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Bertelsmann CEO to quit AOL board
News AOL and Germany's Bertelsmann may be planning to continue their partnerships after AOL buys media giant Time Warner, but Bertelsmann's CEO is planning to resign from AOL's board of directors. Bertelsmann officials earlier told ZDNet News the...
[January 11, 2000, 15:26]
Bertelsmann and RecordTV.com plan Net-based VCR
News German media giant Bertelsmann and RecordTV.com said Friday they are in talks to develop an Internet-based VCR for the European market. Bertelsmann's discussion with the controversial startup is indicative of the giant's recent moves to embrace new...
[December 1, 2000, 15:23]
Bertelsmann plans Napster takeover
News German media and publishing giant Bertelsmann may be planning to launch a takeover bid for Napster, the MP3 file-sharing company that is still deeply mired in copyright disputes. In an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Bertelsmann's chief...
[April 5, 2002, 17:35]
Bertelsmann: Making music with Napster
News On Halloween 2000, German media giant Bertelsmann horrified the record industry. Three months later, Bertelsmann continues to insist that a paid version of Napster is on track. But little is known about how it will look, or whether Bertelsmann will...
[February 7, 2001, 13:57]
Bertelsmann dabbled in file-swapping pre-Napster
News Until just a few weeks ago, a low-profile Bertelsmann subsidiary was testing a file-swapping search engine that could have expanded the media giant's profile well beyond controversial partner Napster.
[February 27, 2001, 10:08]
Seagram, Bertelsmann to merge Net music units
News According to the Wall Street Journal, Seagram Co.and Bertelsmann AG, owners of two of the world's largest record companies, plan to announce today that they are merging their Internet music operations, creating a large Web destination to promote...
[April 7, 1999, 14:10]
Bertelsmann: Making music with Napster Pt II
News About two weeks ago, he gave a Business Week interview where he said, well, 'We think Bertelsmann was maybe a little bit too early. Bertelsmann chief executive] Thomas Middelhoff also gave a June or July time frame for a Napster subscription service.
[February 7, 2001, 13:57]
E-commerce chief leaves Bertelsmann
News Andreas Schmidt, the head Bertelsmann's e-commerce division, resigned Wednesday to pursue "new entrepreneurial opportunities," the company said. Schmidt played a leading, and often controversial, role in Bertelsmann's expansion into online music.
[November 28, 2001, 14:38]
Can Bertelsmann stop CD copying?
News BMG Entertainment, the major record company owned by German media giant Bertelsmann, said it will begin this month to protect promotional releases of its CDs against copying. BMG parent Bertelsmann has invested heavily in Napster in hopes of...
[April 9, 2002, 8:45]
AOL Europe may go public
News Bertelsmann and America Online are rumoured to be planning an initial public offering for their jointly-owned venture AOL Europe, according to a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. But the merger creates serious questions about Bertelsmann's...
[January 13, 2000, 10:18]
Napster buyout blocked
News A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the $9m (£5.8m) sale of Napster to German media giant Bertelsmann, a decision likely to force the onetime file-swapping powerhouse out of business. Bertelsmann's reaction was muted.
[September 4, 2002, 7:36]
Napster appoints new CEO
News Napster on Tuesday named Konrad Hilbers, a Bertelsmann executive, as its new chief executive, replacing Hank Barry. Hilbers, who will lead the embattled music-swapping company into its new incarnation as a membership-based service later this summer...
[July 24, 2001, 15:08]
Napster nears the end of the road
News The assets of the long-shuttered Napster file-swapping service are expected to wind up in the hands of benefactor Bertelsmann Thursday, as the near-defunct start-up's bankruptcy hearings close. Napster agreed to sell itself to Bertelsmann for just...
[August 29, 2002, 10:16]
Patent ruling creates ripples on Net
News SightSound Technologies, a digital media company, has won a ruling in its patent case against Bertelsmann subsidiaries that could have wide-reaching effects on the business of Net music and video downloads.
[November 4, 2003, 14:20]
Naspter is back in business
News German media conglomerate Bertelsmann has agreed to acquire Napster in a deal that will keep the controversial file-sharing service alive for the near future. Under Friday's deal, Bertelsmann will pay $8m to Napster's creditors to acquire the...
[May 20, 2002, 9:14]
Napster will lose its 'cool' image
News It may have saved its bacon, but Napster's deal with Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) Tuesday will cost the song-swap site its credibility and its loyal user base, according to industry observers. Andreas Schmidt of Bertelsmann and Napster's Hank...
[November 1, 2000, 12:52]
AOL/CIS to account for 1.5m-plus Europeans online
News AOL/Bertelsmann says it will run CompuServe in Europe as a separate service, emphasising CompuServe's strength in business, professional and computer areas. The combination makes AOL/Bertelsmann the leading pan-European Internet online service - a...
[September 8, 1997, 11:35]
AOL wary of legal Napster
News AOL Time Warner executives on Wednesday said German media giant Bertelsmann has yet to convince them that working with Napster to try to create a commercial music download service is worthwhile. We have had discussions with Bertelsmann, but we...
[February 1, 2001, 8:40]
Copy lock shuts out music pirates
News Israeli security company Midbar said on Tuesday that it has inked a deal with a Bertelsmann-owned CD manufacturer to provide copy protection for albums. Under the agreement, Bertelsmann's Sonopress will use Midbar's technology, dubbed Cactus Data...
[September 5, 2001, 11:16]
Napster's cost of living: $100m
News Bertelsmann's quest to keep the controversial Napster alive has cost the media giant more than $100m (£70m)--and it could become even more expensive. Unlike AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann lacks a potent online distribution arm.
[September 27, 2001, 9:12]
