DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

The week started with a bang on news that Yahoo Inc’s (NSDQ: YHOO) board rejected Microsoft Corp.’s (NSDQ: MSFT) unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for the company. In a statement issued on Monday, the company gave its reasoning: "After careful evaluation, the board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo, including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments." With people close to the deal stating that the Board will not consider any bids below $40 per share, a flurry of reports followed speculating about how Microsoft would respond and others (AOL (NYSE: TWX), Google (NASD: GOOG), News Corp (NYSE: NWS) and even Disney (NYSE: DIS)), who are reportedly exploring possible deals with Yahoo. Analysis: While Microsoft has vowed to "move forward" with its acquisition efforts, round one of the Microsoft-Google slugfest goes to Google, who for now has been successful in helping Yahoo fend off the takeover and open discussions with others. But is it enough to stop a determined Microsoft from ultimately succeeding? I have to agree with Saul Hansell of the New York Times, who compared Yahoo’s efforts to find an alternative to Microsoft, to a terminally ill patient searching for a cure while coming to grips with the inevitable truth that there isn’t one out there. In all likelihood, Microsoft will increase its bid and Yahoo will be bought by Microsoft. How did all this play out on Wall Street? Yahoo’s stock, which has shot up since Microsoft first announced its bid several weeks ago, continued to trade up, at one point reaching over $30 per share and ending the week at $29.66. Microsoft’s shares, which have dropped since the bid, ended the week at $28.42, while GOOG was a slight winner on the week, up from its early February low of under $500 to $529.64. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.

The other big story of the week: The Strike is over. Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted overwhelmingly Tuesday evening to end their over three-month-long strike, meaning that most were back at work writing television show and movie scripts on Wednesday. The WGA said that 92.5% of votes cast were in favor of ending the strike; members will next vote on Feb. 25 to ratify the tentative three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Analysis: While some are describing the strike as a win for the writers, who under the new contract will have a stake in revenue generated from movies, television shows and other creative works distributed over the Internet, others are questioneing whether the benefits outweigh the income writers and others lost because of the strike. This may be true, but I have to believe that the alternative of the writers not having taken a stand on this issue would be far worse for them from a long-term perspective. While the deal falls short of what they were originally seeking (for example, it does not shorten the 17-to-24-day window that studios have to stream their shows for promotional purposes without paying residuals), it’s a important deal nonetheless as it gets their feet in the door on what will become a significant revenue source for the industry in the years to come. Before the strike, they had nothing. Now, they have a piece (albeit a small one) of a pie that will do nothing but get bigger.

Here are other stories that I found interesting this week (links to Mark’s full stories provided):

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will hold a public hearing later this month on broadband network management practices. The FCC made the announcement after an admission by Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) that it actively interferes with the peer-to-peer application usage of some of its customers. Responding to an FCC inquiry, which came after investigations by independent researchers and the Associated Press found that Comcast was throttling the BitTorrent uploads of some users, the company conceded in a filing with the FCC that it "manages the use of certain P2P protocols in a minimally intrusive way, and only when necessary, based on purely objective criteria."
• The U.S. Justice Dept. has approved the buyout of radio giant Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) by private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, provided the company divest radio stations in Cincinnati, Houston, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
• Music-focused social network Imeem has acquired Snocap, the digital music licensing company founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, according to TechCrunch, which added that the purchase price will likely not be disclosed.
• Confirming earlier rumors, video-sharing site Revver has been acquired by LiveUniverse, a company launched by former MySpace parent company Intermix Media's founder Brad Greenspan, according to reports from NewTeeVee and CNET News.com. While terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, News.com reported earlier this month that the struggling Revver -- which had seen the departure of all of its founders, and its staff cut in half -- was asking for only $300,000 to $500,000, plus the assumption of about $1 million in debt.