Paris - European retail chain Carrefour, the world's largest behind Wal-Mart, has announced plans to launch a movie and TV show download service in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The service will offer both rental and full ownership options. "It's very important for Carrefour to have more than one point of sale," said Carrefour's Christophe Geoffroy. "We have to be in contact with the consumer in their homes as well as in-store. We know full well that the market forecast for VOD is low at the moment, but we are convinced that it will develop over the coming years and we want to provide a legal solution for customers to see the best possible content." THR noted that Carrefour currently claims 13.3% of the DVD market in the region.

New York - The video game industry's Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced on Monday that it partnered with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) on a nationwide educational campaign that will see the distribution of a booklet explaining the ratings system to all 26,000 PTAs in the U.S. The groups will also offer a webcast explaining the ratings and how to set up the parental controls on gaming consoles, hosted by ESRB president Patricia Vance, PTA president Jan Harp Domene and Andrew S. Bub of GamerDad.com.

New York - Digital marketing firm 24/7 Real Media, a unit of WPP, announced on Monday that it has partnered with four major publishers to launch an online B2B advertising network. The BBN network will reach nearly 10 million monthly unique users, consisting of readers at over 200 Web properties from Cygnus Business Media, Nielsen Business Media, Reed Business Information and The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Los Angeles - RZA, a member of legendary hip-hop troupe Wu-Tang Clan, recently launched a website where like-minded chess players can congregate and play live online games, Billboard reports. WuChess.com, a collaboration with Chesspark.com, will eventually charge some kind of annual fee and donate a portion of revenue to charity. Members will also be invited to bi-annual WuChess events.

San Diego - A U.S. unit of Korea's LG Electronics on Monday announced the launch of LG: Rally for Music, an online social network for music fans and aspiring musicians. The site will host online talent contests where winners can receive LG televisions, MP3 players, mobile phones and the chance to be one of four finalists who will perform at a live event, with a grand prize of $15,000.

McLean, Va. - USA Today said on Monday that it has formed a multi-platform editorial content and marketing alliance with New York-based Fantasy Sports Ventures (FSV), the developer of an online network of fantasy sports websites. Under the deal, FSV's Fantasy Players Network will distribute USA Today's sports content through its sites, while the company's fantasy sports experts will provide information to the paper.

Chicago - Midway Games (NASD: MWY) on Monday announced plans to publish "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe," licensed through Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the fall. The game will pit Mortal Kombat characters like Sub-Zero and Scorpion against Batman, Superman and other DC characters. Separately, Midway said it will publish developer Epic Games' "Unreal Tournament 3" for Xbox 360 this summer. The game has already shipped more than one million units worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and PC.

New York - Rockstar Games, a unit of Take-Two Interactive, said on Monday that it will ship "Midnight Club: Los Angeles" to retailers in North America on Sept. 9, and in Europe on Sept. 12. The fourth installment in the racing franchise was developed by Rockstar San Diego for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the PSP.

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ (NASD: THQI) on Monday shipped its "Battle of the Bands" exclusively for Nintendo Wii to retailers. The game, which THQ says combines "beat matching and combat," features 30 popular songs recorded in each of five different styles -- rock, funk/hip-hop, country, marching band and Latin -- which players can switch between during head-to-head gameplay.

San Francisco - GoFish, an online youth entertainment and media network, said on Monday that it has raised $1.5 million through a private placement.

Montreal - MediaScrape, an online broadcaster of repackaged video news from 28 global news agencies, has raised $3.16 million in a second round of venture capital financing from unnamed investors.

Arlington, Va. - Venture capitalists invested $7.1 billion in 922 deals during the first quarter, according to a report released on Monday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

London - Google (NASD: GOOG) once again claimed the top spot in market research firm Millward Brown's annual list of the top 100 most powerful brands, beating out other leading brands like GE/NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Apple (NASD: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) for the honor for the third year in a row. The report estimated Google's value at $86 billion, up 30% on a year ago; second-place General Electric's brand value was estimated at $71.4 billion.

Los Angeles - Filmaka on Monday announced the launch of its new digital entertainment studio, which will fund feature films, documentaries, Web series and other content culled from a network of amateur filmmakers.

New York - Media conglomerate Viacom (NYSE: VIA) announced on Monday that it has formed a joint venture to create a premium TV channel and video-on-demand service that will feature classic and new movies and TV shows from five studios. Scheduled to launch in the fall of 2009, the service will feature programming from Viacom's Paramount and Paramount Vantage, MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF).

San Francisco - Six Apart, the company behind blog publishing services TypePad, Movable Type and Vox, announced on Monday that it has acquired Apperceptive, a New York-based provider of social media consulting and development services.

Los Angeles - Channel M, a provider of out-of-home video advertising services, announced on Monday that it has raised an undisclosed sum in its third round of funding, led by Intel Capital.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Ning, a free service that lets users create their own online social networks, has raised a $60 million fourth round of venture capital financing from unnamed investors, PaidContent.org reported.