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13 Dec 2011 09:16

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Culture: Yes, www.disney.xxx has already been reserved, so don’t even ask.

  • It’s an unfortunate part of what one does today in order to do business and maintain the integrity of the institutional name, the brand name, the organization, the students, whatever it is that one has built the equity in that what we have to do in this digital age.
  • Barbara Brooks, from The Strategy Group • Commenting on why universities and other not-pornographic groups are buying their .xxx URLs before someone else does. With the recent addition of the .xxx web address to the market, universities (among others) have began buying them for themselves so that the address don’t fall into the wrong hands. ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley says that this will “clearly signpost adult entertainment on the Net. For those people who want to find adult content, they can easily find it.” source

10 Feb 2011 22:25

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U.S.: Spider-Man joins The Fantastic Four, but with two downsides

  • cool Following the death of the Human Torch, Marvel is shaking things up with The Fantastic Four. First and foremost, they’re adding a new member to the team: Spider-Man. Intriguing!
  • stupid They’re also giving the troupe lame new costumes and an awful new name, “The Future Foundation,” that sounds more like a political action committee than a team of crime-fighters. source

04 Oct 2009 11:44

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Culture: Disney could kill (or improve) your neighborhood comic book shop

  • The industry still has to make new inroads if it’s to survive – from distribution right down to the corner comic shop. I have no doubt that Disney may bring in a different distribution model.
  • “Iron Man” writer Bob Layton • Describing the limited market and distribution of the comic book industry in the context of Disney’s recent purchase of Marvel Comics. Disney might push for a more Barnes & Noble-friendly approach to the print products. Layton goes further: “A large number of comic shops in America are dingy, poorly managed venues, akin to porn shops.” And they’re run by this guy. • source

01 Sep 2009 09:26

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Biz, Culture: Marvel is just more proof that Disney is out of good ideas

  • [Bob Iger] was watching all the classic Disney characters go by, and it hit him that there was not one character that Disney had created in the past 10 years. Not one. All the new characters were invented by Pixar.
  • John Lasseter • Discussing the turning point that convinced Disney to buy Pixar in 2006. Consider the Marvel deal to be in a similar situation. Marvel’s live-action properties are far more compelling than Disney’s right now, so much so that Disney’s struggling at the box office while other companies are doing really well. While Pixar can guarantee one solid animated movie a year, Disney’s live-action side has had diminishing returns since “Pirates of the Carribean.” Marvel provides the mouse with a shot in the arm. • source

31 Aug 2009 10:01

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31 Aug 2009 09:52

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Biz, Culture: Disney to buy Marvel: Cute heroes meet dark antiheroes

  • $4 billion Marvel’s going rate – a price raised, we’re sure, by the company’s recent box-office success
  • 5,000 number of characters Disney gets in the deal; personally, we want to see a Goofy origin story source