San Diego - A federal judge has reversed a ruling that would have forced Microsoft to pay $1.53 billion in damages to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing MP3-related patents. [more..]

New York - The New York Post reported on Tuesday that The New York Times plans to abandon TimesSelect, its subscription service that includes archived stories and opinion pieces, in favor of offering free access to the content. [more..]

San Francisco - After a federal judge on Monday ruled that a California state law banning the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will appeal the ruling, Reuters reported. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it will cut the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in the U.S. by $50, from $400 to $350, following Sony's discounting of the PlayStation 3 from $599 to $499 last month. [more..]

San Francisco - Digital civil liberties advocates the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a San Francisco law firm have filed suit against Universal Music Group, on behalf of an eBay seller sued by the label group for offering promotional CDs for sale. [more..]

Buffalo, N.Y. - Synacor, a provider of online content and technology for Internet service providers, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering of stock to raise an estimated $86 million. [more..]

London - NDS, a unit of News Corp. that provides technology and services to digital TV providers, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired CastUp, a provider of technology for delivering video over the Internet, for $11.3 million in cash. [more..]

New York - Worldwide Biggies Inc., a New York-based digital entertainment studio focused on content for kids and families, has raised $9 million in its first round of venture capital financing, co-led by NBC Universal and Platform Equity. [more..]

London - Viagogo, a U.K.-based online ticket reseller, has raised $30 million in its third round of funding, from investors including Index Ventures, LVMH chairman Bernard Arault, German media mogul Herbert Kloiber, and international financier Jacob Rothschild. [more..]

West Palm Beach, Fla. - ValueRich, a multimedia company that focuses on emerging companies and investors, has raised $5.7 million in its initial public offering of stock. [more..]

Denver - Thought Equity Motion, a provider of content digitization and management services, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired FilmWorld, an Australia-based provider of film and video content. [more..]

San Francisco - TeeBeeDee, an online social network targeted at users over 40, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $4.8 million in its first round of venture capital, led by Shasta Ventures with participation from Monitor Ventures. [more..]

Munich, Germany - Tripsbytips.com, a Berlin-based online community where users exchange travel tips, has received an undisclosed investment from Burda Digital Ventures. [more..]

Barry Bonds has had the misfortune of winding up his career and tying the record in the generation of Massive Media. He hasn't been media friendly. He has been family friendly... to his own family. I respect that to no end. [more..]

Bill Tancer blogs about how dependent Wikipedia (a separate entity from Wikia) is on Google traffic for its growth. [more..]

Here’s a video featuring editors and reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Wired, TechCrunch, Seattle Times, and Seattle Post Intelligence discussing how entrepreneurs should pitch the press. [more..]

New York - Warner Music Group said that revenues from digital music in its recent quarter were $119 million, up 29% from the $92 million reported in the same period a year ago, and accounted for 15% of the label group's overall revenues. [more..]

Washington - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) spent over $658,000 on lobbying during the first half of 2007, the Associated Press reported, citing lobbying disclosure records posted by the U.S. Senate's public records office. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - Yahoo has signed a production deal with Rocket Science Laboratories, which produced such TV reality shows as "Temptation Island" and "Joe Millionaire," according to The Hollywood Reporter. [more..]

Tokyo - Universal Music Japan has announced that "Aiuta," a single from GreeeeN, a new act comprised of an anonymous quartet of Japanese medical students, has become the first full-track mobile download to sell a million copies. [more..]

New York - Sony BMG on Tuesday introduced "musika," a "one-button" music visualizer game for Apple's fifth generation iPod. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Azureus, a provider of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology, said on Tuesday that its Vuze high-resolution video portal has reached over seven million users in its first six months online. [more..]

Luxembourg - Skype, the Internet telephone service unit of eBay, on Tuesday added the ability to share online video in their Skype chats, and add videos downloaded from Dailymotion and Metacafe to their Skype "moods," the name for a Skype user's online profile. [more..]

Franklin, Tenn. - PassAlong Networks, a provider of branded digital media download stores, on Tuesday announced a deal with downloadable video retailer CinemaNow that will make more than 7,000 movies and music videos from CinemaNow available to PassAlong clients. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts has announced that teenage soccer phenom Jozy Altidore, of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls, and Mexican national team goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa will join Brazilian Ronaldinho on the front cover of its "FIFA Soccer 08" in North America. [more..]