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April 2002
- PayPal Security Risk Discovered
A PayPal security risk has been discovered that
allows hackers to name their own price on items.
Hackers can apparently change the price of an item by
editing the PayPal order link code.
Source: Wired 4-26-02
- Yahoo has laid off less than 40 people from its Yahoo
Auctions division.
Source: News.com 4-26-02
- AOL Time Warner
has reported a staggering, world record loss
of over $54 billion for the first quarter.
Source: FT.com, L.A. Times, Wired, New York Times 4-26-02
- US Weekly has laid off eight editorial employees.
Source: MediaWeek 4-26-02
- TechTV has cut an additional 50 employees (after laying
off 130 people last November) and reduced
the amount of programming time for its TechLive show.
Source: News.com, Wired 4-26-02
- Courtenay Communications announced that iMarketing News has
ceased publication and will reappear
May 6 as a weekly section of DM News. 10,000 names from
iMarketing News' circulation list have been transferred to the
DM News circulation,increasing DM News' circulation from
40,000 to 50,000.
Source: iMarketing News 4-26-02
- Easyriders Inc. (AMEX:EZR) announced that on April 16, 2002 it
received notice from the American Stock Exchange indicating that
the Company no longer complies with the Exchange's continued
listing guidelines. Accordingly, the Company's stock will no longer
be listed on the American Stock Exchange as of the opening of
business on May 6, 2002.
Easyriders currently publishes more than a dozen popular motorcycle,
special interest and lifestyle magazines, with a total worldwide readership
of more than 6 million. The company also licenses Easyriders retail
stores throughout the United States and Canada, Easyriders Events,
and the Bros Club road service company.
The Exchange also noted that the Company's auditors Stonefield
Josephson, Inc. stated in the recently filed 10-K that there exists
"substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a
going concern." The Company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, 2001 and
has expressed its intent to enter into a plan of liquidation through an
Asset Sale Agreement if approved by the Court on May 1, 2002." 4-26-02
- Webseed Publishing is shutting down its free hosting and
publishing service on August 1st.
Companies and individuals publishing websites through Webseed have
until May 15th to transfer their domain and until July 31st to
move their website. Mike Adams, founder and CEO of Webseed, made
the announcement in an email. At its peak the free
publishing network
claimed to host over 1,500 websites. 4-26-02
- The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. announced plans
to significantly restructure the U.S. operations of its
North America Books and Home Entertainment (U.S. BHE)
business segment. The plans include exiting some product
lines and eliminating approximately 100 jobs, mostly in U.S.
BHE and associated functions in other departments.
Reader's Digest also restructured its U.S. BHE division
in July, 2001. Part of that restructuring included ceasing
publication of Walking magazine, which the company
said was unprofitable and did not have adequate sources of
new subscribers. This year Reader's Digest ceased publishing
of New Choices, a lifestyle magazine for people over age 50,
with a circulation over 600,000.
Source: The Write News 4-19-02
- The Frankfurt eBook Award is no more.
The International eBook Award Foundation (IeBAF),
creator of the Frankfurt eBook Award, announced that
due to the current business environment, it would
discontinue the annual award and suspend all activities
relating to the Foundation. The Board members will
resign on April 30, 2002. The company was unable to
obtain additional funding from Microsoft, the main
sponsor of the organization, or find any new sponsors.
Source: The Write News 4-19-02
- Canoe.ca, a popular
online Canadian media oulet launched in 1996,
has fired its remaining 67 editorial employees. Canoe.ca is
owned by Quebecor Inc.,
a commercial printer and media company that also owns
the Toronto Sun and London Free Press.
Source: NationalPost.com 4-19-02
- Beliefnet.com, an Internet site aimed at feeding Americans'
interest in religion and spirituality, has filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Over fifty employees were let go.
Source: Publishers Weekly 4-19-02
- Journalist Sues Disney and New York Post
Nikki Finke has filed a $10 million lawsuit against
the New York Post and
Walt Disney Co., claiming she was fired
from The New York Post at the request of Disney. Finke wrote a series
of articles about Disney's legal problems with its Winnie the Pooh
merchandising rights. A recent
Village Voice article has more about the dispute between Finke,
Disney and the New York Post.
Source: Village Voice 4-19-02
- This will be the last season for Ally McBeal.
Source: New York Times 4-19-02
- Sports Afield
magazine is ceasing publication with the June, 2002 issue after
115 years of covering hunting and outdoor sports.
Source: New York Times 4-19-02
- Cox Enterprises is restructing its Internet unit, which could
lead to job cuts. The division employs about 400 workers.
Last year Cox terminated its Sofla.com (Miami) and
LAinsider.com websites and laid off about 70 employees.
Souce: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4-19-02
- Authors are upset with
Haights Cross, which
closed down the Coriolis Group,
its computer book division, in late March.
Now, because Haights Cross (the parent company)
is not struggling, authors are
wondering why they are only being promised 20% of the
revenues owed to them.
Source: Publishers Weekly 4-19-02
- Stealth Downloads Threaten Web Users
Thinking of clicking on that pop-up ad which promises some
fantastic product or service? Or thinking of downloading some
cool software from someone you don't know? Better think again.
