Washington - Saying the deal "would cause substantial harm to competition and consumers," Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), chairman of the Senate's antitrust subcommittee, has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Justice Department to block Sirius Satellite Radio's proposed $4 billion acquisition of rival XM. [more..]

New York - The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that an industry dispute over the accuracy of website ratings from dueling providers comScore and Nielsen/NetRatings is in the process of being resolved, as both companies have acquiesced to its request they submit to third-party audits. [more..]

London - U.K. police have shut down a website that sold vouchers to purchase digital music from the rogue Russian site AllofMP3.com, which recently lost the support of major credit card companies and online payment processors such as PayPal. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - Google will no longer accept ads from companies offering tailor-made essays for high school and university students as of next month, the BBC reports. [more..]

San Diego - RoyaltyShare, a provider of Web-based digital royalty processing services for the entertainment industry, announced that it has acquired Independent Digital Entertainment & Arts (IDEA), a Los Angeles-based provider of outsourced content management services to record labels, distributors and digital retailers. [more..]

Washington - The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade group for the software and digital content industry, said that it has settled a software piracy suit on behalf of member Symantec for $205,000. The organization filed suit after the defendant attempted to sell unauthorized Symantec software on eBay. [more..]

Herndon, Va. - Ruckus Network, a provider of digital entertainment services to more than 900 college campuses, said on Thursday that it has raised $10 million in its second round of funding, co-led by new investors Anschutz Investment and Columbia Capital. [more..]

Hollywood - Buzznet, an online social network with 6 million users, announced on Thursday that it has raised $6 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by Redpoint Ventures and Anthem Venture Partners. [more..]

Santa Ana, Calif. - Cluepedia, the developer of an extension for the Firefox Web browser that lets users rate websites and products and share their reviews with others, has raised an undisclosed sum from a group of 45 angel investors, socalTECH.com reported. [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio has partnered with General Motors on a trial program for used GM, Cadillac and Hummer vehicles, offering three months of free XM service to buyers of certified used models equipped with XM radios. The companies said XM will be available in more than 115,000 of these certified GM vehicles in 2007, and grow to more than 168,000 vehicles in 2008. [more..]

Portland, Ore. - Rentrak, a provider of video-on-demand ratings data, said that it has partnered with Internet audience measurement firm Hiwire on a pilot of a mobile TV measurement service. Oregon-based Rentrak will provide data on total viewers of both programming and video ads on mobile phones in Las Vegas, beginning this summer. [more..]

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless this week announced that it has eliminated fees associated with its mobile song ID service, which lets users identify what song is playing by holding their phone near to any speaker. The V CAST Song ID application is now available as a free download to select music-enabled phones. Subscribers may also purchase full-track versions of 1.9 million of the 4 million songs contained in the song ID database. [more..]

New York - Sirius Satellite Radio announced that it has tapped NXP Semiconductors to provide the chip that will power its in-car satellite TV service. The Nexperia PNX9520 processor will be utilized for Sirius Backseat TV, a family programming service slated to launch later this year in select 2008 model Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles. [more..]

Mamaronek, N.Y. - Dailylit.com, a service that sends snippets of classics and other literature each day to a user's Blackberry or other e-mail device, has racked up 50,000 registered users since launching earlier this month, Reuters reported. The site offers nearly 400 mainly public domain, free titles in chapters designed for reading in five minutes or less, such as on the way to work. For instance, Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" comes in 82 installments. The company also plans to offer newer titles from major publishers, and aims to charge less than $5 per title. [more..]

El Segundo, Calif. - Satellite TV provider DirecTV has announced plans to launch a range of new HD channels in the fall, and reconfirmed its plans to have up to 100 national HD channels by year's end. The company plans to launch six new HD channels from Discovery Communications, five from Starz, and other new offerings from The History Channel and A&E. DirecTV also plans to offer local HD channels in 75 U.S. markets by the end of 2007. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - Warner Home Video on Thursday claimed to be the first studio to pass 100,000 in sales on a high-definition title, with "The Departed," last year's Oscar winner for Best Picture. The studio claims more than 30% market share of DVD sales in the high definition market. [more..]

Tokyo - Sony Ericsson this week introduced a new music-enabled Walkman handset model in Japan that features a built-in FM transmitter, for beaming songs to nearby car stereos or other radio receivers. The Sony Ericsson W525 features a 2.7-inch widescreen display and 2GB of memory. [more..]

Baltimore - Digital rights management technology developer SafeNet announced that it has partnered with Irdeto, a provider of content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile, to offer security technology for mobile TV platforms that combines conditional access with digital rights management. Amsterdam-based Irdeto claims more than a million mobile TV conditional access users in South Korea, South Africa and Germany, while Baltimore-based SafeNet offered what it says was the world's first commercial DRM deployment for mobile TV in the U.K. The companies plans to test their combined system at the bmcoforum TestCamp in Berlin in June. [more..]

Milpitas, Calif. - Consumer electronics firm Creative has introduced a wireless music distribution system that connects to a PC via USB and beams hi-fidelity music to wireless receivers throughout the home. The $199 Xmod Wireless system, which works without the need of a wireless home network, includes one X-Fi Wireless Receiver; additional receivers will sell for $99 each. [more..]

Gainesville, Fla. - Grooveshark, a peer-to-peer music network that compensates artists, has signed a licensing agreement to add tracks from classical music label Naxos to its service. Under the deal, more than 5,000 classical works will be made available on Grooveshark, where users pay no more than 99 cents to download DRM-free MP3 song files, and are rewarded for participation in the community -- such as writing revnews and allowing downloads from their computers. [more..]

New York - IGA Worldwide, an independent in-game advertising network, announced that it has signed an agreement with online game developer and publisher Artix Entertainment, to provide in-game ads for Artix titles that together claim more than 32 million players. Artix's "Adventure Quest," "Dragon Fable" and "Battleon Minigames.com" sites collectively reach 8.4 million unique visitors per month, and over 550,000 unique users per day. [more..]

Sausalito, Calif. - Video game publisher Red Mile Entertainment has announced a multi-year deal with writer/artist/director Frank Miller, to develop and publish games based on Miller's "Sin City" series of graphic novels. Sausalito, Calif.-based Red Mile also recently signed a deal to create a game based on MTV's "Jackass." [more..]

Raleigh, N.C. - Mobile game publisher Oasys Mobile has signed a deal with Take-Two Interactive's 2K Games unit, to develop mobile versions of several Sid Meier titles. Oasys' mobile "Sid Meier's Civilization IV," "Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon" and "Sid Meier's Pirates" are slated for release in 2008. [more..]