Liberty Livewire Corporation, a majority-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp., has extended its postproduction reach on both sides of the Atlantic, first entering into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the stock in Northvale, N.J.-headquartered Video Services Corp. (VSC). On the heels of this deal valued at approximately $125 million, Libery Livewire then bought London’s Soho Group for some $25.5 million. Both VSC and Soho are parent companies to several post facilities….After freelancing via the company in recent months, director Angel Gracia has signed with bicoastal RSA USA. Gracia’s last spot shop affiliation was bicoastal/international hungry man….Director Alain Gourrier has joined Bruce Dowad Associates, Los Angeles….Word is that a noted agency producer is about to embark on a directing career. Stay tuned…. Paul Agid and Evan Sanyour have launched Coda Visual Effects, New York. The veteran effects duo was formerly with Blink.fx, New York….Universal City, Calif.-based DES, a media technology services firm, has jumped on the "broadbandwagon," having gained a major infusion of capital from Chase Capital Bank. Since February, DES has tripled in size to 150 staffers. In the coming months, DES will unveil its broadband plans, which include tailoring services to the commercialmaking community, according to Brett Markinson, founder of the seven-year-old company. DES recently added Joseph P. Noga as CFO and Doug Mielke as VP, operations….
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More