PARADISE has to leave MP3.com....:((((

[MIKE BURN]

WHAT A LOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Reuters biz.yahoo.com/rc/021114/m...usa_1.html

Vivendi's VUNET USA cuts 50 staff in restructuring

Thursday November 14,

By Sue Zeidler





LOS ANGELES, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Vivendi Universal's (NYSE:V - News) online

division, VUNet USA, on Thursday said it was cutting about 50 employees at its

technology and music and media groups, which would leave about 275 people.



The remaining employees will continue to work out of the groups' shared San

Diego headquarters and offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the

company said in a statement.



VUNet USA said the reorganization was intended to reduce financial expenses

and streamline operations.



VUNet USA, which also has education, mobile media and online games operations,

reports to a larger struggling European Internet division known as VUNet,

which is expected to be dissolved under Vivendi chairman and chief executive

officer Jean-Rene Fourtou's mandate.



Fourtou was called in to turn Vivendi around following the ouster of former

CEO and chairman Jean-Marie Messier in July after racking up $19 billion in

debts while he sought to transform Vivendi from a 150-year-old staid water

utility into a flashy global entertainment giant.



Fourtou has already unloaded the money-losing Internet venture Vizzavi, which

was a central focus of Messier's strategy, and said in late September the

company's other Internet assets would also be sold or integrated with the

businesses to which they report.



VUNet USA Music and Media has focused on building businesses around online

distribution of music and video, with sites like MP3.com, Getmusic.com and

Rollingstone.com.



Some of the properties, like Emusic and Rollingstone.com were originally

purchased by Vivendi's Universal Music but were then transferred to VUNet when

it was formed in October 2001.



It's unclear which online properties will be absorbed by Universal Music or

other Vivendi companies.



MP3.com, originally sued by Universal Music along with the world's other major

music companies in a copyright infringement lawsuit, features streaming and

downloadable music, while EMusic, through licensing agreements with more than

900 independent record labels, offers an expanding collection of over 230,000

MP3 songs for download.



Rollingstone.com provides archives from the magazine, including more than

7,000 artist profiles, photos and interviews and over 1,000 on-demand videos.



Sources close to Vivendi Universal this week said Vivendi plans to combine all

of its U.S. entertainment businesses under the leadership of media mogul Barry

Diller, rekindling speculation they could be spun off as a stand-alone company.



Diller currently runs Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which houses Vivendi's

film, television and theme park businesses, and will now manage the games

division and the world's largest record company, Universal Music Group.



Paradise

MIKE

[droolymutt]

I didn't get to know him well, but he does seem like a very genuine guy, with a good heart and a good mind.



A Loss, indeed. In my opinion, Mp3.com needs More people like that, not Less.

[maitre ka fu]

sad



I'm sure he'll be ok though

[bbchris]

Oh my!

Jane Eliz|Blah Blah|Thinking Out Loud|Today's Song|

[Phil Frazier]

Yeah I got an email as did many others. It really sucks. P-dice was one of best allies. Once I was at odds with him but over the years I realy gained respect for him & surprisingly he told me that he considered me a friend. It's a sad day. ;0(