New York - A federal judge has dismissed former Ramones drummer Richard "Richie Ramone" Reinhardt's lawsuit that sought nearly $1 million in what he claimed were unpaid digital royalties, the Associated Press reports. Reinhardt wrote six songs while in the band between 1983 and 1987, and had sought new remuneration for the songs in light of Internet distribution.

Los Angeles - Digital media financing and syndication company 60Frames Entertainment announced on Wednesday the premiere of "Carbangers," a new original video sketch from comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. The release, which features the group's entire original five-member cast, is the first since the Kids' 2002 "Tour of Duty" DVD, and coincides with their current North American tour.

San Antonio - AT&T has announced that it will provide an exclusive live webcast from the 2008 Coachella music festival this weekend from its broadband AT&T blue room site. On-demand content from the festival will also be available from blue room, AT&T U-verse and via AT&T mobile devices in May.

Los Angeles - GetBack Media has launched its social network targeted at users over the age of 35, featuring partnerships with a range of firms to provide music and video content, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company was founded by a team that includes the principals of DVD distributor Shout Factory, and is headed by president Chris Dominguez, a former executive at MTV Networks and iFilm. The company partnered with Universal Music to sell ads on the site and split revenues, and will feature music videos from the label along with Warner Music Group. GetBack also features TV content from Hulu, movie trailers from ScreenPlay, and song samples from All Media Guide.

San Francisco - Linden Lab, the developer of 3D virtual world Second Life, has named Mark Kingdon as its new CEO, replacing company founder Philip Rosedale, who will remain chairman. Since 2001, Kingdon has served as the CEO of Organic Inc., a digital communications agency. Prior to that, he had been a partner with the consulting division of PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Our search for the leader of Linden Lab demanded both tremendous business skills and a deep understanding and passion for Second Life and where it is going," said Rosedale. Kingdon will officially assume the role on May 15.

San Francisco - Advance movie ticket seller Fandango said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Microsoft's Tellme to add voice-activated movie information for mobile phones. Initially available for BlackBerry devices, with Helio Mysto phones to be added, the service uses GPS technology to target showtimes and provide directions to theaters.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Wednesday that it has signed former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan as the cover athlete for the PlayStation 3 version of its "NCAA Football 09" game, scheduled for release in North America on July 15. The packaging for each of the title's console platforms will feature a different cover athlete, including former Arkansas All-American Darren McFadden on the Xbox 360.

Redmond, Wash. - As a result of Microsoft shuttering its MSN Music store in favor of its Zune Marketplace, the company has told MSN Music customers that the licenses for the songs they purchased can be updated for the last time up until Aug. 31 -- after which time the songs cannot ever again be transferred from the devices on which they are currently stored, according to reports.

Washington - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) spent nearly $2.1 million in 2007 lobbying Congress for favorable copyright-related legislation, Ars Technica reported, citing the group's disclosure via the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

Los Angeles - A 2006 album from current "American Idol" contestant David Cook that was the top-seller at Amazon.com's (NASD: AMZN) MP3 store over the weekend, besting even Mariah Carey's new album, has now been removed from the store, FoxNews.com reported. Whether the album was taken down by Cook himself or at the behest of someone else remains a mystery.

Brussels - The European Commission has recommended that the video game industry there invest further in its ratings system, as well as adopt a code of conduct on the sale of games to minors within two years. "Videogames have become a strong pillar of Europe's content industry and are experiencing booming sales," said EU media commissioner Viviane Reding. "This is welcome but implies greater responsibility for the industry to ensure that parents know what kind of games their children play."

New York - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) has affirmed plans to extend its wildly popular "Guitar Hero" franchise beyond the guitar and bass to other instruments, a la rival music-based game "Rock Band," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in an interview with Portfolio.com. "We'll include a lot of other instruments [and] vocals," said Kotick, while refraining from giving any clues as to when these new elements might appear in the game franchise.

San Francisco - ZVUE (NASD: ZVUE), a maker of portable media players and operator of an online entertainment network that includes eBaumsWorld.com and Putfile.com, said on Wednesday that it has received notice from the Nasdaq that its shares are in danger of being delisted from the exchange.

Shanghai, China - The9, an online game operator in China, announced on Wednesday that it has made an equity investment of $38 million in Korean game developer G10 Entertainment.

Foxboro, Mass. - Play Hard Sports, a developer and publisher of casual online sports games, on Wednesday announced its launch and a $5 million first round of financing, led by New Enterprise Associates.