Stealth downloads are rising on the Net. Whether hidden inside
of other, more innocuous, downloads or secreted inside a
pop-up ad, these unwanted intruders threaten web users by
downloading programs onto their computers without their
knowledge. While hidden inside the hapless user's computer,
they carry out the designs of their programmers. Even if
these invasive programs were harmless, this practice would
still be considered misleading and a breach of privacy.
However, some of the programs are not harmless at all.
They may open a user's computer to serious security risks.
They certainly waste user's time.
Continued at
The Write News.
More Sources: CNET, ZDNet, TechTV.com 4-17-02
- Amazon and Authors Guild Quarrel Over Used Books
The Authors Guild has asked its members to take down their
links to Amazon.com because it says Amazon's prominent used
book offers are hurting its book sales. The Guild also
recommended competiting affiliate programs (BarnesandNoble.com
and BookSense.com) for authors to use instead of Amazon.com.
The Guild is concerned too many used book sales will cut into
sales of new titles, harming authors and publishers. The Authors
Guild made the request in an email delivered to its 8,000 members
and also posted the request on its website. The Guild had also
delivered a letter with similar complaints about Amazon.com's
used book sales to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos in December, 2000.
In the letter the Guild does raise a valid concern about the
possibilities of galleys or review copies being sold through
Amazon.com. Review copies (which are sent to publications that
review books) are never originally tracked as a new title sale,
so authors and publishers would lose this revenue outright.
Jeff Bezos responded to the Guild's attempt to have its author
members de-link from Amazon.com with an email of his own to
used booksellers requesting that they send an email to the
Authors Guild explaining how the sale of used books actually
helps the entire book industry. The Authors Guild then posted
a response to the email from Jeff Bezos. With all the resources
the Internet gives consumers there does not appear to be much
authors and publishers can do to limit used book sales. However,
there should be some ways to cut back on the number of review copies
that are sold and traded. Besides Amazon.com,
there are numerous other outlets for used book sales online
including eBay.com (where some galleys are likely to be listed
for sale) and Half.com -- a company owned by eBay which allows
customers to buy and sell books online.
Source: Publishers Weekly, CNET, ZDNet, Atnewyork.com,
Wired, Newsbytes
4-17-02
- HarperCollins has cut as many as
50 employees from its staff in Australia.
Source: Sydney
Morning Herald 4-17-02
- Napster, the
file-swapping network currently in limbo,
has fired another 30 employees.
Source: Newsbytes 4-17-02
- The International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is blaming a drop of 5%
in recorded music sales in 2001 on file-sharing and
piracy. However, not all industry analysts agree with the IFPI.
Source: Newsbytes, Wired, CNET 4-17-02
- Oprah's Book Club Scaled Back
Oprah Winfrey has decided to scale back the amount
of time she spends on her incredibly popular Oprah's
Book Club, which regularly announced new book selections
-- at least one new book every month or two. Although Oprah
left open the possibility that there could still be an
occasional selection, the Book Club will be significantly
scaled back.
Continued at The Write News.
More Sources: The Write News, Financial Times,
Publishers Weekly, CNN, New York Times, Chicago Tribune,
Wall Street Journal, BBC, SFGate.com, MSNBC, Baltimore Sun,
The Guardian 4-11-02
- Magazine Advertising Down in March, But Not as Much.
Total magazine advertising revenue for the month of March
closed at $1,377,102,513, a 1.7% decrease from last year,
according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). Advertising
pages for March were 19,350, down 10.0% from last year.
Year-to-date, advertising revenue decreased 6.3%, closing
at $3,286,776,734, and ad pages were 46,624, down 14.1% over
last year.
Source: PIB 4-8-02
- Penthouse
magazine is struggling because
of competition from online pornography.
The circulation for Penthouse had plummeted
from 5 million to 650,000. The magazine also faces
steep competition from men's magazines like Maxim,
which feature scantily-clad women, but not nudity.
Source: Forbes.com, New York Times 4-8-02
- LPC Group, a
book distributor for independent publishers,
has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was also
a major distributor of indie comics.
Source: SFWA, Publishers Weekly 4-8-02
- North-South Books, an independent publisher of
children's books, has
cut 12 jobs, about 1/3 of its workforce. Publishers
Weekly reported that the company had weak sales in 2001
because of the economic conditions.
Source: Publishers Weekly 4-8-02
- CNN/SI, a
sports network and partnership between
CNN and Sports Illustrated, will shut down May 15, 2002.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that
2/3 of CNN/SI's 200 employees are expected to be let go.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNN Money 4-5-02
- GORP.com, a resource for outdoor travel,
could lose as many as half of its 30 employees after
being acquired by Away.com,
its chief competitor.
Source: The Write News, Washington Post 4-5-02
- The Paper, an alternative weekly based in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, has ceased publication.
Source: AAN 4-5-02
- The Kirch Group, a German media giant, is preparing
to file for bankruptcy protection.
Source: New York Times 4-4-02
- Jupiter Media Metrix, an online measurement and
research company, has been holding auctions and
meetings to sell part
or all of its assets before it runs out of cash.
Source: Internetnews.com 4-3-02
- Yahoo has cancelled its Yahoo
Invites service.
Source: CNET 4-3-02
- Stealth Press is down to 5 employees from 17 since
2000. The company is also delaying its 2002 list of books.
Source: Publishers Weekly 4-2-02
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