NOVEMBER 2005

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MUSIC - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
Musicians, industry professionals and journalists vote on the nominations. Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock Hall after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released. Criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of producers, disc jockeys, record company executives, journalists and other industry professionals. The Foundation's nominating committee, composed of rock and roll historians, selects 5-7 nominees each year in the artist or performing category. Ballots are sent to an international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts. Those performers who receive the highest number and more than 50% of votes are inducted." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was organized in 1983, and the first induction ceremony was held in 1986. The Hall of Fame is a permanent exhibit at the Museum, which opened to worldwide acclaim September, 1995 in Cleveland, Ohio.

TV - CRTC approves six foreign-language channels by cbc.ca 28 Nov 2005 -- Canada is getting six new satellite foreign-language TV channels. The CRTC has approved digital channels in Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu and Portuguese.
Two of the channels, New Tang Dynasty Television out of New York and the Phoenix North America Chinese channel, will be in Chinese. Both are mainly in Mandarin but will also carry shows in other Chinese dialects. Phoenix North America, which will be a service of a Hong Kong-based company, provides news and entertainment from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and other Asian Pacific countries, primarily for North American audiences. The applicants had argued that Mandarin speakers in Canada are underserved. Competitors such as Fairchild TV had lobbied against more Chinese-language channels. More than 600 people wanted the CRTC to approve two additional channels in Portuguese. TV Globo Internacional will target the Brazilian community. RTPi is the international version of Radiotelevisao Portuguesa, Portugal's public broadcaster. They will compete against the existing service, Festival Portuguese Television. Channel One Russia Worldwide, out of Moscow, will have 24-hour service carrying an international version of Russia's major TV network, Channel One. PTV-Prime USA, a family-oriented channel in Urdu, will carry diverse programming from Pakistan.

Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards by cbc.ca 27 Nov 2005 -- Nunavut singer Tanya Tagaq Gillis was a big winner at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards garnering best female artist as well as two other awards. The throat singer has gained some international recognition after being featured on Bjork's last album Medulla. Fiddler Ryan D'Aoust of Manitoba captured best fiddle album for Southside of the Strings. The 16-year-old was also handed the Galaxie Rising Stars Award, sponsored by CBC. The ceremonies in Toronto on Friday night also honoured Cape Breton's Forever for best rock album and best music video. And the 11-member ensemble of Burnt captured best group for its blending of blues, jazz, funk and First Nations sounds on its CD Hometown. Northern Quebec's Beatrice Deer received the Best Inuit Cultural Album Award for Just Bea. It's the first year for the award. The seventh annual awards also honoured Willie Dunn with its Lifetime Contribution to Aboriginal Music Award.

TV - Le vol des signaux satellite est illégal - La Coalition contre le vol des signaux satellite (CCVSS) accueille favorablement la sentence prononcée récemment par la Cour supérieure du Québec dans l'affaire mettant en cause Reggie Scullion, accusé en vertu du Code criminel du Canada de deux chefs d'accusation d'activités illégales reliées au vol de signaux satellite de DirecTV. La peine imposée à M. Scullion, qui a plaidé coupable devant la Cour supérieure du Québec, consiste en la confiscation, par le gouvernement, d'argent et de biens saisis par rapport à cette affaire et dont la valeur s'établit à au-delà de quatre millions de dollars canadiens. En ce qui concerne l'argent, la somme de 1,1 million de dollars ira à DirecTV et le reste à Revenu Canada et à d'autres créanciers. M. Scullion s'est également vu imposer une condamnation d'un an avec sursis. De plus, il lui est interdit en permanence de se livrer à des activités de vol des services de DirecTV en vertu d'un jugement civil obtenu par ce service de diffusion. « La Coalition contre le vol des signaux satellite (CCVSS) est heureuse de constater que la GRC continue ses efforts dans le but de stopper une grave activité illicite qui soutire au-delà de 400 millions de dollars par an au système canadien de radiotélévision », de dire M. Luc Perreault, coprésident de la CCVSS. « Il s'agit là de la somme la plus élevée jamais imposée par une cour pour le vol de signaux satellite », d'ajouter M. Harris Boyd, coprésident de la CCVSS. « Cela devrait avoir un effet dissuasif majeur ». « Il nous faut une solution à long terme », a déclaré M. Chris Frank, coprésident de la CCVSS, « une loi qui sera un véritable moyen de dissuader les marchands de se livrer à cette activité illégale ». La CCVSS se compose des organismes suivants : l'Association canadienne des radiodiffuseurs, l'Association canadienne des télécommunications par câble, l'Association canadienne de production de films et de télévision, l'Association canadienne des distributeurs de films, le Fonds canadien de télévision, et leurs membres. Elle englobe également A&E Television Networks, Bell ExpressVu, Radio-Canada et la CBC, la Guilde canadienne des réalisateurs, le Bureau de surveillance, film et vidéo de l'Association canadienne des distributeurs de films, la Société collective de retransmission du Canada, la Guilde canadienne des réalisateurs, DIRECTV, la North American Broadcasters Association, la Société canadienne des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique, Star Choice et Vidéotron Ltée. www.casst-ccvss.ca

BOOKS - Narnia books brought to film by stepson by Associated Press, November 24, 2005 PETOSKEY, Michigan -- He may have the image of a dour, cloistered Oxford don with little knowledge of ordinary struggles. But C.S. Lewis, who wrote of epic struggles between good and evil in the imaginary land of Narnia, actually had a humorous side, his stepson says.Douglas Gresham, 60, is co-producer of the film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which opens Dec. 9. His biography of Lewis, Jack's Life, was published last month. (Friends knew Clive Staples Lewis by his nickname, Jack.) He also helps oversee the Lewis estate and is unofficial guardian of his legacy, believing the man and his works are often misunderstood. "He was a very funny man, very joyous," says Gresham, who spent "the most formative decade of my life" -- ages eight to 18 -- in Lewis's company. Gresham recently spoke at the third annual C.S. Lewis Festival in this northern Michigan town, where schools, churches and community groups paid tribute to the beloved British author, scholar of medieval literature and Christian apologist. A bachelor most of his life, Lewis married Joy Gresham in his late 50s but lost her to cancer four years later. Grief-stricken, he cared for her two sons, Douglas and David, until his death in 1963. Gresham says he's satisfied that director Andrew Adamson, who also directed the Shrek films, met the challenge. For the uninitiated, Narnia is a magical world populated by talking animals and mythical creatures such as centaurs, dwarves and fauns. The story, published in 1950, tells of four English siblings -- Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy -- sent to live in an old country house to escape the London bombings during the Second World War. They stumble into Narnia through a walk-in wardrobe.

Feds dole out millions to Canada Council for the Arts by Canadian Press, November 24, 2005 MONTREAL -- The federal government is making a three-year $342-million investment in the arts, including a $306.5-million increase in the budget for the Canada Council for the Arts, Heritage Minister Liza Frulla announced. "Today I am proud to demonstrate to Canadians the government of Canada's commitment to artists and the arts," Frulla told a news conference attended by some 100 members of the country's artistic community. The initiative's funding, for fiscal 2006-07, was provided for in last February's federal budget. Also included in the $342 million is separate funding of $6.5 million to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, $12 million to the National Arts Training Contribution Program and $5.8 million to the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown. "This is thrilling news, not just for the Canada Council and the arts community but for all Canadians," said Karen Kain, chair of the council which will decide in the coming year precisely where to allot its portion of the federal handout. "This is very exciting... but it's something that we have been calling for for a long time," said Donna Balkan, a council spokeswoman, who notes the organization will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2007. The council reports to Parliament through Frulla's department. It is overseen by an 11-member board appointed by the government.

FILM -- Asia is movie market of the future by Associated Press, November 23, 2005 MUMBAI, India -- Hong Kong action hero Jackie Chan said that Asia would be the biggest movie market in the coming years. In Bombay to promote his latest movie, The Myth, Chan said he was in touch with Indian producers and actors and was keen to set a film in India. "I want to work more with Indian actors and filmmakers," Chan told reporters. "The biggest market of the future for movies is Asia." Chan is in India's entertainment capital to attend the premiere of The Myth. The movie was shot in China and India and stars Bollywood's sex symbol Mallika Sherawat as an Indian princess with whom Chan's character falls in love. The popular action hero plays an ancient Chinese general reincarnated as a present-day archaeologist in the movie that opens across India this week. Chan acted alongside Hollywood's Chris Tucker in Rush Hour and its sequel.

TV & LIBEL -- DH's Teri Hatcher sues British tabloid by Associated Press , November 23, 2005 LONDON -- Teri Hatcher is suing a British tabloid newspaper for libel over its claims she had "sex romps" with men in a Volkswagen van, her lawyer said. London law firm Schillings said Hatcher, who stars on ABC's Desperate Housewives, had instructed it to begin libel proceedings against the Daily Sport over articles that she says "falsely alleged that she engages in sex romps on a regular basis with a series of men in a VW van parked outside her L.A. home for this purpose." The claims "were repeated extensively elsewhere in many countries," the firm said. Hatcher "bitterly refutes these offensive allegations," it said. The case is expected to go before the High Court in London next year.

BOOKS - TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR THE BOOK TRADE
Bookazine 800-221-8112201-339-7777.
Baker & Taylor 1-800-775-1100. Electronic: 1-800-775-0419. DVD or music orders, 1-800-775-2600.
IngramPhone numbers for orders: Ingram Book Company: 800-937-8000 Spring Arbor: 800-395-5599 Ingram Library Services: 800-937-5300 Ingram International (Canada): 800-289-0687 Ingram International (other than Canada): 615-793-5000 x27652
Customer service numbers: Ingram Book Company: 800-937-8200 Spring Arbor: 800-395-7234 Ingram Library Services: 800-937-5300 Ingram International (Canada): 800-289-0687 Ingram International (other than Canada): 615-793-5000 x32622
Koen-Levy Book Wholesalers 856-235-4444.
NACSCORP http://www.nacscorp.com/
Partners Book Distributing Customer Service: 1-800-336-3137 Toll-Free Orders: 1-800-336-3137
Partners/West Book Distributing 1-800-563-2385 or e-mail orders@partners-west.com.
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MUSIC - SOCAN names classic songs by Canadian Press, November 22, 2005 TORONTO -- Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Trooper's Pretty Lady were among five oldies added Monday to the list of homegrown classics by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). Jann Arden's Insensitive, Paul Carrack's Don't Shed A Tear and Nick Gilder's Hot Child In the City rounded out the list of tracks, which passed the 100,000-airplay mark on domestic radio in 2004. All the songs were written by Canadians. In addition to marking classics, Socan, which collects and distributes royalty cheques on behalf of songwriters, acknowledged newly written songs which dominated radio last year. They included Nelly Furtado's Powerless and Try, Sarah McLachlan's Fallen and Stupid, Sarah Harmer's Almost, k-os's Crabbuckit, Finger Eleven's One Thing and Emerson Drive's Waitin' On Me. The songwriters received trophies at a gala dinner reception.

