Gazprom Media and its subsidiary TNT, a Russian television channel, yesterday launched a paid, video-content website named Now.ru. Sony Pictures, Disney, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate, Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, BBC and Playboy Enterprises will provide the portal with top content.
Ukrainian fund United Media Holding (UMH), owner of a variety of media companies in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, is in the process of acquiring a controlling stake in Sports.ru, reports RBC Daily, a Russian business daily, from unnamed sources.
European online music service Spotify, which offers streaming audio tracks on demand, is currently closing a round of financing of $100 million or more, reports TechCrunch from unnamed sources. DST is said to be leading the deal, which would value Spotify at around $1 billion.
The Russian edition of Elle magazine has launched a full-fledged online store. Instead of using affiliated stores, Elle.ru allows users to stay on the site to complete their orders and make payment. A call center provides online shoppers with assistance.
In a speech dedicated to Internet freedom in the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced yesterday that the Department of State would open Twitter accounts in several new languages, including Russian.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s Twitter and LiveJournal accounts have been named the best blogs of the Russian-language Internet at the 2011 Runet Blog award ceremony.
The Russian Interior ministry announced that a criminal case has been opened against a 26 year-old Muscovite for having “replicated and disseminated” 18 copyrighted music recordings from his personal page on Vkontakte.ru. This followed a complaint from Nikitin, the Russian music company that owns the rights.
