Michael Canfield
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Utube sues YouTube, but willing to settle with Google
With the sale of YouTube to Google, Inc. (NYSE:GOOG) there has been increased web chatter about possible lawsuits against either the new owners or the old for various copyright, and fair (or unfair) usage issues. One lawsuit that is already going forward however, is in the less-blogged-about area of trademark infringement. From our sister blog, Blogging Ohio, comes the news that the Toledo-based Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of actual tubes (but probably not the kind a certain senator thinks the Internet is made out of) has used the domain utube.com for more than a decade. Unfortunately, since the rise of YouTube, the manufacturing company has seen unwanted hits to its website skyrocket, has had to increase bandwidth, and also had to deal with large amounts of email sent by mistake.
Continue reading Utube sues YouTube, but willing to settle with Google
Mark Cuban cans Sirius radio show
The Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban has pulled the plug on a planned weekly NBA basketball show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick, for Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI). An ISDN line was to have been installed in Cuban's home so that he could do the show from there. Cuban has received offers to host radio shows before. He's outspoken, inventive, and audacious; the show might have been worth a listen. Why this decision? He explains his reasons on his popular blog: BlogMaverick. He agreed to the idea of a show only as long as Sirius had a deal with the NBA. Which it does. Basically, Cuban states he felt his presence would enhance the NBA's brand. The show would have paid him nothing; but he likes to help out when he can. "To be a good NBA partner," as he puts it.
Continue reading Mark Cuban cans Sirius radio show
Too much information about Starbucks breakfast sandwiches
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) breakfast buzz, for what it's worth, seems to have died down for the moment, -- at least I'm no longer getting four or five news alerts daily in my email inbox. Like Portland, this offerings are not new in my hometown of Seattle, and I failed to credit the interest their introduction would generate in the mainstream media. Online, some customers posted their pictures and comments of the breakfast purchase on Flickr. Warning: these are not professional, studio produced advertising shots, but actual representations of breakfast sandwiches in all their greasy glory -- not for the faint hearted. Although outside the breakfast area, a Tokyo lunch-goer called this Starbucks tuna melt yummy, and it doesn't look quite so bad.The Starbucks Gossip blog solicited barista reactions to the NYC rollout of warm breakfast which has turned up a responses from Starbucks employees. "NycBearista" noting that he or she was the "warming partner" (I will not be surprised if that is an actual job title) on roll out day, noted that the new task made opening duties go much slower, and since it's now store policy to "warm anything."
Continue reading Too much information about Starbucks breakfast sandwiches
Sirius and XM leveling off: but Howard Stern effect is real
Via Orbitcast found this extensive ongoing study of the satellite radio wars that Bridge Ratings is conducting. The study is updated on their site weekly, more or less. Its purpose is to "analyze consumer preferences related to satellite service brand and satellite radio in general." Lots of data to mine for chart, graph and stats junkies. The study compares brands XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI). Right now the group sees a trend of new sat radio subscription numbers dropping, and predicts that interest in satellite both XM or Sirius) . Bridge is having more trouble finding shoppers willing to participate in their surveys, as the Orbitcast piece notes. One interesting stat is one tracking the percent of new Sirius subscribers who list the main reason for their choice as Howard Stern throughout the current quarter. Data polled on 9/25/2006 showed 18% chose Sirius for Stern-- down from a high of 31% on 7/29/06. The earliest polled date this quarter Stern was the reason of choice for 19%. Bridge estimates that 15% of Q3's news subs are directly because of Howard Stern.
Continue reading Sirius and XM leveling off: but Howard Stern effect is real
Netflix will pay a cool mil for your improvements: wise crowd or foolish waste?
Hoping to make its recommendation feature better, the DVD mail-renter Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is offering $1 million to the first person or group able to "reach a certain level of accuracy in recommending movie picks" based on customer personal preferences. Something I would absolutely not call a foolish waste.The company has released 100 million anonymous movie ratings to use as data points. The prize will go to whoever manages to develop an algorithm that can outperform currently-used Cinematch with at least 10% improved accuracy. Algorithms, also used by online retailers such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) advanced rapidly for a time but have more or less plateaued.
Continue reading Netflix will pay a cool mil for your improvements: wise crowd or foolish waste?
McDonald's coffee tastes better than Starbucks!
According to one taste test performed among four experts in Canada, anyway. Yes, that's four coffee aficionados living in the Toronto area and working in the gourmet coffee field. Canadian Business magazine conducted blind taste tests comparing various drip premium coffees: McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), a brand called Tim Horton's, and a new Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) coffee called "Far Coast."
That's the order in which they ranked: McDonald's "Café Roast" blend being the winner with 6.5 "cups" -- as they called their ratings points. Starbucks came in a not-that-close second with 5 cups, Tim Horton's right on its heels with 4, and Far Coast dead last with one single point. And that's only because two judges were nice enough to award it a half point, while the others handed it a goose egg.
Coke introduced Far Coast to market to fast food outlets and convenience stores within the last year.