Film, TV & Music - Canadian content rules poorly enforced by Jim Brown Canadian Press, November 22, 2005 OTTAWA -- The federal government isn't doing a good enough job ensuring that Canadian content rules are met in the film productions it funds, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser. In a report Tuesday, Fraser was also critical of the Canada Revenue Agency for not adequately monitoring the tax credits granted to domestic film and video producers. And she pointed to potential conflicts of interest at the Canadian Television Fund, where the board of directors includes some government appointees but is largely composed of private-sector nominees. Fraser zeroed in on the Heritage Department and Telefilm Canada, a Crown corporation with a $200-million-a-year budget, for sloppy work in assessing film projects. Telefilm, in particular, didn't always keep proper records to justify its selection of specific projects. In other cases its files were so "disorganized" it was hard to determine whether the relevant rules had been followed. The Canadian citizenship of key creative personnel was "not systematically confirmed," wrote Fraser, and content rules in general were not "rigorously enforced." An examination of Canada Revenue Agency files showed officials sometimes granted tax credits without auditing claims to ensure that only eligible production expenses were reimbursed. In one case a credit was rushed through with no apparent explanation except that the claimant was near the end of the fiscal year and urgently in need of money. As for the Canadian Television Fund, Fraser noted that 14 of 20 board members are private-sector executives who have a financial interest in the $275 million the fund hands out for program production each year. "The industry representation provides the board with expertise in the audiovisual field," wrote the auditor general. "However, it also opens the door to potential conflict of interest." There are rules in place that are supposed to ensure board members don't get personally involved in decisions affecting their firms. But Fraser said it doesn't appear, from the minutes of board meetings, that the rules are always enforced. The findings were part of a wider review of federal initiatives to support Canadian culture. Ottawa spent more than $800 million last year on a variety of programs in the areas of film, television, sound recording and publishing. But various agencies were often left on their own to set plans and priorities because the Heritage Department didn't have a clear strategy to co-ordinate the spending or ensure that program objectives were fulfilled. Fraser's bottom line: "The department should have a better idea of what it's trying to achieve."

TV - Canadian actors push Ottawa for funds by Sue Bailey Canadian Press, November 22, 2005 OTTAWA -- Canadian actors hit the parliamentary stage to push for more culture funding, but they couldn't get an audience with Paul Martin. Stephen Waddell, national head of the ACTRA union, said the prime minister was too busy. Instead, several performers joined forces with the United Steelworkers this week in a lobbying blitz that was to include meetings with up to 80 MPs. The actors, including Peter Keleghan from The Newsroom, Gabrielle Miller from Corner Gas and Julie Stewart from Cold Squad, say Ottawa must do more to promote Canadian productions. There are now just three home-grown, one-hour dramas on TV compared with 12 in 1999, said Stewart. She urged Ottawa to increase funding and change the way the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission does business. Rules should be strengthened and enforced to limit foreign ownership of telecommunications companies, she said. "The CRTC is the most influential regulator of our culture and right now it is not doing its job. It's letting broadcasters fill our airwaves with U.S. programming and Canadian voices are being drowned out. "Another country is controlling our most compelling media in English-speaking culture." Stewart implored all political parties "to stand up and say that it's wrong, and to commit to fixing the CRTC and giving Canadians back their voice." Keleghan called for a funding boost for the CBC to help restore years of cuts. "Our public broadcaster needs to be given the resources it needs to do its job to showcase Canadian national identity," he said. "Gutted by budget cuts and without sufficient multi-year funding, the stability of the CBC continues to erode." Politicians are about to hit the campaign trail, and the actors want to convince them that Canadian voices are being drowned out by U.S. programs.

MUSIC - American Music Awards by Alex Veiga Canadian Press, November 23, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- The 33rd annual American Music Awards spread things around with country star Tim McGraw, alternative rockers Green Day, soul stars Destiny's Child and hip-hop chart toppers Black Eyed Peas each winning two awards. Mariah Carey, in the midst of a career comeback, had gone into the evening's competition the heavy favourite with a leading four nominations but the pop diva took home only one award, for favorite female artist in the soul-R&B category.

VIDEO GAMES - Xbox 360: Easy on eyes, but power? by Neil Davidson, Canadian Press, November 22, 2005 -- The Xbox 360 is nice on the eyes, easy to use, well thought out and plays fine-looking games. But anyone expecting a punch-in-the-gut reaction to what they see on screen may be slightly disappointed with the new console. Microsoft's new machine, out Tuesday in North America, opens the door to the next generation of gaming. It doesn't get you to the promised land immediately. That may happen down the line when game designers work their head around the Xbox 360 development kit and how best to use the console's muscle. Comparing the first crop of next-generation console games to the best of the old generation doesn't tell the whole story of the 360. At this year's E3, the influential video gaming trade show in Los Angeles, reaction to montages of next-generation console game play was muted at times. That's because gaming has already made the move from Pong to Halo 2, akin to jumping from a bicycle to a Porsche. When you then make a move to a Lamborghini, the wow factor is reduced. What you will notice with the 360 is how good the backdrop looks. The challenge for the 360 and the other new consoles is whether that gloss is accompanied by improved content and game play. That will happen, according to Neil Young, vice-president and general manager of Electronic Arts. "What's interesting to me about the next-generation machines is instead of deploying 80 to 90 per cent of the processing power against rendering the scenes, we're seeing more like 40 to 50 per cent of the processing power deployed against rendering scenes," Young said in a recent interview at the Montreal International Game Summit. "And that's leaving 50 per cent of a PlayStation3 or an Xbox 360 able to work on things that can change the nature of the game play." Gears of War, a futuristic horror-survival shooter from Epic Games expected out in 2006, looks to be one of the 360's early watershed games. I tried out three launch titles with my 360: Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Kameo: Elements of Power. Call of Duty 2 (developed by Infinity Ward for Activision) is a teen-rated first-person shooter set in the Second World War. Texas-based Infinity Ward scored a huge hit with the original Call of Duty, and the 360 sequel (also available on PC) is incredibly immersive. Snow swirls and bullets fly on the Russian front, while the chatter of Allied and enemy soldiers during combat draws you into the game. Throw a smoke bomb to conceal an advance and the smoke billows until it fills the screen. While stuck in a firefight, you may find yourself ducking your head over the controller to escape bullets. It's hard to put down. Compare Call of Duty 2 to Call of Duty: Big Red One - a new release by California developer Treyarch for the Xbox and other current consoles - and the 360 game wins hands down. The Treyarch game looks pretty good on its own but compared to the 360 title the characters are boxy and the texture of the surroundings is basic. Project Gotham Racing 3 (rated E for everyone from U.K. developer Bizarre Creations for Microsoft Games Studios) is equally slick. The cars are as glossy as nail polish, reflecting what's around them as they roar around the streets of London, New York, Tokyo and Las Vegas. It's hard not to take your eye off the road to look around at the Flamingo and other Vegas attractions, although at 120 m.p.h it can be ill-advised. It's great-looking and oodles of fun, even for non-driving game devotees. Although, is it too much to ask to have the cars show damage (as Microsoft's own Forza Motorsport does) when you slam into a wall? Kameo (rated T for teen from England's Rare Studio exclusively for Xbox) is equally glossy. The colourful epic is the story of a princess in need, who solves puzzles and takes on trolls and all-comers by morphing into different entities that boast distinct powers. As the game opens, dragons soar in the sky, trolls tumble to the ground and flames leap from towers in a castle. It's a visual smorgasbord, although I found the game play a little stilted at times. On the plus side, it has a decent hint system if you run into a brick wall. Be prepared to pay more for 360 games - $69.99, or $10 more in some cases. Gaming aside, the 360 online interface looks useful. The Xbox Live Marketplace, where you can download content and other material providing you have a broadband connection, has all sorts of possibilities. At first blush, the 3.5-kilogram 360 scores points for its stylish sculpted look - a matching designer kettle or toaster would not be that outlandish. It is less obtrusive than the existing four-kilogram Xbox, although the power cord runs through a bulky device that looks like something from a construction site. The 360 is easy to set up. Plug it in and connect to your TV. And the 360 has been well thought out. A button on the controller can turn the console on and off, or open the tray. The white and black buttons, awkwardly placed on the original Xbox controller, have been turned into shoulder buttons above the left and right triggers. The wireless controller that comes with the premium $499.99 version (the core $399.99 model comes with a wired controller - the wireless version is available for $59.99 as an accessory) also adds to the next-gen feel. Wireless controllers are available for the current Xbox but if you're like me you never bothered to upgrade. It may be more mental than anything else, but having the wireless controller seems liberating. The 360 also allows all sorts of customization. As Microsoft corporate vice-president J. Allard notes, this is the remix generation. Thanks to the IPod, playlists have shunted aside albums. Cellphones can be customized. Same with the 360. You can buy a faceplate to dress up your 360 exterior and then download a skin for a matching on-screen look. You can also rip music onto the machine's hard drive or hook up your portable player and use the 360 to stream music. Parents, meanwhile, will like the console's controls, which can restrict access to online play, plus games and movies depending on their rating. While the 360 bags all the headlines this time around, remember both Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution will debut in 2006.

FILM & INTERNET - Movielink signs with Fox for online films by Gary Gentile Associated Press, November 21, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- Movielink, a joint venture of five Hollywood studios to offer movies over the Internet, has signed a deal with Twentieth Century Fox, allowing it to offer movies from all major studios for the first time. The deal, announced Monday, comes at a time when studios and TV networks are looking at alternative ways to distribute programs, including video on demand and portable devices, such as Apple's iPod. While Fox has offered some of its content online at sites such as CinemaNow.com, it waited until more homes had high-speed Internet access and could view downloaded movies on large screen TVs before signing a deal with Movielink. "I think you're going to see us be a lot more aggressive in the next few months," said Peter Levinsohn, president of Worldwide Pay Television and Digital Media at Fox, a subsidiary of New York-based News Corp. "This marketplace is really going to start to grow." Movielink and similar legitimate movie download services exist, in part, to offer an alternative to illegal piracy. But Movielink has yet to become popular, in part because films can only be viewed on a computer or watched on a TV screen using a cable.But over the next few months, consumer electronics devices, such as the recently released XBox 360 game console, will allow users to more easily view material stored on a hard drive on a large TV screen. Studios also are expected to experiment with other business models, including allowing viewers to purchase movies online and burn copies to DVDs. "The end of 2005 and into 2006 is really a watershed year," said Jim Ramo, chief executive at Movielink. "I think you're beginning to see a snowball effect." Starting Monday, Fox will make movies such as Robots available and will add more movies over the next few months. But viewers won't see any of George Lucas's Star Wars films, which Fox distributes in theatres and home video. Fox does not own the Internet distribution rights to the films.

