New York - Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) on Wednesday announced a number of new digital initiatives, including a new YouTube channel that will host video submissions for prospective new models, and the creation of a Playboy Audience Network of video sites through which it will distribute content. Along with YouTube, Break, Veoh, Howcast and Metacafe will host video highlights such as the "Playboy Radio Minute," with content from its show on Sirius; and a video blog featuring one of the star's of E!'s "The Girl Next Door." The company said it also partnered with Mixercast to develop ad-supported content and contest widgets.

London - Major label EMI said on Tuesday that the new Coldplay single it began offering as a free download for a week as of yesterday has already been downloaded more than 600,000 times, Billboard reports. The DRM-free song will no longer be available as a free download as of May 6.

Los Angeles - Virgin Mobile USA on Wednesday announced a ringtone promotion with fast food chain Burger King and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), to create a "Virgin Mobile Ringtone Value Menu" that will offer a selection of ringtones for just $1 each. Artists whose songs are included in the promotion include Flo Rida, Mana, Buckcherry, Estelle and War.

Reston, Va. - Following the launch of its North American satellite earlier this month, ICO Global Communications said that it has signed a deal with Discovery Communications, which will provide content for the alpha trials of the company's new mobile interactive media service, known as ICO mim. Under the deal, similar to one the company signed with NBC Universal, ICO may select up to three Discovery channels for its live mobile television trials this summer.

San Diego - Eventful, a site that aggregates local event listings, said on Wednesday that it will provide a selection of regional events to The Guide, a new resource on live music, book signings, art galleries, restaurants and other activities offered by the Los Angeles Times. San Diego-based Eventful said The Times is among 1,200 companies using its API to create targeted event listing calendars.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Four months after first announcing plans to acquire Gemstar-TV Guide (NASD: GMST), Macrovision (NASD: MVSN), a provider of anti-piracy technology and informational databases, said that shareholders from both companies have now approved the $2.3 billion deal.

Los Angeles - Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has called the band's move to let consumers decide how much, if anything, to pay for its new album "In Rainbows" a "one-off," which likely won't be repeated again, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Washington - The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill that would provide more resources for the government to combat intellectual property crimes, increase penalties, and create a White House-level position to coordinate efforts. The bill, which was already amended to remove a portion that would have penalized each track on compilation CDs as a separate infringement, will now move to a vote in the full House; a Senate version of the bill was introduced last fall.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has rejected a pillar of the recording industry's argument in the copyright infringement lawsuits it has filed against file-swappers, ruling that simply "making available" songs in a shared folder on their computers does not equate to infringement. In Atlantic v. Howell, Judge Neil V. Wake has dismissed the label's motion for summary judgment against Pamela and Jeffrey Howell, saying in his ruling that "merely making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work available to the public does not violate a copyright holder's exclusive right of distribution."

New York - In a move expected by analysts, media conglomerate Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) will completely spin off its cable TV company, CEO Jeffrey L. Bewkes announced in a statement on Wednesday. "A complete structural separation of Time Warner Cable, under the right circumstances, is in the best interest of both companies' shareholders," said Bewkes. "We're working hard on an agreement with Time Warner Cable, which we expect to finalize soon."

Dulles, Va. - Another sharp drop in subscription revenue took its toll on AOL's bottom line during the first quarter, parent Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) said on Wednesday. The company, which has been trying to establish itself as an online advertising power, lost 647,000 subscribers during the three-month period, and was down to 8.7 million subscribers as of March 31.

San Francisco - Kongregate, a publisher of free social online games, has received a $3 million investment from Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, SiliconValley.com reported.

Los Angeles - Mister Wong, a Germany-based social bookmarks site, has acquired Lifestream.fm, a service that allows users to aggregate RSS feeds from various social media sites, Mashable.com reports.

Valley Stream, N.Y. - Zodiac Interactive, whose interactive TV software has garnered the company an Emmy award, announced on Wednesday that it has sold its Zodigo mobile content search engine through a management buy-out led by Matt Johnston, formerly Zodiac SVP of strategy and CEO of Zodigo.

Westwood, Mass. - Turbine, a developer and publisher of multiplayer online games, is raising a $40 million third round of venture capital financing, led by Granite Global Ventures, PEHub.com reported.

New York - Digital music service eMusic on Tuesday announced the availability of its service in Canada, offering a catalog of 3.5 million songs from 33,000 labels in the unprotected MP3 format. The company, which recently passed 200 million downloads sold, offers songs from artists on Canadian labels including Nettwerk, Arts & Crafts, Justin Time, Secret City Records, Mint Records and Paper Bag.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace social network on Tuesday announced the launch of MySpace Karaoke, an online karaoke service powered by kSolo, which Fox Interactive Media acquired in April 2006. The service allows users with a microphone to view lyrics in real-time while singing along to licensed tracks, with the ability to record and share their performances with friends.