More news about Starbucks:
-- Starbucks giving warm breakfast to Manhattanites
-- Jim Cramer says Starbucks is worth $50 a share
-- Starbucks, the real estate strategy
-- Baristas recalled?
More news about McDonald's:
-- Beef = sex in China
-- Breakfast all day is healthy
Starbucks lawsuit: "ambition, insatiable and unchecked"
A small retailer based in the affluent city of Bellevue, across Lake Washington from Seattle, has sued Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX), alleging that the Seattle coffee giant's ambition which the suit characterizes as "insatiable and unchecked" results in an effective monopoly of the industry.
Often, when I spy a headline somewhere about another lawsuit against Starbucks, it's generally along the lines of a customer with a scorched lip -- or defective cup lid, as in one which a judge just threw out. But competitors sues Starbucks, as do labor, consumer, and other groups.
The lawsuit du jour is initiated by Penny Stafford, owner of Belvi Coffee and Tea Exchange. Stafford claims says she "was locked out of the best office space in Bellevue and Seattle by Starbucks' exclusive leasing agreements with landlords" according to a Seattle Times story. Such agreements for coveted food and beverage service space in high-rise office buildings are not uncommon. But Stafford's claims that 78% of Bellevue "Class A" office sites are effectively locked up for Starbucks.
Stafford did manage to rent space inside one deli to sell espresso, and found herself competing with free samples given out to customers by employees of the nearest Starbucks, who visited the deli as many a four times a day with samples, she claims. Stafford's deli business went under. She maintains her original location near that same site.
Stafford and her legal team aren't looking to go it alone. The lawsuit is seeking status as a class-action.
Sirius analysis from Michael Comeau
The Street.com's Michael Comeau has a good piece analyzing Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI). He looks into whether this is a good buy for investors who've had trouble deciding whether to get into satellite radio now, soon, later -- or never. The stock's been hovering around $4 since mid-July, down from a peak around $4.75 earlier that month.Howard Stern has been operating his show on Sirius since January, and it's probably not too soon to consider what type of deal it would take to get him to renew or extend his celebrated $500 million 5-year contract. Comeau feels that, with Sirius subscriber growth "decelerating", that a renewal might prove prohibitively expensive. Also, that deal set a "high bar" for the cost of signing new talent to the fledgling industry. Just something to consider.
And like us, Comeau wonders whether Apple (APPL) with iTunes and the iPod (or Zunes, if you prefer) could make satellite radio obsolete rather soon. Considering the flood of stories about mainstream media entities streaming content free on the net this week alone, makes that a real factor that long-term investors need to consider. How about this? Comeau asks if Stern really needs Sirius. What to prevent him, or other radio "names" from streaming their own content from their own sites?
Sirius benefits from "Stern effect," but what about Stern?
[Via Business Filter ] Bill Trancer blogs about Howard Stern's brand equity, detailing the drop off in traffic to Stern's website (allegedly work safe -- depending where you work, I suppose).
While Trancer clearly shows that Sirius' acquisition of Howard Stern's radio show is responsible for that satellite radio service's dramatic increase in subscribe base in the past year -- what's known as the Stern effect -- he questions whether or not this move, at the same time, significantly diminished Stern's overall brand value.
Stern knew he would be reaching a much smaller audience after his move from FCC-regulated public airways, to the (at least for now), much smaller universe of subscription-service radio. Aside from the controversial financial deal, worth $500 million, that brought him to Sirius, Stern cited a desire to be away from government regulation as his motivation for the move. He claims he would have retired otherwise, and was prepared to do so, after the Janet Jackson/Superbowl incident in 2004.
I don't know if Stern or his fans are concerned over Stern's "brand value." Sirius is now an equal to XM in the satellite radio wars, and the Stern Effect, even if it has peaked, played a significant factor -- the most significant factor -- in that growth spurt. CEO Mel Karmazin should be happy.
Michael Canfield is a private investor, a business and media writer, living in Seattle. He doesn't own stock in Sirius or XM.
Continue reading Sirius benefits from "Stern effect," but what about Stern?
Uncle Sam asks India for a level cola playing-field
Coca Cola (KO) and Pepsi Co (PEP), beleaguered lately with a ban on some sales in the northern Indian states of Rajasthan and Punjab due to pesticide levels, have an ally in the U.S. federal government. U.S. Under-Secretary for International Trade, Franklin Lavin, asked India recently to ensure that the two companies are treated no differently than local cola makers on environmental issues. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in India has said drinks from these manufacturers contain pesticides in amounts higher than allowed by law.
Arjun Swarup at the Indian Economy Blog [via India Uncut] has a well-documented and detailed overview of the issues involved, and argues that many products that Indians consume in greater quantities than colas -- such as eggs, milk, and fruit -- are much higher in trace amounts of pesticides. Arjun maintains the CSE could spend it time better in those areas.