ART - Ownership deal allows Harris painting to fetches $1.2m at auction by Canadian Press Monday, November 21, 2005 TORONTO -- The Lawren Harris painting Algoma Hill was sold at auction Monday morning for $1.2 million. Harris painted the canvas 85 years ago, the year he founded the Group of Seven. Its ownership has since been mired in controversy. Some eight decades ago, Algoma Hill was given to Toronto Western Hospital by a wealthy Toronto couple, Edward Rogers Wood and his wife, Agnes Euphemia Smart Wood. But when Toronto's University Health Network wanted to sell it in 2001, they were told by the Wood descendants that the painting was a loan, not a gift. The debate continued until a deal was brokered earlier this year with the hospital and the Wood heirs agreeing to split the proceeds from Monday's auction at Sotheby's Canada. The price fetched Monday is not a record for a Harris painting. That benchmark was reached in May 2001, when Harris's 1930 painting Baffin Island sold for $2.43 million.

MUSIC - Billboard Music Awards honour for Kanye West by Canadian Press, November 18, 2005 NEW YORK -- Kanye West will receive the Artist Achievement Award at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards, which will be presented Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. Past recipients of the award, which recognizes both artistic excellence and Billboard chart success, include Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Cher and Destiny's Child. The awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Fox. "Kanye West has not only had a huge impact on R and B/hip-hop, he has transformed modern music as a whole," Tamara Conniff, co-executive editor of Billboard, said in a statement. The Billboard Music Awards recognize the year's leading artists and songs as determined by performance on Billboard's weekly charts.

MUSIC - CDs with faulty software sold in Canada (digital rights management) by Angela Pacienza Canadian Press, November 18, 2005 TORONTO -- About 120,000 Sony BMG CDs that create security glitches in computers were sold in Canada, the company said Friday. Sony BMG did not immediately disclose which artists' albums were affected, other than to say 37 titles with copy-control XCP software are involved. Details of a program allowing Canadians to exchange the CDs will be announced early next week, said John McKay, a Sony BMG spokesman. "We are dedicated to making this situation right," McKay said from head office in New York. He said the company has yet to determine exactly where in Canada the 120,000 copy-protected discs were sold. The XCP software on the discs - used as a way to stop music piracy - leaves behind spyware when customers play or try to rip the music using their computers. The spyware makes the machines susceptible to hackers and viruses. Consumers can identify if they have an affected CD by checking the packaging. They should look on the back side for a box labelled "Compatible With." Discs with the XCP software will have the following URL at the bottom of that box: http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. Sony BMG has recalled all of the discs. About 4.7 million had been made, and 2.1 million sold including the 120,000 in Canada. McKay said the company will list for Canadians all the affected titles by Monday on its website, cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. Sony BMG stressed that the majority of its catalogue sold in Canada uses an "alternative copy protection technology" and is safe to use. The hidden XCP software, called a rootkit, first became public two weeks ago after a computer programmer noticed it and posted details on his blog, www.sysinternals.com/blog. The news spread fast, causing an uproar from music buyers and a public relations fiasco for Sony BMG. The company immediately created a patch to address the issue, but it ended up creating yet another security hole. The XCP software is part of a growing trend in the music industry to add copy controls to albums. Called digital rights management, the technology allows labels to control how the music is used and how often it's copied or burned. Copy controls have created controversy because IPod users can't rip music from controlled CDs to ITunes, the program needed to load the devices, if they are using a PC.

TV - 2005 Gemini Awards by John Mckay Canadian Press, November 18, 2005 TORONTO -- The CTV crime movie Tripping the Wire: A Stephen Tree Mystery was named Friday the winner of the 2005 Gemini Award for best TV movie. The Eleventh Hour, the already-cancelled CTV drama about television news, won four Geminis out of the 15 nominations that made it a leading contender this year. The awards were handed out at the Gemini industry gala, a mix of technical and performance awards and the second of three consecutive nights set aside to honour the best in Canadian TV. On Thursday, awards were distributed in TV news, sports and documentary categories. The Eleventh Hour won for best writing, direction, makeup and guest actor, Henry Czerny. The drama is also up for best TV series at the Saturday night gala, which will be carried live by Global television and where the most high-profile awards will be handed out. Two award shows won Geminis Friday: the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards were deemed best music, variety program or series, while the 2005 Juno Awards on CTV won for best production design or art direction. CBC's searing miniseries about the global flesh trade, Sex Traffic, went into the Gemini weekend with 14 nods. It won on Friday night for best production design or art direction, best costume design and best supporting actress in a miniseries, Maria Popistasu. ReGenesis, the bio-thriller series, won for best guest actress (Kristin Booth) and supporting actress (Ellen Page). American actor Michael Murphy won a Gemini for his supporting role as a jaded judge in CBC's legal drama series Wonderland, while Richard Zeppieri of Except the Dying won for best supporting role in a miniseries. Mary Walsh took home a Gemini for best individual performance in a comedy program or series for her role as the matriarch of a dysfunctional Newfoundland outport family in the pilot episode for Hatching, Matching and Dispatching. The special has led to a six-episode series to air on CBC in January. Prior to the gala, Walsh said she was scheduled to appear at the Saturday event to deliver a speech on why Canadian TV is important. But she suggested that perhaps Canadians should not feel required to defend the importance of domestic programming. "Would somebody on American TV stand up and say 'It is important that we make American TV because who else would tell the story of those desperate women who live on Wisteria Lane'? C'mon! It's time for that to stop. That's the last time I'm going to say something inane and stupid like that on the air." The outspoken Walsh also thinks the Geminis would do better if they represented the top programs, the ones viewers want to see. She noted that not only is Corner Gas, with a million-plus viewers a week, not nominated in key comedy categories, but the defunct drama The Eleventh Hour is the leading nominee. "It's, like, about the dead!" she said. "The Geminis have got to embrace what people are watching." The TV movie The Last Casino won for best photography and picture editing. The sci-fi series Stargate: Atlantis Rising won for best special effects. CTV's hit sitcom Corner Gas won for best interactive for its website (http://www.cornergas.com/) while most popular website went to CTV's Canadian Idol (idol.ctv.ca). Evan Solomon was named best host or interviewer in a human interest talk program or series, for CBC News: Sunday Night. The gala was hosted by Graham Greene. On the web: www.geminiawards.ca

BOOKS - Raincoast Books launches author podcasts by Canadian Press, November 18, 2005 VANCOUVER -- Listen up book lovers. Your favourite authors may be coming to a podcast near you. Raincoast Books announced Friday that it is launching a "literary podcast series" which will feature author interviews and readings that can be listened to on computers or portable media players. The company's first podcast will feature Jim Lynch, author of The Highest Tide. The podcast will include material recorded when the author appeared at the 2005 Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. It's available from ITunes by searching for "Raincoast," or the RSS feed is available from Feedburner: feeds.feedburner.com/raincoast. The MP3 file can also be access from the Raincoast blog: blogs.raincoast.com. Raincoast plans to release up to 15 podcasts in 2006.

BOOKS - Joan Didion wins National Book Award by Associated Press, November 17, 2005 NEW YORK -- Joan Didion, whose memoir The Year of Magical Thinking published by Alfred A. Knopf, won the U.S. National Book Award for non-fiction. William Vollmann won the fiction prize. W.S. Merwin, won the poetry prize. The young people's literature award went to Jeanne Birdsall. Winners each received $10,000. Garrison Keillor hosted and honorary medals went to Norman Mailer and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Mailer was introduced by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. The awards, now in their 56th year, are sponsored by the National Book Foundation, a non-profit organization that uses money raised by the ceremony to fund its educational programs. MORE: http://www.nationalbook.org/

MUSIC - Madonna is 'Frozen' by plagiarism ruling by Associated Press, November 18, 2005 BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A little-known Belgian songwriter won a plagiarism case against Madonna on Friday, leading a local court to ban the megastar's song Frozen from sale or broadcast in the country. Songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva's suit had alleged that Madonna's 1998 hit off the album Ray of Light plagiarized parts of his song, Ma vie fout l'camp (My Life's Getting Nowhere), which had been written five years earlier. "The judge has ruled Madonna must withdraw from sales all remaining discs, and orders that TV and radio can no longer play Frozen," said Acquaviva's lawyer, Victor-Vincent Dehin. No damages were set. Madonna can appeal the ruling. A call to the singer's New York-based publicist, Liz Rosenberg, was not immediately returned.

MUSIC - Beach Boys singer Mike Love sues Brian Wilson by San Diego Daily Transcript - A lawyer for one of the founders of the Beach Boys says his suit against one of the other band members is nothing personal. Mike Love is suing his cousin Brian Wilson over the way Wilson promoted his album last year, called "Smile." Love charges that Wilson "shamelessly misappropriated" the Beach Boys trademark, as well as Love's own songs and likeness. Love's lawyer says he and Wilson have a "good relationship." He says the problem is with the way Wilson's people have promoted the album. "Smile" is an album that was started by the Beach Boys, but never completed. Wilson finally decided to finish it himself. Love objected to a promotion in which two and a-half (m) million copies of a Beach Boys compilation C-D were given away in Britain. The suit says that cuts into sales of Beach Boys music. Love has the exclusive legal right to tour under the Beach Boys name.

