San Francisco - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has rejected an appeal from Internet activists, including Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, that would have reexamined the extensions to copyright term lengths enacted during the 1990s. [more..]

San Francisco - Apple CEO Steve Jobs was questioned last week by authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission about the company's admitted stock option grants that were "backdated" to make them more valuable for employees, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing "people familiar with the case." [more..]

New York - CNET News.com reported on Tuesday that the CEO, at least six other executives and three members of the board of directors have left SpiralFrog, which is developing an ad-supported, free music download service. [more..]

New York - Major record labels Warner Music Group and Sony BMG announced on Tuesday that they have made strategic investments in Chinese mobile music distributor Access China Media Solutions. [more..]

Shanghai - Baidu, the leading search engine in China, has won a license from the Chinese government to provide original news reports on its website, Reuters reported, citing government and industry sources. [more..]

Irvine, Calif. - Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment game publishing unit announced on Tuesday that "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade," the first expansion to its massively multiplayer online game, broke the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe. [more..]

Luxembourg - Wikio, a European news search and aggregation site similar to Digg, announced that it has raised $5.3 million in its first round of financing, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Gemini Israel Funds. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - Mobile Content Networks, a developer of mobile search technology, announced that it has raised $10 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Meritage Funds. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - CenterStaging, the parent company of Rehearsals.com, a site that streams video of artists preparing for tours and recording sessions, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3 million through a private placement of its shares with two undisclosed investors. [more..]

Needham, Mass. - Bus Radio, a provider of radio broadcasts targeting school buses, has raised $10 million in its second round of venture capital, according to a report in Private Equity Week. [more..]

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ announced on Tuesday that it has regained full compliance with the Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing on the exchange. The company had delayed filing its quarterly report, due to an internal investigation into its stock options granting practices, which prompted a delisting notice from the Nasdaq. THQ said last week that the investigation uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing. [more..]

Los Angeles - The Oxygen cable network has announced plans to launch a number of new websites to complement its on-air content, including an online social network. Oomph.net will serve as a social network for women, while SheDidWhat.tv will be a broadband entertainment site that will host content including an original Oxygen broadband series, "Our Bodies, Myself." [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio announced on Tuesday a program that will offer three months of free service to buyers of Honda Certified Used Cars with factory-installed XM radios. Honda models equipped with XM include the Accord, Civic, CR-V, Element, Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline. XM recently announced a similar free service offer with Acura for used cars. [more..]

Los Angeles - Live Nation, a producer and promoter of live concerts, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with music-focused online social network Last.fm, to provide U.S. and Canadian tour dates, as well as links to purchase tickets. U.K.-based Last.fm claims 15 million users, while Live Nation owns, operates or has booking rights for more than 170 venues worldwide. [more..]

San Francisco - IODA, a provider of digital distribution and marketing services for independent record labels, announced on Tuesday that it has added four new independent physical distributors to its catalog. Burnside Distribution Corp (BDC), Liaison Distribution, Thirty Tigers and Traffic Entertainment will now be able to offer their client labels digital distribution through IODA's network of more than 300 digital retailers. [more..]

London - Digimpro, a developer of music remixing software, announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Wolfpac Mobile, which will launch its YourSpins community as a mobile music service in the Philippines. Wolfpac is a unit of Smart Communications, the largest wireless carrier in the Philippines. The YourSpins online community lets users upload and share their own remixes. [more..]

Englewood, Colo. - Liberty Media's Starz Media on Tuesday announced a multi-year licensing agreement with Vongo, Starz Entertainment's broadband video download service. The deal will provide Vongo with more than 250 new movies and other video titles for on-demand rental, or purchase and download through its service. Vongo offers unlimited streaming access to 1,000 movies and 2,500 videos, as well as a streaming Starz TV channel, for $9.99 per month. [more..]

New York - Sirius Satellite Radio announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with actor Jamie Foxx to launch The Foxxhole, a new urban comedy, entertainment and lifestyle channel on Sirius. Foxx will serve as executive producer of the channel, along with Marcus King; Foxx will also appear as an on-air host and contributor. [more..]

Washington - Ken Rosenthal, a former baseball columnist for the Baltimore Sun and current senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com, has signed with XM Satellite Radio to become a weekly contributor on its baseball talk radio channel, MLB Home Plate. Beginning this week, Rosenthal will appear on XM's "Baseball This Morning" with hosts Mark Patrick, Buck Martinez and Orestes Destrade. He will also make appearances on "Baseball Beat" with host Charley Steiner, and will also appear on the channel when major news breaks on or off the field. [more..]

New York - Medialink, a provider of global TV tracking and news and marketing media strategies, said on Tuesday that it has signed with Brightcove to distribute and syndicate video for its clients across the Web. Medialink will use Brightcove's Internet TV platform to distribute informational video clips produced for corporations and organizations. [more..]

New York - Viacom's Nickelodeon children's network said on Tuesday it will launch several online features to complement its animated TV series, "Avatar: The Last Airbender." An animated online comic book from the series' creators, online game event, and new Avatar shorts will be added to a dedicated site. Kids can watch the show on Saturdays and use cheats announced on-air to unlock online animated shorts, as well as new levels in an online game. [more..]

Waltham, Mass. - Web portal Lycos on Tuesday announced the launch of LYCOSmobile, a mobile content site offering hundreds of mobile games, wallpapers and ringtones. The company partnered with PlayPhone to develop the site, which will offer content on a subscription basis for $9.99 per month. [more..]

Calabasas, Calif. - The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the nominees for its 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be held next month in Las Vegas in connection with the D.I.C.E. Summit. Developer Epic Games' "Gears of War" garnered ten nominations -- including a nod for Overall Game of the Year -- a category where it is up against "Wii Sports" (Nintendo); "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" (Nintendo); "Guitar Hero 2" (Harmonix/Red Octane); and "Elder Scrolls IV" Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks). A full list of nominees in thirty categories is available at a link below. [more..]

London - U.K. bookmaker William Hill announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with GameAccount to launch a suite of skill-based online games on its website. Branded games such as multiplayer blackjack, gin rummy and backgammon will be offered, and will be featured in tournaments with guaranteed prize money. [more..]

Irvine, Calif. - Online game publisher K2 Network said on Tuesday that it will launch Korea's most popular massively multiplayer online game in the U.S. "Granado Espada" was developed by imcGames, which also created "Ragnarok Online," and licensed to K2 from Hanbitsoft. The game will be re-titled "Sword of the New World" for the U.S. and European markets, where it is set for release in the summer. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on Tuesday announced plans to publish "Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal" for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in the fall of 2007. The game is being developed by Redtribe. [more..]