Kevin Bermeister
Encyclopedia
Kevin Bermeister has developed substantial businesses in the computers, multimedia and Internet industries. He established Ozisoft in 1982 which was one of the first interactive multimedia companies. By 1990 Ozisoft was Australia's largest video games
distributor. In 1991 Ozisoft was sold to Tech Pacific and First Pacific of Hong Kong.
In 1992, he and his business partner Mark Dyne
engineered a management buyout, together with Sega
Enterprises, to form Sega Ozisoft Pty Limited representing exclusively the world's largest and foremost publishers. Sega Ozisoft was sold in 1999 to Infogrames
(France).
In 1994 he established the $70 million interactive Sega World Sydney
theme park. This park utilized the latest in multimedia, entertainment and destination attraction events. The theme park operated through a joint venture company, the shareholders of which included Sega Enterprises Japan, Mitsubishi
Corp. and Mitsui
Corp. The major shareholders sold their interest in 1998 to an Australian property group.
In 1996, Bermeister founded Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc. Brilliant developed various Internet interests including a deal with Joltid to establish Altnet Inc. a company focused on Peer to Peer network solutions for content providers, consumers, and enterprise. One such initiative is Global File Registry a solution that bridges the divide between content owners and ISP’s.
In 2006 Brilliant settled a major litigation with the major Music labels and Movie studios , which included Kazaa
and since that time has focused his attention on rebuilding content and distribution assets for the company including growing a subscriber base of users of licensed content in conjunction with Atrinsic Inc..
Bermeister sits on the board of various companies and has been a founding investor in a number of successful startups including Skype
.
Bermeister is a major benefactor and supporter of numerous charitable organizations including United Israel Appeal, Jewish Care, The Hunger Project, UniOne Foundation and Jakes Ladder a foundation for research into Cystic Fibrosis. He was recently awarded the Yeshiva Center Leadership in Philanthropy Award and has received numerous similar awards in the past.
Kevin Bermeister continues to focus his effort on Brilliant Digital Entertainment and Altnet Inc. a division of the company that is focused on Peer to Peer network
solutions, launching a legal music download service in July 2009.
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
distributor. In 1991 Ozisoft was sold to Tech Pacific and First Pacific of Hong Kong.
In 1992, he and his business partner Mark Dyne
Mark Dyne
Mark Dyne is Chairman and CEO of Europlay Capital AdvisorsHe has also served as CEO of Sega Gaming Technologies and Sega Ozisoft Pty Ltd., CEO and Chairman of Virgin Interactive...
engineered a management buyout, together with Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Enterprises, to form Sega Ozisoft Pty Limited representing exclusively the world's largest and foremost publishers. Sega Ozisoft was sold in 1999 to Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
(France).
In 1994 he established the $70 million interactive Sega World Sydney
Sega World Sydney
Sega World Sydney was an indoor high-tech amusement park that operated for almost four years, in Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1997, it was one of several SegaWorld amusement parks that were opened worldwide, designed and themed by gaming company SEGA...
theme park. This park utilized the latest in multimedia, entertainment and destination attraction events. The theme park operated through a joint venture company, the shareholders of which included Sega Enterprises Japan, Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
Corp. and Mitsui
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
Corp. The major shareholders sold their interest in 1998 to an Australian property group.
In 1996, Bermeister founded Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc. Brilliant developed various Internet interests including a deal with Joltid to establish Altnet Inc. a company focused on Peer to Peer network solutions for content providers, consumers, and enterprise. One such initiative is Global File Registry a solution that bridges the divide between content owners and ISP’s.
In 2006 Brilliant settled a major litigation with the major Music labels and Movie studios , which included Kazaa
Kazaa
Kazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
and since that time has focused his attention on rebuilding content and distribution assets for the company including growing a subscriber base of users of licensed content in conjunction with Atrinsic Inc..
Bermeister sits on the board of various companies and has been a founding investor in a number of successful startups including Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
.
Bermeister is a major benefactor and supporter of numerous charitable organizations including United Israel Appeal, Jewish Care, The Hunger Project, UniOne Foundation and Jakes Ladder a foundation for research into Cystic Fibrosis. He was recently awarded the Yeshiva Center Leadership in Philanthropy Award and has received numerous similar awards in the past.
Kevin Bermeister continues to focus his effort on Brilliant Digital Entertainment and Altnet Inc. a division of the company that is focused on Peer to Peer network
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
solutions, launching a legal music download service in July 2009.