TV - Writers Guild Association West to honor Cannell with Chayefsky Award by Hollywood Reporter Nov. 18, 2005 -- Veteran writer-producer Stephen J. Cannell will receive the WGA West's Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television during the guild's 2006 awards in February. "For more than a generation, Stephen J. Cannell put the 'prime' in primetime television," WGAW president Patric Verrone said. "He is undoubtedly a member of our profession's A-team." Cannell's long list of TV series includes the Emmy-winner "The Rockford Files," "Baretta," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "The A-Team," "21 Jump Street," "Wiseguy," "Hunter," "The Commish," "Renegade" and "Silk Stalkings." Groups and Association for Writers

MUSIC - Cohen, Murray named to Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame by Angela Pacienza, Canadian Press, November 16, 2005TORONTO -- The classic tunes Sweet City Woman, Put Your Hand in the Hand and Sugar Sugar are being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday. Twenty-six songs and five songwriters, including Leonard Cohen, will be so honoured. The other songwriters are: ragtime composer William Eckstein, big band saxophonist Carmen Lombardo, classical composer Lionel Daunais and Quebecois songwriter Gilles Vigneault. Among the 26 songs to be inducted are Eckstein's Farewell to Nova Scotia, Jean-Paul Filion's Quebecois folk favourite La Parente, as well as Cohen's Suzanne, Bird on the Wire and Hallelujah. It's the third year for the awards, founded by music publisher Frank Davies. Songs must be over 25 years old for consideration. "The time was long overdue," Jody Scotchmer, executive director of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, said at an afternoon reception to unveil the inductees. "They toil in the background and no one honours their tremendous feats of putting words down on paper and giving us the music that make our celebrities who they are today." Several of the writers were present to hear their names called. "It was during a very productive time," recalled Calgary-born Rich Dodson who penned the 1971 smash hit Sweet City Woman for the Stampeders. The ditty sold more than three million records for the country-rock band. "I loved Montego Bay so I was trying to write something like that. The lick happened and one thing after another. It just went like a rocket... a little bit of magic," he said. Songbird Anne Murray, Quebecois chanteuse Lucille Dumont and recording industry leader Herbert Berliner will receive legacy awards from the organization, a joint partnership between the Canadian Music Publishers Association and the Songwriters Association of Canada. Previous inductees include Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Gordon Lightfoot and Hank Snow. A building to house hall of fame memorabilia is being planned for 2008 in downtown Toronto. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame will also display information on Juno Award winners. The organization's intention is to draw attention to often underappreciated and unknown talent. To that end, it's compiling a database of homegrown songwriters and their songs from the past 150 years. The inductees will be honoured at a bash on Feb. 5. MORE: www.cansong.ca

RADIO & TV - The George Foster Peabody Awards, more commonly known as simply the "Peabody Awards", are annual international awards given for excellence in radio and television broadcasting and cable television. Founded in 1940, the awards are administered by the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The awards are named after the banker-philanthropist George Foster Peabody who donated the funds to initiate the awards.The Peabody Awards are generally regarded as the most prestigious awards within the fields of broadcast journalism, documentary making, educational programming, children's programming, and entertainment, although to many outside the field of communications, the Emmy Award has more resonance. The Peabodys are also the most difficult of the entertainment awards to win. The Peabody Awards were originally only for radio, but in 1948 television awards were introduced. In the late 1990s additional categories for material distributed via the World Wide Web were added. Materials created for theatrical motion picture release are not eligible.

BOOKS - Daily Show's Stewart wins Thurber Prize by Associated Press, November 15, 2005 NEW YORK -- For a funny guy, Jon Stewart is starting to collect some serious prizes. Stewart, David Javerbaum and Ben Karlin won the 2005 Thurber Prize for American Humor for their book, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction. The runners-up were Andy Borowitz for The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers and Firoozeh Dumas for Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America. The award is named for James Thurber, an author, humorist and New Yorker magazine cartoonist who delighted readers for decades with his sharp wit and literary flair before his death in 1961. Stewart is the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which has earned seven Emmys and a George Foster Peabody Award. The Thurber Prize, started in 1996, is considered the top award for humour writing in the United States. The trio received the award Monday night at the Algonquin Hotel, the legendary spot where New Yorker writers, including Thurber, once gathered frequently to hold court. Christopher Buckley, son of conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley, was given the prize last year for No Way to Treat a First Lady, which spoofs the marriage of former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton.

MUSIC & BOOKS - 50 Cent tells rap story in graphic novels by Associated Press, November 15, 2005 NEW YORK -- 50 Cent will again turn his reality into fiction with a new line of hip-hop novellas and graphic novels featuring his former G-Unit rap crew buddies, a publisher announced. Pocket/MTV Books promised the venture would showcase "gritty" stories and cover much of the same terrain as 50 Cent's raps. "These tales will tell the truth about The Life; the sex, guns and cash; the brutal highs and short lives of the players on the streets," the publisher said in a release over the weekend. The G-Unit Books line of street fiction will feature G-Unit members Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and Olivia as characters, the release said. Nikki Turner, author of The Glamorous Life and A Hustler's Wife, will pen the line's first novella. It is set to be published in 2007. 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, was recently criticized by community groups in Philadelphia and Los Angeles for billboards promoting his semi-autobiographical movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The ads featured an image of him holding a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other.

MUSIC - Music prize on hold as founders squabble by Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press, November 15, 2005 NEW YORK -- In its four-year history, the Shortlist Music Prize has become a coveted industry honour, shining a spotlight on artists who have made exceptional albums that have fallen under the mainstream radar. But its future remains in doubt as its creators wrangle over the future of the organization. Usually given out in Los Angeles in the fall, there will be no Shortlist prize this year. Instead, co-founder Tom Sarig has a new award to replace it: the New Pantheon, which, like the Shortlist, will be determined by an eclectic jury of musicians, performers and journalists. "I thought starting with a new entity with a sort of bolder initiative would be a fresh way to do it," Sarig said. Among the celebrity judges for the award: Dave Matthews, Elton John, Keith Urban, Shirley Manson, actor Elijah Wood and Ahmir (?uestlove) Thompson of the Roots. "The idea is very similar. It's shining a light on and honouring the most creative and most artistic records of the new year," Sarig said. The former MCA executive, who's now a manager and label consultant, said his interests and those of co-founder Greg Spotts had changed and they had mutually, and amicably, decided not to continue Shortlist. In an interview, Spotts acknowledged that he has been less involved with music: he's more focused on political commentary these days, having made the 2003 documentary American Jobs, with plans for a book about the film that is critical of Wal-Mart. Still, he expressed surprise at the new prize and said Shortlist was very much alive. "The only reason why we haven't put on a Shortlist this year is because Tom and I don't seem to be able to agree on how," he said. "It seems to be just like as bands get more successful, the egos get more complicated to manage. That same process seems to be happening with the management with our company." The Shortlist Music Prize, created by the pair in 2001, mirrored London's Mercury Prize in that it honoured albums that were critically acclaimed but had not achieved widespread commercial success -- those nominated sold less than 500,000 copies. The previous winners were Icelandic band Sigur Ros, Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice, the Pharrell-fronted hip-hop/rock hybrid N.E.R.D., and TV on the Radio. Besides the honour, a cash prize of up to $10,000 US was awarded. Just being nominated for a Shortlist gave an artist cachet, and last year, the show was broadcast on MTV2 for the first time. But Sarig said that while the award was well-known within media and industry circles, he wanted it to have more of an impact with the average fan. "We feel a lot of credibility, but we haven't penetrated the consumer world yet and I think with New Pantheon, with the initiatives that I'm planning, we can totally do that," he said, saying he hoped to announce TV, radio and Internet partnerships in the coming weeks. Sarig said by adding artists such as country music star Keith Urban to the panel, the nominees would be even more varied than the Shortlist. Spotts said he would take legal action if Sarig went ahead with his plans: "That isn't something that I feel is legally possible for him... you can't compete against a company that you co-own." Sarig said his agreement with Spotts did not include a non-compete clause and he was perfectly within his legal rights to create a new prize. What both men agree on is that the Shortlist Music Prize will remain in limbo until both agree on its future. "I've tried very, very hard to have a Shortlist this year," Spotts said. "I think it's become an important cultural happening on the calendar." Sarig said while he was proud of the Shortlist, he didn't want the idea behind it to become lost in its problems. Finalists for the New Pantheon will be announced in December, and the award will be revealed shortly before the Feb. 8 Grammys. "I am more committed to this vision of trying to create a platform for left-of-centre music than ever," he said.

MUSIC - Irv Gotti of Murder Inc. record label set for trial in racketeering case: Prosecutors allege 50 Cent assassination plot by Associated Press, November 15, 2005 NEW YORK -- When a brash disc jockey named Irving Lorenzo decided to call himself "Irv Gotti" and start a music label called Murder Inc. in the late 1990s, he said it was all about selling records. Records by stars like Ashanti and Ja Rule sold in the millions, turning Lorenzo into a rap mogul. The problem, according to federal authorities, was that his gangster persona wasn't mere hype. Lorenzo, 34, and his brother Christopher Lorenzo, 38, were scheduled to go on trial Wednesday, accused of laundering drug money for a notorious crack kingpin. The federal racketeering case mixes elements of corporate scandal -- Murder Inc. is partly owned by Def Jam, a subsidiary of Universal Music -- with inside glimpses of feuds in the rap world. Prosecutors say that the kingpin, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, was allowed to secretly funnel more than $1 million US in drug money into Murder Inc.'s coffers in exchange for being the label's protector and enforcer. They hope to introduce evidence that the Lorenzos knew about an alleged plot by McGriff to assassinate rapper 50 Cent. "What the facts show is that they didn't give just give themselves names like Gotti," prosecutor Sean Haran said Monday at a pretrial hearing. "They wanted to be gangsters." Lawyers for the Lorenzos say their clients' relationship with McGriff, a childhood friend, gave them "street credibility." But they also insist their business was legitimate. "These two defendants did not receive cash from McGriff," said Gerald Shargel, who represents Christopher. The brothers, who are free on $1 million bail, were charged in January in the same indictment as McGriff. But U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman agreed to grant them a separate trial after the defence argued that prosecuting them with McGriff, who faces murder counts, would prejudice the jury. McGriff, 44, and Lorenzo met on the streets in the 1980s as McGriff rose to power at the head of a ruthless crack-dealing crew called the Supreme Team. The crew employed scores of dealers, took in $200,000 a day and was responsible for at least eight murders in 1987 alone. McGriff served about 10 years in prison.
Once released, he renewed his association with Gotti by helping Murder Inc. produce Crime Partners 2000, a straight-to-video film starring Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg and Ice-T. Prosecutors say the film was financed with drug cash. McGriff allegedly ordered the shooting of 50 Cent in May 2000 amid the rapper's ongoing war or words with Ja Rule. Investigators believe 50 Cent, who survived the shooting, had angered the drug lord by writing a song about him, titled Ghetto Koran.
Murder Inc. changed its name to The Inc. last year after executives said the label's image was hurt by the racketeering case. If convicted, the Lorenzos face up to 20 years in prison.

