Los Angeles - Norman Lear, a political activist and creator of TV shows including "All in the Family" and "Good Times," is producing a series of voter awareness short films that will be distributed on popular video sites like YouTube and MySpace, Variety reported. Lear has recruited writers including Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon ("Reno 911!"), and is in talks with Doug Ellin ("Entourage") and Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy"), to create shorts for the series. The spots will also be broadcast on-air before the election, through partners Comedy Central and Clear Channel.

Los Angeles - CBS has made several of its soap operas, along with game show "The Price is Right," available for free, on-demand streaming from its website and partner sites in the CBS Audience Network. Along with TPIR, episodes of "As the World Turns," "Guiding Light" and "The Young and the Restless" will be posted online immediately after the West Coast broadcast airs.

Bedford, Mass. - Groove Mobile, a provider of mobile music download services, said on Tuesday that it has partnered with wireless carrier Vodafone UK on a trial of a direct-to-consumer, off-portal data service with access to the Sony BMG music catalog. The service will allow users to download over-the-air tracks to their phones via SMS codes, without incurring additional data charges.

San Francisco - Social network imeem said on Tuesday that it partnered with independent movie studio Palm Pictures, which will make content including a full-length feature available on imeem. Among other offerings, Palm will make its film "The Method" available on imeem for a one-day screening on Friday, before its release in theaters.

San Francisco - KPIX-TV, a local CBS affiliate in San Francisco, said on Tuesday that it has implemented technology from Sling Media to deliver live, remote broadcasts for its viewers. The station has deployed Slingbox's technology, along with 3G wireless data and 28 video cameras, so that live feeds from Bay Area bridges, major thoroughfares and airports are available for live viewing on the CBS 5 website.

Los Angeles - Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of electronic program guides for digital TV services, said on Tuesday that it has signed a multi-year patent license agreement with MeeVee, a provider of TV and video recommendations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

San Francisco - Internet video network GoFish announced on Tuesday that it has added a library of live, high-definition music performances, clinics and recording sessions through an agreement with Rehearsals.com. The two companies will share revenue from GoFish sponsorships and advertising of Rehearsals.com videos.

San Francisco - In-game ad network Double Fusion said on Tuesday that it will provide in-game ads for Ijji.com, the North American arm of the South Korean online game publisher, as well as for publisher Gala-Net, a unit of global online community company Gala, Inc.

Steve Sordello, who last week resigned as the CFO of Alviso-based TiVo, on Tuesday was named the new CFO of Mountain View-based LinkedIn, operator of an online business network that includes more than 11 million professionals.
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Redwood City, Calif. - Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts said on Tuesday that it signed Kevin Durant from the University of Texas to be the cover athlete for its "NCAA March Madness 08." The game is in development at EA Canada for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.

Washington - Thousands of U.S. webcasters on Tuesday went silent, staging a day-long blackout in protest of sharply higher music royalty rates set to take affect on July 15.

Dulles, Va. - AOL on Tuesday launched a completely revamped version of its AOL News portal, using a blog format to combine traditional news sources with AOL programming, user-generated news and social news tools.

Atlanta - EG Technology, a provider of digital video processing equipment, has raised $5 million more in its third round of venture capital, bringing the round's total to $20.5 million, according to a report in PE Week Wire.

San Francisco - TorrentSpy, a search engine that provides links to media files available for download on the BitTorrent file-sharing network, and is defending against a copyright lawsuit from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has announced plans to implement a filter to weed out copyrighted content, CNET News.com reported.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple and AT&T on Tuesday announced pricing of service plans for the iPhone, for which consumers will be required to purchase a two-year contract when the device goes on sale on Friday.