London - Major record label EMI announced on Wednesday that it has named former Google (NASD: GOOG) chief information officer Douglas Merrill to lead its digital music business. Merrill will oversee EMI's digital strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain and global technology activities. Prior to joining Google in 2003, Merrill was a SVP at Charles Schwab, and before that worked stints at Price Waterhouse and the RAND Corporation.

Los Angeles - Gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who recently made a deal to help run a record label imprint with Warner Music, has announced a boycott of Sony BMG, in light of that label's pending copyright infringement lawsuit against him, Wired.com reports. Hilton posted unauthorized Britney Spears tracks on his website, prompting a lawsuit from Sony BMG label Zomba. Hilton says he will now no longer write about Sony BMG artists that he has covered in the past, which include Christina Aguilera, The Gossip, Justin Timberlake and Tori Amos. "Why should we help the company suing us make money???? Especially when their lawsuit is personal!" reads a note on PerezHilton.com. "We KNOW that our support can help their artists, some of our favorites, immensely. We hope alienating us was worth it for Sony BMG!"

Washington - An information hearing on virtual worlds before a U.S. House subcommittee was attended by both "Second Life" founder Philip Rosedale and a number of avatars who appeared on a video screen in the hearing room, Reuters reported. "It is likely that virtual world activities are somewhat more policeable and the law somewhat more maintainable within virtual worlds," Rosedale said, asserting that government intervention is not needed. "The virtual world has a degree of accountability...and traceability, which actually in many ways is better than the real world."

Los Angeles - Digital media financing and syndication firm 60Frames Entertainment said on Wednesday it has wrapped production on "Blood Cell," a new 18-episode Web series that will star Jessica Rose, of "Lonelygirl15" fame. The company said it will provide release date and syndication details shortly. 60Frames recently launched nine original series through its syndication network, and has more than 30 additional projects in development and production.

San Francisco - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, announced on Wednesday the launch of blinkx BBTV, a downloadable application that delivers a library of independent films and other programming from existing partners. The service uses hybrid peer-to-peer streaming, similar to Joost, and offers full-screen video in addition to Blinkx's speech recognition-powered video search. The company said it will be adding dozens of additional channels in coming months, and will also offer to power BBTV players for partner media and entertainment sites.

New York - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks said on Wednesday that it streamed more than 57 million mobile videos over the past year across all of its brands, representing 94% year-over-year growth. The figure includes 17 million streams from its MTV properties. Comedy Central now streams nearly 1 million mobile videos a month, up 28% on a year ago, while mobile streams are up 70% at Nickelodeon.

Dublin, Ireland - Nokia (NYSE: NOK) on Wednesday launched its Nokia Music Store in Ireland, offering 2.5 million tracks that can be browsed and purchased either via PC or a mobile device. Nokia said it plans to highlight and offer recommendations of local artists such as Glen Hansard (from the film "Once"), the Coronas and Cathy Davey on the service. A version of the store, which uses Windows Media and DRM, is also available in the U.K.

San Jose, Calif. - Pinger on Tuesday released a beta of its Pingercast messaging service, which lets bands, bloggers, comedians and other entertainers connect with fans by sending audio broadcasts directly to their mobile phones. San Jose, Calif.-based Pinger's service has been used previously by Lionsgate to promote films including "Saw IV."

Arlington, Va. - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on Wednesday unveiled the 12 new inductees who will be enshrined in its CE Hall of Fame.

New York - A federal judge in New York has ruled that a user's "making available" of songs or other copyrighted files using file-sharing software does not in and of itself construe infringement, in what could prove to be a setback in the record industry's legal campaign against such activities, CNET News.com reported.

Santa Clara, Calif. - California continues to lead the nation in terms of number of high-tech workers (940,700), venture capital investments ($13.8 billion) and research and development expenditures ($60.5 billion), according to the 11th annual Cyberstates report released on Tuesday by high-tech trade association AeA.

Seattle - Online retail giant Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Wednesday announced the launch of a new feature that lets consumers use text messages to find and buy products. "With TextBuyIt, if you're walking out of a concert and want to buy a CD from the artist you just saw, or if you're at dinner and a friend tells you about a great book you should read, all you have to do is get out your mobile device, send a text message to Amazon, reply to the response, confirm your order, and your item will be on its way," said Howard Gefen, director of Amazon Mobile Payments.

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ (NASD: THQI) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Elephant Entertainment, a developer of casual and online games.

San Francisco - Creative Commons, the non-profit set up to promote a less-restrictive copyright licensing scheme, announced on Wednesday that it has received a new $4 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and said founder and CEO Lawrence Lessig is stepping down to focus on his new Change Congress project.

San Francisco - Loomia, a provider of personal recommendation technology and the "SeenThis?" application on Facebook, announced on Wednesday that it has closed a $5 million first round of funding, led by Asset Management Company.

Redwood City, Calif. - Attributor, a provider of content-tracking and programming services for publishers, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $12 million in its third round of venture capital financing, led by JAFCO Ventures and previous investor Sigma Partners.

Las Vegas - Vlingo, a provider of voice-powered mobile phone applications, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $20 million second round of financing, led by Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), which will also offer Vlingo's voice-powered technology on its mobile oneSearch service.