MUSIC - Sony takes heat over CD copy-protection by Brian Bergstein, Associated Press, November 15, 2005 BOSTON -- The fallout from a hidden copy-protection program that Sony BMG Music Entertainment put on some CDs is only getting worse. Sony's suggested method for removing the program actually widens the security hole the original software created, researchers say. Sony apparently has moved to recall the discs in question, but music fans who have listened to them on their computers or tried to remove the dangerous software they deposited could still be vulnerable. "This is a surprisingly bad design from a security standpoint," said Ed Felten, a Princeton University computer science professor who explored the removal program with a graduate student, Alex Halderman. "It endangers users in several ways." The XCP copy-protection program was included on at least 20 CDs, including releases by Van Zant, The Bad Plus, Neil Diamond and Celine Dion. When the discs were put into a PC -- a necessary step for transferring music to iPods and other portable music players -- the CD automatically installed a program that restricted how many times the discs' tracks could be copied, and made it extremely inconvenient to transfer songs into the format used by iPods. That antipiracy software -- which works only on Windows PCs -- came with a cloaking feature that allowed it to hide files on users' computers. Security researchers classified the program as "spyware," saying it secretly transmits details about what music the PC is playing. Manual attempts to remove the software can disable the PC's CD drive. The program also gave virus writers an easy tool for hiding their malicious software. Last week, virus-like Trojan horse programs emerged that took advantage of the cloaking feature to enter computers undetected, antivirus companies said. Trojans are typically used to steal personal information, launch attacks on other computers and send spam. Stung by the controversy, Sony BMG and the company that developed the antipiracy software, First 4 Internet Ltd. of Oxfordshire, Britain, released a program that uninstalls XCP. But the uninstaller has created a new set of problems. To get the uninstall program, users have to request it by filling out online forms. Once submitted, the forms themselves download and install a program designed to ready the PC for the fix. Essentially, it makes the PC open to downloading and installing code from the Internet. According to the Princeton analysis, the program fails to make the computer confirm that such code should come only from Sony or First 4 Internet. "The consequences of the flaw are severe," Felten and Halderman wrote in a blog posting Tuesday. "It allows any Web page you visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. Any Web page can seize control of your computer; then it can do anything it likes. That's about as serious as a security flaw can get." Sony BMG spokesman John McKay did not return calls seeking comment. First 4 Internet was not making any comment, according to Lynette Riley, the office manager who answered the company's phone Tuesday evening in England. Mark Russinovich, the security researcher who first discovered the hidden Sony software, is advising users who played one of the CDs on their computer to wait for the companies to release a stand-alone uninstall program that doesn't require filling out the online form. "There's absolutely no excuse for Sony not to make one immediately available," he wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. Other programs that knock out the original software are also likely to emerge. Microsoft Corp. says the next version of its tool for removing malicious software, which is automatically sent to PCs via Windows Update each month, will yank the cloaking feature in XCP. Sony BMG said Friday it would halt production of CDs with XCP technology and pledged to "re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative." On Monday night, USA Today's Web site reported that Sony BMG would recall the CDs in question.

MUSIC - The Country Music Association Awards held its first shindig in New York on November 15th, with its country twang intact, as Madison Square Garden was transformed into the Grand Ole Opry with rootsy performances from Lee Ann Womack, Gretchen Wilson, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts. The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enhance the development of Country Music throughout the world; to demonstrate it as a viable medium to advertisers, consumers and media; and to provide a unity of purpose for the Country Music industry.

BOOKS - Flynn bucks odds with self-publishing by Jeff Baenen, Associated Press, November 14, 2005 EDINA, Minn. -- Vince Flynn had heard the warnings before: don't pay to publish your own book. You'll end up in debt, with boxes of unsold books cluttering your basement. But in a canny business move, Flynn sold 25 per cent of his first book, Term Limits, to a group of investors before self-publishing it in 1997. The gamble paid off, and Flynn, using the sales acumen he learned at Kraft General Foods, parlayed Term Limits into a book deal and a successful career as a writer of political thrillers. Flynn - whose seventh book, Consent to Kill, recently hit bookstores and has soared up the bestseller lists - says unpublished writers should be careful if they're thinking of going to a vanity press and looking to him as an example. "Most writers, their strong suit is writing," Flynn says over breakfast at an Edina restaurant. "So I tell them, it's (self-publishing) a last resort, it's a last-ditch effort." But Flynn knew how to market himself. After working two years for Kraft as an account sales executive, he knew the right people to talk to when he spread 200 copies of Term Limits around at Twin Cities bookstores to get the buzz going. "Instead of bringing a box of Grape-Nuts into a store, I'm bringing my own book," says Flynn. The fifth of seven children, Flynn, 39, was born to an Irish-Catholic family in St. Paul. His dad taught English and coached basketball, football and baseball, and his mom is a wildlife artist. After graduating from the University of St. Thomas, Flynn began working for Kraft. He left the company in 1990 after getting an aviation candidate's slot in the marine corps. But his hopes for becoming an officer were dashed when Flynn was told he was medically disqualified because of two seizures he suffered as a child. So he decided to try writing thrillers, figuring "if (Tom) Clancy could do it, why can't I?" But Term Limits - about a group of assassins targeting fat-cat congressmen - was "rejected by everyone in New York," Flynn says. He pulled the book from the remaining editors who were looking at it and - with $25,000 raised from five investors that included a family member, a bar owner and a college friend - printed 2,000 copies in August 1997. The run sold out in three weeks, Flynn says. That led to a deal with Pocket Books, which published Term Limits in hardcover in 1998. The hardcover edition didn't make the bestseller lists, but the 1999 paperback version did. Flynn's next five books - Transfer of Power, The Third Option, Separation of Power, Executive Power and Memorial Day - all made the bestseller lists, with sales going up for each book. Flynn's books are sold abroad in 12 countries. More than 5 million copies of his books - both hardcover and paperback - are in print in the United States. Atria Books is printing 300,000 copies of Consent to Kill, the first of four books under his new contract. Flynn, who had to overcome dyslexia, doesn't mind reviews that say his books are light on character development. "Guess what, if I load up on character development, the page turner ceases to exist, and suddenly I've written a literary novel ... that, like a rich piece of chocolate, puts people to sleep after a couple of bites." Emily Bestler, his editor at Atria, says Flynn's copy "has gotten stronger over time." Consent to Kill again features Flynn's character Mitch Rapp, a seemingly indestructible CIA counterterrorism operative. This time Rapp is out for vengeance after a Saudi billionaire puts a bounty on his head. In Memorial Day (2004) Rapp races the clock to foil terrorists' plans to detonate a nuclear warhead in Washington during a Memorial Day weekend celebration of the new Second World War Memorial. Terrorists are again the villains in Transfer of Power (1999) when they seize the White House and take hostages. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Cold War, Flynn says he decided to write about terrorism - telling himself, "That's where the future's going. That's going to be the next big menace." Flynn begins his books by writing two to five pages a day and ends up writing up to 20 pages a day. He works at an office away from the suburban home he shares with his wife & children. At home, Flynn's business office is packed with his own books as well as those by other thriller writers. He has a vast CD library (Flynn will crank up music, such as Led Zeppelin, when he's writing) and a bulletin board full of clippings. Last spring, Flynn served as a consultant for the upcoming season of 24, the real-time Fox action series starring Kiefer Sutherland. "He just had one great idea after another," says 24 co-creator, writer and executive producer Joel Surnow, who had read a couple of Flynn's books before bringing him in. "We just thought we got a lot of value out of it." But otherwise, Flynn hasn't had much luck in Hollywood, although he holds out hope that Consent to Kill might at least be optioned for a movie. "Hollywood will not touch these right now," he says. "They have no issue whatsoever making a movie that just rips the Catholic Church. ... I cannot understand why they will not come out and get critical over Islamic radical fundamentalism."

FILM - American Film Institute (AFI) toasts Connery with lifetime award by Canadian Press, November 11, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- Sean Connery will receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, its highest honour for a career in film, the institute announced Thursday. The award will be presented to the Scottish actor June 8 in Los Angeles. Howard Stringer, chairman of the AFI Board of Trustees, called Connery "an artist of the highest order." "Though best remembered for creating one of the great film heroes of all time, his talents transcend typecasting," Stringer said. "His body of work not only stands the test of time, but illuminates a career more extraordinary than James Bond himself." Connery portrayed agent James Bond in six films from 1962 to 1971. He appeared in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003. Connery is the 34th recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, which was established in 1973. Past recipients include Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep and George Lucas.

MUSIC - Vibe Awards honour Mariah four times by Associated Press, November 13, 2005CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Mariah Carey walked away with four honors at the Vibe Awards, a celebration of hip-hop and R&B that went smoothly after last year's ceremony was marred by a brawl and stabbing. Carey won Artist of the Year, R&B Voice of the Year, Best R&B Song for "We Belong Together" and Album of the Year for her comeback hit, "The Emancipation of Mimi." "Whatever you're going through in your life, don't ever give up," Carey said at the Saturday night event. The taped show was scheduled to air Tuesday on UPN. The Diplomats were named Best Group. With cognac and champagne flowing freely, rappers sporting diamonds and gold "grills" on their teeth mingled peacefully, although they had to pass through metal detectors to enter and police and security guards were plentiful. Even hardcore rapper T.I., who won the Street Anthem award for "U Don't Know Me," acknowledged he didn't look very "hard" in a dapper velour suit and cravat. "But y'all just keep it pimping," he said onstage. Last year, violence overshadowed the show when audience member Jimmy James Johnson approached rapper and producer Dr. Dre, seated at a table in front of the stage, and appeared to ask for an autograph before punching him. A chair-throwing melee ensued and Johnson was then allegedly stabbed by rapper Young Buck. In September, Johnson was sentenced to a year in jail after he pleaded guilty to punching the rap mogul. Young Buck, whose given name is David Darnell Brown, has pleaded not guilty in the case and is free on bail awaiting trial. Young Buck and Dr. Dre did not attend this year's ceremony. Good vibes, however, did not prevent rapper The Game from creatively dissing 50 Cent, his former collaborator and current nemesis. The night's first award, for Hottest Hook, went to "Hate It or Love It," billed as being performed by The Game featuring 50 Cent, who did not attend the ceremonies. The Game pointedly avoided mentioning the former G-Unit rap crew member onstage but showed off the word "G-Unot" shaved into the side of his head. The subject of possible skirmishes prompted jokes throughout the show, which was hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross from the sitcom "Girlfriends" and Anthony Anderson from "Hustle & Flow." "Three awards have been given out, and no one's been stabbed yet. Come on black people!" said presenter Tony Rock, brother of comedian Chris Rock. Music remained the focus. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Bob Marley's son, elicited cheers for a thunderous rendition of his reggae hit, "Welcome to Jamrock," which won the Boomshot Award honoring Caribbean music. Flames and fireworks accompanied artists affected by the hurricanes, including New Orleans-based Lil' Wayne, Houston's Paul Wall and rapper David Banner from Jacksonville, Miss. Banner performed his hit "Play" surrounded by scantily clad women lifting weights, wearing boxing gloves and bouncing on a trampoline. Quincy Jones presented singer Mary J. Blige with the VLegend award, a special honor for her 15 years in music. "Like a phoenix, I stayed strong and didn't kill myself," Blige said backstage, noting her struggle over the years with depression and substance abuse. A small number of winners did not attend, including Kanye West, who won the Best Rapper award. R. Kelly was not on hand to pick up his Reelest Video award for "Trapped in the Closet."
Winners at the third annual Vibe awards:
Artist of the Year: Mariah Carey
Album of the Year: Mariah Carey
R&B Voice of the Year: Mariah Carey
Best R&B Song: "We Belong Together," Mariah Carey
Best Rapper: Kanye West
Next Award: Keyshia Cole
Coolest Collabo: "Oh," Ciara featuring Ludacris
Street Anthem: "U Don't Know Me," T.I.
Power Broker of the Year: Kevin Liles
Club Banger: "1 Thing," Amerie
Reelest Video: "Trapped in the Closet" (Chapters 1-5), R. Kelly
Hottest Hook: "Hate it or Love It," The Game featuring 50 Cent
Video Goddess: Esther Baxter in "Number One Spot" by Ludacris
Boomshot Award: "Welcome to Jamrock," Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
Best Group: The Diplomats
VStyle: Baby Phat
Vibe Vixen: Kimora Lee Simons
VLegend: Mary J. Blige

