triage. A venture capitalist nurturing five companies, Healey said, may decide to continue investments in only three "and tell the others, 'Go sell yourself.' "

M&A has long been a vital aspect of the valley economy. For startups and venture capitalists, it is a primary means of turning equity and hard work into a lucrative payday. For corporate leaders, it can be a bold stroke of reinvention. Early this decade, high drama surrounded Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq, a deal that helped turn HP into the world's leading computer maker. More recently, Yahoo executives angered many stockholders by turning down a premium offer from Microsoft.

Oracle, known for growing through acquisitions, made headlines with its unsolicited but ultimately successful bids for PeopleSoft and BEA Systems. Oracle's surprising decision to acquire beleaguered Sun Microsystems, now delayed in a review by European Union regulators, signaled Ellison's willingness to branch out from the enterprise software business into hardware.

This summer, another drama ended happily for Data Domain stakeholders, after a bidding war between EMC and NetApp pushed its price for the Santa Clara-based data storage company from $1.8 billion to $2.4 billion. EMC prevailed, but NetApp also netted a $57 million breakup fee in the process.

Cisco Systems became the world's dominant networking infrastructure company largely through more than 100 acquisitions. Chambers recently said Cisco plans to aggressively pursue more acquisitions in the coming year.

The Tandberg deal expands Cisco's reach in videoconferencing. Earlier this year, it branched into consumer electronics by paying $585 million for Pure Digital, maker of the Flip digital video cameras. Cisco's new "smart-grid" initiative to enhance efficiencies in the massive electricity-delivery industry, some analysts point out, put it on a collision course with startups such as Silver Springs Networks, which is already deploying technology to PG&E. Given Cisco's history, Silver Springs and its ilk may become acquisition targets.

Private companies such as Barracuda Networks, a firewall provider, have also looked for strategic fits. It has made four acquisitions since November 2008 — and has turned down many more offers from cash-starved and desperate startups.

"We've gotten so many distress cases pitched to us," said Chief Financial Officer David Faugno.

via MercuryNews

The Entertainment Consumers Association announced Thursday the formation of Gamers for Digital Rights, a group aiming to provide "the tools and resources that will help protect the rights of video game consumers."

ECA VP and general counsel Jennifer Mercurio said in a statement, "Digital rights are an extremely important and timely subject for everyone who buys and enjoys entertainment, but especially for those who purchase and play video games."

She added, "With Gamers for Digital Rights, our goal is to educate consumers about their rights, as well as the copyright and trademark laws associated with such technologies, and then work to open a dialogue between software publishers, developers and gamers."

The new Gamers for Digital Rights web presence has information about consumers' legal rights, and covers topics including digital distribution, license agreements, virtual property and game piracy. The group is free to join.

The ECA also said that it hired Robert L. Hunter, IV as digital rights consultant. Among other duties, he will work with the ECA's government affairs team on topics related to Gamers for Digital Rights, the ECA said.

Hunter is also currently president of Global Intellectual Property Securities. He previously worked for the Entertainment Software Association as manager for IP enforcement.
via Gamasutra

MILPITAS, CALIF., August 27, 2009 — ABBYY Software, a leading provider of document recognition, data capture and linguistic software, has signed an agreement with Fujitsu Canada to distribute a full range of ABBYY products alongside Fujitsu Canada's complete line of document scanners including ABBYY FineReader®, FlexiCapture®, FormReader®, PDF Transformer™ and Recognition Server™. Currently, ABBYY's TouchTo optical character recognition (OCR) technology is integrated into the Fujitsu fi-6010N iScanner.

"With the growing demand to convert paper into searchable format, the combination of our industry leading scanners and ABBYY's award winning OCR software provides the perfect solution," said Steve Oblin, senior marketing manager, Imaging Products at Fujitsu Canada. "Initial feedback from our resellers has been very positive and several have already become certified on ABBYY's products."

The software products covered under the distribution agreement include:

• ABBYY FineReader: Intelligent, professional level OCR software for creating editable and searchable files from scanned documents, PDF, and digital camera images.

• ABBYY FlexiCapture: Enables organizations to efficiently automate business processes, dramatically minimize manual operations associated with document processing and data capture and increase overall productivity. FlexiCapture transforms information from various types of paper forms or documents into electronic data and transfer it to business applications and databases.

• ABBYY PDF Transformer: Enables users to easily convert any type of PDF into editable formats with the original layout and formatting retained.

• ABBYY Recognition Server: Robust and powerful server-based OCR solution for automating document conversion processes across corporate departments and enterprises. It is designed for mid- to high-volume OCR processing. ABBYY Recognition Server can be used as both a turnkey solution and an integral part of document capture, document management, and back-end systems.

"This new distributor agreement with Fujitsu Canada demonstrates ABBYY's increasing commitment to the Canadian market, and strengthens our longtime relationship with Fujitsu," said Steve Kincade, vice president of channels in North America at ABBYY USA. "Fujitsu Canada's nationwide reseller network and excellent market reputation for quality products and service will provide a solid platform from which to penetrate the Canadian market with ABBYY's market leading OCR solutions. This new relationship will also be instrumental in increasing the market profile and impact of a new line of integrated Fujitsu and ABBYY solutions- beginning with ABBYY's award winning TouchTo solution for the Fujitsu 6010N."

via OPN