Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it will next week begin a month-long field test of "white space" devices, which can receive broadband Internet access via unused portions of the broadcast spectrum used for TV. Two of these tests will take place in sports and entertainment venues, as some of the opposition to the devices has been lodged by sports leagues who argue the device may cause interference with wireless microphones used by coaches and broadcasters during games. Companies including Google (NASD: GOOG), Microsoft (NASD: MSFT), Intel (NASD: INTC) and Philips (NYSE: PHG) have lobbied the FCC to open up the white space spectrum for broadband services.

London - Major record label EMI said this week that its roster act Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" has claimed the U.S. record for best-selling digital album ever, having sold 394,000 downloads in its first three weeks on sale. The album also broke the record for first-week digital album download sales in the U.S., with 288,000.

Toronto, Canada - A Canadian court in Quebec has served an injunction against file-sharing service Quebectorrent.com, effectively shutting down the site that claimed around 50,000 users, Billboard reports. The Quebec Superior Court took the actions after a lawsuit was filed by a local Quebec trade group representing the music industry.

Tokyo - Japanese video game developer and publisher Konami has filed suit against Viacom-owned (NYSE: VIA) "Rock Band" game developer Harmonix, alleging the popular music game infringes on several of Konami's patents, Bloomberg reported.

Arlington, Va. - Despite a slowdown in the U.S. economy, worldwide revenue for consumer electronics will grow nearly 10% percent this year, hitting the $700 billion mark by 2009, according to new data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the GfK Group.

Arlington, Va. - Though still dominated by white males, the venture capital industry is slowly shifting toward more diversity, according to a new survey by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureWire.

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to punish Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's second-largest broadband provider, for actively interfering with the file-sharing traffic of its customers, the Associated Press reported. "The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers' access to the Internet. We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles," FCC chairman Kevin Martin told AP.

Washington - The U.S. Justice Dept. has concluded its criminal investigation into the stock options granting practices of Apple (NASD: AAPL), and will not bring criminal charges against CEO Steve Jobs or any other current or former executives, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) launched its iPhone 3G in 21 countries on Friday, but problems with activating the software plagued both purchasers of the second-generation device and those updating their first-generation iPhones with a software update that includes the new App Store. Various outlets reported that lines outside of Apple and AT&T stores were moving slowly, as servers were unable to handle the load of customers activating their phones in-store -- a new development meant to prevent consumers from unlocking them for use on competing networks.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision Blizzard (NASD: ATVI), the company recently created through the merger of video game publisher Activision with Vivendi's games division, announced on Friday that it will effect a two-for-one stock split.

Gutersloh, Germany - German media conglomerate Bertelsmann announced on Friday that it has agreed to sell its direct-to-consumer business, Direct Group North America, to Phoenix, Ariz.-based Najafi Companies for an undisclosed sum.

Los Angeles - Digital business news publisher PaidContent's parent company ContentNext has been acquired by U.K.-based Guardian News & Media (GNM), for a price "north of $30 million," All Things D reported. "We were planning another round of funding and were not out shopping the company but when Guardian approached us, all the pegs fit into the right holes: a company that will help us scale, add to our existing portfolio of products, and most importantly, help keep 'Our Essence of Being' intact," PaidContent founder Rafat Ali said in a post on the site.