MUSIC - Gene Simmons' ex-girlfriend can sue by Samuel Maull Canadian Press, November 12, 2005 NEW YORK -- A woman who claims to be a former girlfriend of KISS rocker Gene Simmons can proceed with a defamation lawsuit in which she says he made her sound like a "sex-addicted nymphomaniac" during a VH1 television show, a judge has ruled. State Supreme Court Justice Rosalyn Richter denied Simmons' motion to dismiss two of three claims by Georgeann Walsh Ward, 53, who says in court papers made public Friday that Simmons slandered her during a "rockumentary" about KISS. Ward said in her lawsuit, filed in January, that photos of her appeared 11 times during the report on KISS, which was shown on the network several times in July and August. In it, Simmons claimed to have had sexual encounters with 4,600 women. The documentary, When KISS Ruled The World, chronicled the band's 30-year career, its impact on rock music and the quartet's "wild" antics. The other band members were guitarist/singer Paul Stanley, drummer Peter Criss, and guitarist Ace Frehley. Simmons says during the show, "There wasn't a girl that was off limits, and I enjoyed every one of them," Ward's court papers say. At another point Simmons says, "I was a 24-hour whore. All I ever thought about was sex." This, court papers say, was shown and followed by a photo of Ward with Simmons. Ward's papers say that because a photo of her with Simmons - though her name is never mentioned - was shown during remarks about his sexual adventures, she was in effect portrayed as "wild" and "unchaste." Richter let stand Ward's two claims that she was depicted as unchaste or promiscuous during the documentary, even though Ward admitted she was in a "romantic" relationship with Simmons. Social mores regarding sex between unmarried persons have changed, the judge said, but the law still says that calling a woman unchaste is defamation. The judge dismissed Ward's claim that her likeness was used for commercial purposes without her permission. Richter said editorial use of photographs in documentaries or news publications is not barred by law. Ward's lawyer, Martha McBrayer, did not return calls for comment. Linda Steinman, who represents Simmons, did not return calls for comment.

MUSIC - Tim McGraw song honoured at the 11th Annual Inspirational Country Music Awards - Canadian Press, November 11, 2005 NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tim McGraw's hit Live Like You Were Dying was named song of the year Thursday during the 11th annual Inspirational Country Music Awards Show (formerly known as the Christian Country Music Awards or CCMA) recently held at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The award show is organized by The Christian Country Music Association, a non profit organization that exists to faithfully serve and support its members who are interested or involved in Christian Country and/or other forms of Christian or Positive music through their careers, ministries, and businesses. This is accomplished through education, encouragement through networking opportunities, providing resources, products, services, events, and promotional opportunities for the purpose of touching and changing lives through the message of the music.

BOOKS & MERCHANDISING - Danielle Steel signs film rights deal Canadian Press November 12, 2005 NEW YORK -- Brand name novelist Danielle Steel has reached agreement with New Line Home Entertainment for film rights to at least 30 of her books, including such bestsellers as Safe Harbour, Ransom and Second Chance. The films are expected to be exclusively for television and home video. "People do like the film versions of things," Steel said Thursday. "I thought this was a nice way to get my books back into the marketplace." "Danielle Steel is one of the world's great literary brands, and New Line Home Entertainment is proud to be in business with such a cultural icon," Kevin Kasha, New Line Home Entertainment's senior vice-president of acquisitions and programming, said in a statement. Steel, 58, has published more than 60 books and her latest, Toxic Bachelors, just came out. She has another book due in February and has a line of perfume coming out next fall. "And I'm starting a new book today," she said.

MUSIC - The Americana Music Association (AMA) is a professional trade organization whose mission is to provide a forum for the advocacy of Americana music and to promote public awareness of the genre to support the creative and economic viability of professionals in this field.

TV & RADIO - AFTRA to leave New York for Los Angeles - The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is relocating its headquarters from New York City to Los Angeles. Most ofthe union's members -- performers, recording artists and broadcasters -- live in the L.A. area, according to a spokesman, and "the cost of real estate in L.A. is far cheaper than in New York City." (Associated Press )

BOOKS - Disney wants "Lost" fans to find book - Hyperion Books is testing the waters of corporate synergy with a new book based on the hit series "Lost," which airs on fellow WaltDisney Co. unit ABC. The book, which will be published next spring, is expected to resonate with fans of the intricately scriptedshow because it will offer clues to solving some of the on-air plot twists. (Advertising Age)

BOOKS & COPYRIGHT - YAHOO! LAUNCHES LIBRARY DIGITIZATION PROJECT - Yahoo is working with organizations such as the Internet Archive and the University of California todigitize books and make them searchable. Yahoo will only scan texts in the public domain, except in cases where the copyright holder has given express permission. MICROSOFT TO OFFER ONLINE SEARCHES OF BOOKS - Microsoft will soon be offering online searches of books and other text, but it will focus on books, academic materials and other writings that are in the public domain. It plans to work with the Open Content Alliance to allow users to search 150,000 items, with a test version promised for 2006. It is intentionally avoiding the inclusion ofcopyright-protected materials in order to avoid any law suits. Open Content Alliance (OCA) represents the collaborative efforts of a group of cultural, technology, nonprofit, and governmental organizations from around the world that will help build a permanent archive of multilingual digitized text and multimedia content. The OCA will encourage the greatest possible degree of access to and reuse of collections in the archive, while respecting the content owners and contributors.

TV - Sales of TV-based DVDs are altering industry - Sales of DVDs based on TV shows -- from classic series to more recent offerings with devout followings -- are changing the way theTV industry operates. Producers consider future DVD sales when greenlighting a series, actors are demanding a cut of future salesa nd corporations are revamping management structures to improve cooperation between home-video and TV production units. (TVWeek.com)

FILM - The 2005 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival - The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) is the largest film festival in the world. Founded in 1993 by entertainment impresario Stuart Alson, NYIIFVF has been recognized by the film and entertainment industry as one of the leading film events on the festival calendar. Each festival showcases over 300 films from around the world, including world premieres, features, shorts, documentaries and animations. (November 10th - 17th : www.nyfilmvideo.com )

INTERNET - New webisodes aim to entertain, sell products - Ad agency Organic is one of a growing number of marketers using webisodes -- original miniprograms on the Internet -- to sellproducts. For Chrysler's Jeep division, Organic developed a biweekly show starring a fictional family on a series of trips with its new 2006 Jeep Commander. (USA TODAY)
RSS ads looking more desirable to marketers - Yahoo!, Google and Washington Post Co. are just a few of the early adopters experimenting with advertising in RSS feeds. Whilethe technology is still esoteric to much of the online world, some marketers think RSS represents an opportunity to reach motivatedaudiences in highly targeted topic areas. RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs. But it's not just for news. Pretty much anything that can be broken down into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS: the "recent changes" page of a wiki, a changelog of CVS checkins, even the revision history of a book. Once information about each item is in RSS format, an RSS-aware program can check the feed for changes and react to the changes in an appropriate way. RSS-aware programs called news aggregators are popular in the weblogging community. Many weblogs make content available in RSS. A news aggregator can help you keep up with all your favorite weblogs by checking their RSS feeds and displaying new items from each of them. (The Wall Street Journal) Broadband Beat : Warner Bros. offers old shows over broadband - Warner Bros. has begun distributing three former WB shows -- "Gotham Girls," "Timberwolf" and "Cartoon Monsoon" -- over theWeb through , a streaming video ad sales network. Warner is expanding a deal with the Kaboose.com network of family sites and entering a new arrangement with Microsoft's WindowsMedia.com. (Mediaweek)

TV - "Earl," "Chris" showcases for single-camera comedy - Two new shows -- NBC's "My Name Is Earl" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" are reviving faith in the single-camera sitcom. Butsome in Hollywood are cautious: It takes enormous discipline on the part of the writer to tell a story in single-camera structure that packs the amount of laughs which typically come from the great multicamera sitcoms of the past. (Mediaweek)

American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) - The American Society of Magazine Editors is the professional organization for editors of consumer magazines and business publications that are edited, published and sold in the United States. It sponsors the National Magazine Awards in assosciation with the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF)

BOOKS - Pitching OprahWinfrey Show. Do you have a great idea for a show based on your book? Is there a topic you feel passionately about? The producers of The OprahWinfrey Show want to hear from you! See http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_showideas.jhtml

BOOKS - THE EIGHTEENTH INDEPENDENT AND SMALL PRESS BOOK FAIR will take place onDecember 3 and 4, 2005 at the Small Press Center, in midtown Manhattan.The Book Fair provides a relatively low-cost opportunity for independentand small publishers to interact with readers and colleagues, to sellbooks during a prime gift-buying weekend, and to help nurture theindependent publishing community. Ingram Publisher Services are one of theindustry sponsors of the Book Fair.Nearly 4,000 visitors attended last December's Book Fair, and even moreare expected this year. A number of excellent independentpublishers-ranging from Seven Stories Press to Akashic Books to SoftSkull Press-will be in attendance. In addition, the Book Fair will host adiverse series of discussions, workshops, readings, and guests.Publishers can still register to secure prime exhibition space at theevent. Second and Third Floor spaces are still available, but filling upfast. Exhibit rates range from $132 (for a shared table) to $237. Paid-upmembers of the Small Press Center receive a 10% discount off the price ofa table. For publishers that are not able to attend, the Book Fair'sCo-operative exhibit room will sell their books for a flat fee ($40 pertitle; $35 for members), with no commission taken.To register for the Independent and Small Press Book Fair, visit thewebpage at www.smallpress.org

FILM - Can Harry Potter save Hollywood? - by David Germain Canadian Press, November 09, 2005 LOS ANGELES - - Harry Potter doesn't just have the fate of the magical world on his shoulders. This time, the teen wizard's trying to save Hollywood, too. In this year of mediocre studio films, with movie attendance at its slowest pace since the mid-1990s, audiences might kill for a big film that really delivers. see Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for more info.

