Washington - SaveNetRadio, a group backed by large webcasters such as AOL, Yahoo and Live365 who are represented by the Digital Media Association, said an offer put forth yesterday by SoundExchange that would provide below-market royalty rates for small webcasters would "decimate" the Internet radio industry. [more..]

San Francisco - Joost, the ad-supported, peer-to-peer streaming TV service created by the founders of Skype and Kazaa, has been added as a defendant to a year-old lawsuit filed by StreamCast Networks over the rights to the service's underlying FastTrack peer-to-peer technology, CNET News.com reported. [more..]

Tokyo - Sony is considering releasing an 80GB version of its PlayStation 3 game console in the U.S. and other markets following the device's launch in South Korea in June, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

Seattle - Online retailer Amazon.com announced on Wednesday its acquisition of Brilliance Audio, an independent publisher of audiobooks. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. [more..]

London - Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced plans to add the ability to place VoIP calls, video calls and voice messages to its PSP handheld game system, initially in the U.K., with plans to extend the service into Europe. [more..]

Oakland, Calif. - Pandora, the personalized Web radio service, announced on Wednesday that its service is now available on cell phones to Sprint subscribers. [more..]

San Francisco - Greystripe, a distributor of ad-supported mobile games and applications, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $8.9 million in its second round of financing, led by Disney's Steamboat Ventures. [more..]

San Francisco - Rooftop Media, a site that offers online stand-up and sketch comedy video and audio files, has raised $2.5 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Azure Capital Partners, VentureWire reported. [more..]

New York - Pica9, a provider of online ad building and brand management tools, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $2.8 million in a round of angel financing. [more..]

Los Angeles - U.K. hip-hop artist Dizzee Rascal plans to release his forthcoming third album, "Maths & English," exclusively to digital retailers in North America, forgoing a CD release entirely except in the U.K. and Europe, Billboard reported. "This has a lot do with Dizzee being so hugely popular in Europe," Rusty Clarke, national sales director for Beggars Group USA, told Billboard.
[more..]

Los Angeles - Hungry Man, a commercial production company, has launched a consumer website where it plans to screen original Web series created by its in-house directors, Variety reported. HungryManTV.com will feature original series created by directors such as Bennett Miller, Allen Coulter and Marcos Siega, to include "Undercover Cheerleaders," "Danimal's Late Nite Cartoons" and "Phistophicles: Lesser-Known Greek Philosopher." [more..]

Fairfax, Va. - TrafficLand, an aggregator of live traffic video, said on Wednesday that it has partnered withWeatherBug, a provider of online weather information services, to exchange traffic video and weather information between the two companies. Starting on Wednesday, TrafficLand's network video will be available through both WeatherBug's website and desktop application for more than 32 major markets, including DC, New York and Atlanta. Similarly, WeatherBug's localized weather information will be available through TrafficLand's site. [more..]

Los Angeles - Video game publisher Red Mile Entertainment and MTV Games have announced plans to publish a title based on the MTV series and movie spin-off "Jackass," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The title, slated for release in September for PlayStation 2, PSP and Nintendo DS, will feature the voices and likenesses of Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O and others from the property. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Activision on Wednesday announced details for the forthcoming third installment of its "Guitar Hero" air guitar video game, scheduled for release in the fall for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii. A new multiplayer battle mode will allow players to compete online, using new wireless guitar controllers modeled after Gibson's Les Paul and Kramer models. The latest version, developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane, will feature licensed songs from artists including the Rolling Stones, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Weezer, Alice Cooper, Foghat and Heart. [more..]

New York - Mobile game developer and publisher Gameloft on Wednesday announced a deal to create a mobile game version of Endemol USA's TV game show "1 vs. 100" for cell phones, and launched a version of its game based on the ABC series "Lost" for fifth generation iPods. "1 vs. 100: The Mobile Game" is set to debut in the fall, while the iPod "Lost" game is available for purchase for $4.99. [more..]