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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

MP3.com reaches pact with Sony unit

SAN DIEGO -- Shares of MP3.com Inc. rose as much as 42 percent after the Internet music company said it and Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment reached a settlement to end a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Shares of MP3.com rose $1.59, or 21 percent, today to $9.34. Earlier, they touched $11, or 83 percent below the 52-week high of $64.62 1/2 reached Nov. 8.

Sony's American depositary receipts, each representing one ordinary share, rose 69 cents to $97.13.

MP3.com and Tokyo-based Sony did not disclose terms of the agreement, the fourth settlement with a major record label for the San Diego-based distributor of digital music files over the Internet.

MP3.com said it would pay Sony an undisclosed amount of cash.

The company also settled copyright disputes with Time Warner Inc.'s Music Group, EMI Group Plc and Bertelsmann AG's BMG Entertainment.

Drkoop.com gains $20 mil in funding

AUSTIN, Texas -- Drkoop.com Inc., a money-losing health-information Web site co-founded by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, said it appointed a new management team and had received $20 million in equity financing.

Drkoop.com said it named Richard Rosenblatt, to succeed Donald Hackett as chief executive.

The other members of the management team, which now leads venture-capital fund Prime Ventures LLC, are Edward Cespedes, who was named president, and Stephen Plutsky, named chief financial officer. C. Everett Koop will continue as chairman, and Hackett will remain a director.

The new management will try to shore up the company, which yesterday said the Securities & Exchange Commission was investigating whether it had violated securities laws.

At the same time, the stock has lost about 95 percent of its value since July 1999, and at least 10 law firms have filed or said they will file shareholder lawsuits in recent weeks.

Shares of drkoop.com closed down 27 cents to $1.08. In its June 1999 initial public offering, the firm sold shares for $9 each.