ENTERTAINMENT - Hudson sues over 'eating disorder' pics - Associated Press, November 08, 2005 LONDON -- Kate Hudson has launched legal action over photos she claims wrongly portrayed her as having an eating disorder, her lawyers said. Hudson asked the London law firm Schillings to take action on images she said were misleading. Hudson, 26, has starred in more than a dozen films, including "Almost Famous," "Raising Helen" and "The Skeleton Key." She is the daughter of Goldie Hawn. Schillings said Hudson instructed lawyers "to make legal complaint of those who took and published images of her which circulated widely and prominently in September and October." News reports said the firm had sent letters to publications including the Daily Mail newspaper, the National Enquirer and the magazines Heat, Closer and Star. The images, Schillings said, were "used to accompany and illustrate articles which suggested that she had an eating disorder that was so grave and serious that she was wasting away to the extreme concern of her mother and family, and although not stated, of commercial and artistic concern to those who might cast her in movies and choose to use her image to endorse products." The lawyers will argue in court that Hudson's weight and diet are healthy, but the images portrayed her as dangerously thin with an eating disorder. An analysis of how the photographs came to be taken, sold and published will form a key aspect to the proceedings, which are expected to be heard at the High Court in London next year.

INTERNET - U.S. judge says he'll rule quickly on BlackBerry patent dispute Associated Press, November 09, 2005 NEW YORK -- A U.S. federal judge indicated at a brief hearing Wednesday that he would issue a quick decision in a patent dispute with NTP Inc. that threatens to halt U.S. sales of the Canadian-made BlackBerry e-mail products.At a hearing Wednesday in Richmond, Va., U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer said he planned to review a disputed $450 million US settlement between the companies to determine if the deal is enforceable.Spencer added that a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review of NTP's patents would not delay his ruling, even though the office initially rejected the claims as it headed toward a final verdict.The judge's comments signal he is unlikely to stay the case, raising the probability of an injunction on U.S. BlackBerry sales, according to Citigroup analyst Daryl Armstrong, who noted that a resolution could be made before the end of the month."He said that he wanted to make it clear that he had spent enough time on this case and that he intended to rule quickly," Armstrong wrote in a report. "He also said that his granting of a stay for Research In Motion was highly unlikely." In late October, the Supreme Court denied Research In Motion's request to suspend the case while an appeal was pending. Research In Motion has been trying to stall the dispute since 2003, when Spencer ruled the company infringed several patents held by NTP. The companies reached the settlement earlier this year, but the terms were never finalized after talks broke down. Neither Research In Motion nor NTP has said why negotiations fizzled. An injunction on BlackBerry sales would be a devastating blow to Research In Motion of Waterloo, Ont. Sales of the popular handheld e-mail devices composed roughly 70 per cent of $490 million US in revenue the company logged for the June-August quarter.

TV - 20th annual Gemini Awards -- Winners in 96 Gemini categories will be announced at the three-night gala Nov. 17, 18 and 19, organized by the the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

BOOKS & TV - David Bergen wins $40,000 Giller prize by Andrea Baillie, Canadian Press, November 09, 2005 TORONTO -- Winnipegger David Bergen won the lucrative Scotiabank Giller Prize on Tuesday night for his novel The Time in Between, the story of a veteran's journey from B.C.'s Fraser Valley to Vietnam. "Believe me, I didn't think I'd be up here," the 48-year-old Bergen said as he accepted the $40,000 prize at a gala ceremony. "I have to say I'm quite humbled by this." Bergen is the author of three previous novels: A Year of Lesser, See the Child, and The Case of Lena S. The inspiration for his latest book came during a 1996 visit to Vietnam with his wife and four children. The Giller Prize was created in 1994 by businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. It has since become one of the most anticipated events in the Canadian publishing industry, with the glitzy award dinner attracting prominent writers, actors, musicians and politicians. Tuesday night's attendees included singer Sarah Harmer, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, actress Sonja Smits, newsmen Lloyd Robertson and Knowlton Nash and CBC president Robert Rabinovitch. For Bergen, the gala was a far cry from his daily writing regime. "I'm holed up in my office and all of a sudden I'm thrown out into this pomp. . .this hoopla," he said early in the evening. "It's just a really good time," added nominee Joan Barfoot of London, Ont. The winner was announced during a one-hour televised ceremony hosted by Seamus O'Regan of Canada AM. It was the first time CTV has broadcast the Giller (in previous years it's aired on CBC and on CHUM's Bravo and Book Television specialty channels). The result, in many ways, was a more staid show than in previous years. And while past Giller recipients have included such literary heavyweights as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munro, there were no such names on this year's list, presenting a confounding scenario for Giller prognosticators. Bergen carries the distinction of taking home the richest prize in Giller history. Scotiabank recently came on board as an award co-sponsor, increasing the purse from $25,000 to $50,000. The runners-up, who received $2,500 each, are: Toronto resident Camilla Gibb, 37, who was in the running for Sweetness in the Belly, the tale of a Muslim nurse who flees to England from Ethiopia. Edeet Ravel, 50, of Guelph, Ont., who received a nod for A Wall of Light, the story of a math professor at Tel Aviv University. Barfoot, 59, of London, Ont., who was cited for Luck, a novel chronicling the journey of a suddenly widowed artist. Lisa Moore, 41, of St. John's, N.L., who was recognized for Alligator, about a cast of memorable characters living in contemporary Newfoundland. This year's jury consisted of Richard Wright, a Giller winner in 2001 for his novel Clara Callan, as well as authors Elizabeth Hay and Warren Cariou. The jury sifted through 94 submissions before coming up with the short list of five. CTV nabs Giller literary award show rights - Canadian Press, Friday, October 07, 2005 TORONTO -- CTV has added another arts awards show to its schedule. The network has become the exclusive broadcast partner for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in a deal that continues to 2007. The Giller is the richest literary prize for fiction in Canada. CTV also holds the telecast rights to the Junos, Canadian Idol and Canada's Walk of Fame, as well as the Academy Awards, the Emmys, the Golden Globes and the American Music Awards. "We're delighted about the move to CTV and the opportunity this affords the prize," said Jack Rabinovitch, who founded the prize in 1994 in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. "Working with CTV enables us to reach a larger audience and helps increase the recognition of Canadian authors and books." The Giller originally carried a cash award of $25,000 but after teaming with Scotiabank earlier this year, that has been doubled to $50,000, with $40,000 going to the winner and $2,500 to each of the four remaining finalists.The winner this year will be announced at a black-tie gala in Toronto Nov. 8, during a one-hour telecast live on CTV Newsnet. Three repeat airings will take place on the main network -- after midnight, the following afternoon and the following weekend.In the past the Giller was broadcast on CBC and CHUM's Bravo and Book Television specialty channels.

TV & INTERNET - Yahoo, TiVo to blend 'net, TV services by May Wong Associated Press, November 07, 2005SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Yahoo Inc. and TiVo Inc. are teaming up to blend some of their services, a move that further fades the lines between offices and living rooms, TVs and PCs. Under a partnership announced Monday, the two will collaborate to offer Yahoo's Internet-based content and services through TiVo's digital video recording devices. Users of Yahoo's TV page will be able to click on a record-to-TiVo button directly from a television program listing to remotely schedule recordings. And in the coming months, possibly before the end of the year, Yahoo's traffic and weather content, as well as its users' photos will be viewable on televisions via TiVo's broadband service and easy-to-use screen menu. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Edward Lichty, TiVo's vice-president of corporate strategy, said TiVo hopes the collaboration will set the foundation for a long-term relationship. TiVo subscribers already have the ability to remotely schedule recordings from the TiVo website, but this will give the DVR pioneer a way to potentially tap Yahoo's large user base and gain some much-needed new customers. The Alviso, Calif.-based company has about 3.6 million subscribers but it accrued fewer new customers in its last fiscal second quarter than it did the previous year, according to the company's financial report released in August. And though the company posted its first profit in its eight-year history during that quarter, some analysts question whether the company can continue to grow as satellite and cable companies develop their own DVR technology that offer lower subscription fees. Meanwhile, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, the leading destination on the web, is seeing tremendous growth as more people turn to the Internet for news, entertainment, communication, and other services. But the Internet giant is also under constant pressure from rivals Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to expand its own offerings. For both companies, TiVo in particular, the ability to let its subscribers access Yahoo's content from their televisions marks a significant development in the company's year-old campaign to expand beyond basic digital video recording services to becoming more of an entertainment hub, Lichty said. Bringing Internet access to the TV screen is nothing new. Most previous efforts - notably WebTV - were dismal failures. But Lichty thinks the Yahoo-TiVo offering will be different. "It's not about having a web browser on your TV and having a keyboard on your lap. It'll still be focused on the TV experience and navigating with the remote control," Lichty said.

MUSIC & FILM & COPYRIGHT - Grokster shut down in piracy settlement by Gary Gentile Canadian Press, November 08, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- Grokster Ltd., which came out on the losing end of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, has agreed to shut down its file-swapping service and pay $50 million US to settle music and movie piracy claims. The surprise settlement announced Monday permanently bans Grokster from participating, directly or indirectly, in the theft of copyrighted files and requires the company to stop giving away its software. Grokster executives indicated they plan to launch a legal, fee-based Grokster 3G service before year's end under a new parent company, believed to be Mashboxx of Virginia Beach, Va. Mashboxx, headed in part by former Grokster president Wayne Rosso, already has signed a licensing agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. "It is time for a new beginning," Grokster said in a statement issued from its corporate headquarters in the West Indies. Grokster's website was changed Monday to say its existing file-sharing service was illegal and no longer available. "There are legal services for downloading music and movies," the message said. "This service is not one of them." Grokster lost an important Supreme Court ruling in June when justices ruled that the entertainment industry can file piracy lawsuits against technology companies caught encouraging customers to steal music and movies over the Internet. The decision, which gave the green light for the federal case to advance in Los Angeles, significantly weakened lawsuit protections for companies that had blamed illegal behaviour on their customers rather than the technology that made such behaviour possible. Grokster's settlement does not affect other defendants in the case, including StreamCast Networks Inc., which distributes Morpheus, and Sharman Networks Ltd., which distributes Kazaa. The movie and recording industry plaintiffs in the case are expected to file a motion for summary judgment by early next year against the remaining defendants, and U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson has scheduled a hearing on the matter for March 27. Attorneys for Streamcast and Sharman said they would continue to fight the lawsuit. "We think this is going to a jury," said Sharman lawyer Charles Baker. Grokster lawyer Michael Page said outside of court Monday he believed the company would have prevailed at trial but could not afford a protracted legal battle. It was unclear whether Grokster can afford to pay the $50 million US in damages required under the agreement. The head of the Recording Industry Association of America, Mitch Bainwol, described the settlement as "a chapter that ends on a high note for the recording industry, the tech community and music fans and consumers everywhere." Grokster's decision was not expected to immediately affect the ability of people who already run the company's file-sharing software to download music and movies online, nor was it expected to affect users of rival downloading services, such as eDonkey, Kazaa, BitTorrent and others. Glickman said Grokster will send anti-piracy messages to existing users, and the company is forbidden from maintaining its software or network. "Without those services, the system will degrade over time," Glickman said.