Continue reading Uncle Sam asks India for a level cola playing-field
GE begins Hawaiian wind farming
GE will fund a wind farming project in Hawaii under its unit GE Energy Financial Services. GE maintains that renewable energy is an essential component of the "world energy mix." I stumbled across GE's in-house Global Research blog. According to a post written early this year, the company claimed that since obtaining "Enron's wind turbine assets in 2002, GE has presided over significant growth in this business." Around the same time, the independently-run EnergyBlog noted that "wind energy costs drop below conventional sources in some markets."Ge will supply 14 of its 1.5-MW wind turbines which will be place at the south tip of the big island. Project managers estimate the farm will produce energy equivalent to power 10,000 homes.
GE & NBC expect a billion in digital profits -- only the beginning?
NBC, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE), expects to make a billion in profit from digital content by 2009. This, from a company that actively tried to quash viral web clip activity early in the year, even though that one clip "Lazy Sunday" arguably made Saturday Night Live hip again -- or at least got people talking about the show. Over at our sister blog, TVSquad, Brett Love reports that AT&T is set to offer 20 web channels of broadband internet television. Right here, my colleague Victoria Erhart wrote about Time Warner's new offerings. It's a long way from the original WebTV. Al Gore (himself a TV exec, besides his other projects) believes that television needs to become more internet-like, that the internet itself is still a long ways from being technologically able to replicate television's power to reach people.
Has mainstream video content on the internet reached the tipping point? Maybe the real question is, how long from now is the day when the internet and television are the same thing?
Starbucks sued over coupon -- the blogosphere reacts
At Starbucks Gossip bloggers and commentators are talking about Friday's $114 million suit against Starbucks (SBUX) for the coupon debacle, which my colleague Sarah Gilbert reported on right here. A class-action suit was probably inevitable given our litigious age and the company's profile. Starbucks has given the fact that the coupons were alterted and distributed beyond their intended scope, and the reason for cancelling the promotion.Comments at Starbucks Gossip are running about 2/3rds against the suit (by my very rough estimate) last time I checked. Some posters sound bemused over the whole mess, while others are outraged. P. Scranton said, "No wonder attorneys are held in such low esteem." Some people did write in to express feeling "betrayed" by Starbucks -- angry that a large company should get away with pulling back this freebie without some sort of penalty. Starbucks (some consumers seem to feel, anyway) picked up the ball and went home after too many people decided to play. JavaGrrl, who identifies herself as a longtime employee, says that the company was "embarrassed" (all caps) by the entire episode. For me, that embarrassment is punishment enough. I don't want to see a suit go forward, the stock fall, and the costs passed on to the consumer.
The comment that had the funniest, and to me, the most sensible take on the entire matter was this from DeusX: "I think I will be suing my ex-gf of ten years ago, I have a 'good for one free backrub' coupon signed by her with no expiration date."
Prelim thoughts on Amazon moving into movie download fray: do it cheaper
Apple's iTunes will probably start offering movies soon, and Amazon too, has entered the movie download biz according to press reports today. Amazon (AMZN) will also offer television shows, priced at exactly what iTunes charges: $1.99 an episode. Movies will cost around $8 to $15 at Amazon, and movies can also be rented for around $4. No idea how extensive their offerings will be, but if $15 is the high end for new releases that seems fairly in line with what Apple's expected to do. Consumers will have to figure out their own storage means for digital movies they decide to buy. Will you be burning each of these to a DVD, effectively transferring the manufacturing process to your home? Or will you store everything on drives? The main advantage to me seems to be the ability to get the stuff immediately, and without shipping charges. Just today happened to read a New York Times article about online-only magazine subscriptions, and was struck by the fact to many online-only subscriptions cost exactly as much as buying the print version. The publisher gets to pocket the money saved in printing costs, and this is probably partly why, for example, Popular Mechanics has 1.2 million print subscribers and only 5000 email digital subscribers. Call it: "we cut costs and don't pass the savings on to you" merchandising. Asking us to give up the sense of ownership that a hard copy provides ought to be worth a deeper discount off convention media on this stuff. Make it cheaper and we will buy more of it.
Who's f-upped worse this summer: AOL or Starbucks?
Two events this summer embarrassed a pair of BloggingStocks readers' favorite subjects. AOL (TWX) released anonymous search data for academic study which then found its way to the blogosphere, and Starbucks (SBUX) created a virtual coupon for free drinks that the company then had to renege on. The Starbucks thing makes that company look foolish, unhip, and naive. Not great when one's image depends on providing a high quality, cosmopolitan product. True, Starbucks in not an internet company. Or is it? Is there anything such as a non-internet international company? Certainly Starbucks has had an online presence since, well, the beginning of internet commercialization, but this episode makes them look like your Grandmother whom you have to tell to ignore emails from that nice deposed prince overseas needing help with his frozen billion in assets.
Continue reading Who's f-upped worse this summer: AOL or Starbucks?
Senator Sanders proposes legislation to break up large banks
Closing Bell: Unemployment must not be relevant (GE, ACOM, FNM, ZIOP, MOT, NVDA)
Employee productivity up close to 10%
