New York - The global entertainment and media business will grow at an average annual rate of 4.9% over the next several years, rising from $81.2 billion in 2006 to $103.3 billion in 2011, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo announced on Thursday that it will acquire online college and high school sports site Rivals.com. While the companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, PaidContent.org reports that Yahoo paid about $100 million. [more..]

Washington - Facing significantly higher royalty rates, thousands of webcasters are planning to protest by shuttering their stations for a day next week. [more..]

Brussels - The European Commission has approved the launch of NBC Universal and News Corporation's online video distribution joint venture in Europe, after finding no antitrust concerns, Reuters reported. [more..]

New York - AOL and Time Warner's celebrity gossip blog TMZ.com has received a takedown notice from a trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case of O.J. Simpson, after the website yesterday published a link to the notorious unpublished manuscript "If I Did It," Wired News reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Celebrity news blogger Perez Hilton (aka Mario Lavandeira) saw his PerezHilton.com site dropped by its hosting provider yesterday, following numerous warnings against his posting of copyrighted images, Variety reported. [more..]

New York - Adding to the troubles plaguing Take-Two Interactive's violent "Manhunt 2" game, which has been banned in Britain and Ireland and this week received an "Adults Only" rating from the U.S. Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), Sony and Nintendo have confirmed that they will no longer support publication of the game for their various platforms, GameSpot reported. [more..]

New York - Digital music store technology provider BurnLounge, which last week was branded a pyramid scheme in a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced on Thursday a "simplification of its business model" to address the FTC's concerns. [more..]

Arlington, Va. - Nearly three-quarters of U.S. online adults listen to audio on their home computers, but only 9% have it set up so they can listen to music on their computers on home stereo systems, according to a study conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association. [more..]

New York - Publisher Ziff Davis Media announced on Thursday that it will sell the assets of its Enterprise Group, which includes the magazines eWEEK, CEO and Baseline, and a number of technology industry conferences, to New York-based private equity and venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners for about $150 million. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Mass.-based, technology market research firm, has received notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it intends to launch an investigation relating to the company's stock option granting practices. [more..]

New York - British Telecom (BT) and New Venture Partners said on Thursday that Real Time Content, a developer of a platform that customizes video and audio to match individual preferences and deliver personalized ads, has been added to BT's incubation program. [more..]

Los Angeles - The Pirate Bay, a Sweden-based file-sharing hub that has been targeted for copyright violations by the MPAA, has announced the launch of BayIMG, a free, uncensored image hosting service. [more..]

Peter Krasilovsky blogs about a new division of Sprint that will handle local news, weather, sports, traffic, directories, user reviews and other User Generated Content. [more..]

Rohit Bhargava struggles to find an answer to the question of how many buttons to leave unbuttoned in a shirt to look professional, but not dorky. [more..]

Scott Goldberg blogs about the integration of technology and music to create a unique party at Bonnaroo. [more..]

San Francisco - Digital civil liberties advocates the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of TorrentSpy, a site that links to copyrighted downloads that has been sued by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), CNET News.com reported. [more..]

Bethpage, N.Y. - Cable TV provider Cablevision announced on Thursday that it will add 15 new high-definition channels from Rainbow Media's VOOM HD Networks to its lineup. [more..]

London - We7, a new free, ad-supported music download service backed by musician Peter Gabriel, announced that V2 Records is the first to sign on to its service. [more..]

San Diego - Wireless developer Qualcomm said on Thursday that major label Warner Music Group is developing a series of over-the-air, downloadable, artist-branded themes for mobile phones. [more..]

Fairfax, Va. - Video-sharing service Tubearoo said on Thursday that its mobile video service has received approval for use with some major cellular carriers. [more..]

New York - BetsGoWild, the operator of a social betting community with no cash involved, said it will soon launch a betting widget application within Facebook. [more..]