MUSIC - Led Zeppelin shares Swedish Polar Music Prize by Jody Sherwood Associated Press, November 07, 2005 STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The surviving members of legendary rock band Led Zeppelin have been invited to the land of ice and snow to collect Sweden's most prestigious music award and a cheque for one million kronor (almost $125,000 US). The British band and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev on Monday were named winners of the 2006 Polar Music Prize. The award was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, through a donation to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Calling Led Zeppelin "one of the great pioneers of rock," the academy said the group's "playful and experimental music combined with highly eclectic elements has two essential themes: Mysticism and primal energy." Those features have come to define hard rock, the academy said. Gergiev, a globe-trotting conductor, was cited "for the way his unique electrifying musical skills have deepened and renewed our relationship with the grand tradition; and for how he has managed to develop and amplify the importance of artistic music in these modern changing times." Led Zeppelin and Gergiev will each receive one million kronor. The prize is typically split between pop artists and classical musicians. Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and John Bonham formed Led Zeppelin in 1968 and released their first album, named after the group, a year later. The band disbanded in 1980 when Bonham died, but its music remains hugely popular worldwide. Gergiev is artistic and general director of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater, home of the Kirov opera and ballet companies, principal guest conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera and music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. In May, the London Symphony Orchestra named him its next principal conductor, starting Jan. 1, 2007. Previous winners of the Polar Music Prize include former Beatle Paul McCartney, violinist Isaac Stern, rock musician Bruce Springsteen, conductor Pierre Boulez and music producer Quincy Jones. The Prize will be awarded May 22 by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf. Gergiev has confirmed that he will attend the ceremony, and Page, Jones and Plant were also expected to come to Stockholm to collect the award, organizers said.

MUSIC & FILM & TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT - Judge tosses move to block Potter film
by Angela Pacienza Canadian Press November 4th, 2005, TORONTO -- An Ontario judge kept the wishes of starry-eyed children across Canada alive Friday by crushing a Winnipeg folk group's attempt to block the release of the upcoming Harry Potter movie. The public wouldn't confuse three characters from the film with the real-life band, The Wyrd Sisters, Justice Colin Campbell ruled. The Wyrd Sisters tried to stop the Canadian theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, slated for Nov. 18, arguing that a fictional rock band in the film would ruin their careers. They were seeking $40 million in damages from Warner Bros. Although there is no mention of a Wyrd Sisters band in the film, the J.K. Rowling novel on which it is based refers to a group of hairy witches dubbed The Weird Sisters. "I am not satisfied that the fact of three musicians appearing in the film will operate as a deception to the public such as to affect the goodwill that the plaintiffs may have in the term, 'The Wyrd Sister,"' Campbell said. "Neither am I satisfied that the six-second inclusion of the scene in question will cause irreparable harm." Formed in 1990, the Wyrd Sisters argued Friday that the Harry Potter franchise, which changed the spelling of the ghoulish characters to Wyrd for some of its merchandise, is ruining their reputation. They said the public would confuse the folk act with the band created for the Potter film, which includes members of Radiohead and Pulp. No decision yet in Harry Potter film fight by Angela Pacienza Canadian Press, November 04, 2005 TORONTO -- A fictional rock band in the upcoming Harry Potter movie is ruining the career of a Winnipeg folk group and should be cut from the film, lawyers representing the Wyrd Sisters told Ontario Superior Court on Friday. The Wyrd Sisters are trying to stop the Canadian theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, slated for Nov. 18. The band is also seeking $40 million in damages from Warner Bros. Justice Colin Campbell reserved judgment in the case. Although there is no mention of a Wyrd Sisters band in the film, the J.K. Rowling novel on which it is based refers to a group of hairy witches dubbed The Weird Sisters. The Wyrd Sisters argued Friday that they've owned the trademark to the name in Canada since 1990, and that the wizard franchise is ruining their reputation. They argue the public will confuse the folk act with the band created for the Potter film, which includes members of Radiohead and Pulp. "I'm going to go to a new town where I haven't played before and I'm going to get a bunch of people there expecting Radiohead and they're going to see a bunch of middle-aged folk people on stage," Wyrd Sisters singer Kim Baryluk said outside court. "They're going to be angry. My reputation will be ruined because I'll look like the middle-aged folk lady who used Harry Potter to claim their fame. It's the other way around. This was our fame." In the film, the band appears for six seconds at a party attended by boy wizard Potter and his friends. "People are associating those people as the Wyrd Sisters," Ken Hanna, a lawyer for the band, told the court. He presented evidence of merchandise backing the trio as the Wyrd Sisters, including trivia game questions. Campbell sparred with Hanna several times during the proceedings, at one point suggesting the lawsuit might be a publicity stunt. "Probably a few more people have read the book than have heard of your band," he said. Warner Bros. argued it isn't infringing on trademark or copyright because the folk band's name doesn't appear in the film, nor will it be used on the film's soundtrack. "The name does not appear in the movie," Jonathan Stainsby said outside the courthouse, adding the Wyrd Sisters should pursue legal action against Rowling since she wrote the novels. "This is not the creation of a band that's going to go out and play in public. This is the images on celluloid for six seconds portraying a fictional character. It has nothing to do with folk bands playing music in Winnipeg or anywhere else." Baryluk said she would be satisfied if Warner Bros. added a line in the credits of the movie saying: the real Wyrd Sisters live in Canada. The case has sparked a flurry of online activity among Potter and Radiohead fans. Many of them have dubbed Baryluk's lawsuit a headline grabbing stunt. She refuted such claims. "Hate mail and death threats is not good publicity for me. I think my career is over," she said. She added that she doesn't expect her group will win the injunction to stop the film from opening in theatres. "This was the quickest, fastest, easiest way we could stand up and say 'This is wrong,' " she said. "I have a right to conduct my business... and be free to wander about the country doing my business without fear that someone's going to come in and kick me out of the way which is what's happened." Legal challenge (by Canadian music group) could stall Potter film by Steve Lambert Canadian Press October 26, 2005 WINNIPEG -- A little-known Winnipeg folk group will have a chance next week to block the Nov. 18 premiere of the new Harry Potter movie across Canada. The Wyrd Sisters, who allege that Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire contains a scene with a musical group bearing their name, have secured a Nov. 4 court date to apply for an injunction barring distribution of the film. The application for an injunction is part of a lawsuit the Wyrd Sisters filed in September against the Warner Brothers movie and music empire and three famous British musicians -- Jarvis Cocker of the group Pulp and Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead. The lawsuit alleges the musicians appear in the film under the Wyrd Sisters moniker, and seeks $40 million plus punitive damages, interest and other costs. The band's lawyer, Kimberly Townley-Smith, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. In an earlier interview, she said the Wyrd Sisters would suffer from public confusion over the name. Warner Brothers is fighting the lawsuit, saying the movie contains no reference to a "Wyrd Sisters" group. Although the company first approached the Winnipeg group and offered $5,000 to share the name, it says it eventually made the film with an unnamed musical group. "There is absolutely no name... for the band that is playing," Warner Brothers spokesman Scott Rowe said from Los Angeles. "They are never identified by name." Rowe said Warner Brothers officials even flew to Canada last week to show the movie in its entirety to Townley-Smith in order to prove that the Wyrd Sisters name does not appear. "We have (also) submitted sworn affidavits to the court, stating that the name Wyrd Sisters is not being used either in the film or on its soundtrack," Rowe said. The legal dispute has stirred up heated debate on the Internet, with many Harry Potter and Radiohead fans calling the lawsuit a cash grab. "(The) Wyrd Sisters ought to appreciate the publicity," reads a message posted in the fan forum on The Leaky Cauldron -- a website for Potter fans. "I guess they never made much money with their music, so they're trying to get rich off the fame of others." Some Radiohead fans have posted expletive-filled rants on the Wyrd Sisters' message board. Others have pointed out that William Shakespeare wrote about three witches called the weird sisters in MacBeth, while British author Terry Pratchett published a MacBeth-themed book called Wyrd Sisters almost 20 years ago. But The Wyrd Sisters have said the battle is about fairness, not publicity. "I really feel that morally we have the right to own our name and we have a right to go about our business without interference," lead singer Kim Baryluk told Chart magazine in September. The Wyrd Sisters have announced that they are set to release a new CD and launch a tour in the near future.

BOOKS & COPYRIGHT - Buy books by the page at Amazon.com by Hillel Italie Associated Press, November 04, 2005 NEW YORK -- Book buyers, soon you'll be able to pay by the page. With its new Amazon Pages service, Amazon.com Inc. plans to let customers to buy portions of a book -- even just one page -- for online viewing. A second program, Amazon Upgrade, will offer full online access when a traditional text is purchased. Both services are expected to begin next year. "We see this as a win-win-win situation: good for readers, good for publishers and good for authors," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Thursday. For Amazon Pages, Bezos said, the cost for most books would be a few cents per page, although readers would likely be charged more for specialized reference works. Under Amazon Upgrade, anybody purchasing a paper book could also look at the entire text online, at any time, for a "small" additional charge, Bezos said. For instance, a $20 book might cost an extra $1.99 US. Copyright holders would determine whether the pages could be printed or downloaded. "We feel strongly that copyright holders get to make these decisions," Bezos said. The Amazon announcement came on the same day that Google Inc. began serving up the entire contents of books and government documents that aren't entangled in a copyright battle over how much material can be scanned and indexed from five major libraries. The Authors Guild and five major publishers are suing to prevent Google from scanning copyrighted material in the libraries without explicit permission. Because it plans to show only snippets from copyrighted books, Google argues its scanning project constitutes "fair use" of the material. "The Amazon programs are the way copyright is supposed to work," the Authors Guild's executive director, Paul Aiken, said Thursday. "You provide access to readers and some compensation flows back to rights holders. It seems like a positive development." Amazon issued a statement of support from Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which owns Farrar, Straus & Giroux, St. Martin's Press and several other publishers. "We look forward to working together with Amazon as they develop these innovative new programs to expand the market for digital content," said Holtzbrinck CEO John Sargent. Meanwhile, Random House Inc. released a statement Thursday saying it will "work with online booksellers, search engines, entertainment portals and other appropriate vendors to offer the contents of its book