Washington - Major record label Sony BMG has settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it sold CDs containing anti-piracy "rootkit" software that could open consumers' computers to attacks. [more..]

Washington - A forthcoming bill in the U.S. House would permit social networking websites to request a list of registered sex offenders' e-mail addresses and instant messenger screen names from the Justice Dept., so they could be screened out of their members' ranks, CNET News.com reported on Tuesday. [more..]

Rochester, N.Y. - A third of frequent visitors to the YouTube video-sharing site say they watch less TV as a result of their online video habit, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive. [more..]

Washington - The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA), a trade group of companies promoting their technologies that identify and track digital media files, announced on Tuesday that it will co-host a luncheon with the House Entertainment Industries Caucus in Washington on Feb. 5. [more..]

New York - Lloyd Braun, the former ABC network head who was recruited to lead Yahoo's media division in 2004 -- but resigned two months ago -- and former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman have formed a new TV, film and Internet production company, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. [more..]

New York - Viacom's Nickelodeon children's cable TV network announced on Tuesday the launch of Nicktropolis, a virtual world for kids. [more..]

Stockholm, Sweden - The tech-savvy country of Sweden on Tuesday revealed plans to be the first country to open an embassy in the much talked about virtual world Second Life. [more..]

San Francisco - During the fourth quarter, U.S. venture capital firms raised their lowest amount of VC since the first quarter of 2005, according to new figures from Dow Jones VentureOne. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - Zing Systems, a developer of mobile audio distribution technology, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $13 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by IDG Ventures Boston. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - Obopay, a provider of mobile payment services, said on Tuesday that it has acquired BillMonk, a developer of "social money" services designed to help friends, roommates, family members and co-workers more easily share expenses. [more..]

Campbell, Calif. - Anchor Bay Technologies, a developer of digital semiconductor and system-level technologies used in digital TVs and high-definition video products, said that it has raised $10 million in a new round of funding, led by new investor Atlantic Quantum. [more..]

London - Buongiorno, an Italy-based publisher of digital and mobile entertainment, announced on Tuesday that its U.K.-based unit has acquired Inventa, a mobile video production agency for about $1.9 million. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - JumpTap, a provider of mobile search and advertising technology, has received a strategic investment of undisclosed amount from WPP, a London-based communications service firm. [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite radio service to more than 7.6 million subscribers, said on Tuesday that it has extended its relationship with American Honda Motor Co. through 2016. XM is the exclusive satellite radio provider for American Honda, which markets both Honda and Acura vehicles. Honda was one of XM's original partners, and introduced its first factory-installed XM vehicles in 2003. The automaker has produced more than 1.5 million cars with XM factory-installed radios to date. [more..]

San Francisco - Pageflakes, a German Internet start-up that allows users to create small, movable versions of websites that they can arrange on their homepages, said on Tuesday that it has launched U.S. operations in San Francisco and hired Yahoo veteran Dan Cohen as its CEO. Cohen most recently served as the head of the My Yahoo business unit, and previously founded both Personity and USConnect. He will replace company founder Christoph Janz, who will assume the role of chief product officer. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - eJamming on Tuesday debuted its Internet-based real-time music collaboration software at the DEMO 07 event in Palm Desert, Calif. The eJamming Audio application provides a virtual practice and recording studio for both amateur and professional musicians, enabling them to write, rehearse, record, learn and play with each other over the Internet, in real-time and in sync. The free software is set for release in late March; "connectivity subscriptions" to the online service will cost $14.95 per month or $150 annually. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - Jaman.com on Tuesday introduced its secure peer-to-peer network for the distribution of feature-length international and American independent films. San Francisco-based Jaman said the 1,000 films it has licensed so far can be downloaded in "better-than-DVD quality" via its proprietary player to a Mac or PC, and viewed on a home theater system. Movies are currently free to rent during the beta period, but will eventually cost $1.99 to rent and $4.99 to purchase. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - Attendio on Tuesday debuted its social events service that connects people to local events recommended by friends and "celebrity recommenders." The company's initial list of celebrity recommenders includes Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows; Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind; NFL football agent Doug Hendrickson; and San Francisco Film Commission executive director Stefanie Coyote. A beta version of the service for the San Francisco Bay Area is available today, with roll out to additional cities planned throughout 2007. Attendio said the service is also featured in the new Windows Calendar for Microsoft's Vista. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - Today at the DEMO 07 conference, TeleFlip introduced its technology that allows all mobile phones to receive e-mails, calendar alerts and online content feeds without any new software or application downloads. Santa Monica, Calif.-based TeleFlip's free service allows users to "flip" 5,000 messages per month to any mobile phone, and is compatible with both e-mail programs like Outlook and AppleMail, and Web-based services like Hotmail and Gmail. The service is slated to launch in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe in March. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, announced on Tuesday the launch of a free widget tool that bloggers and websites can use to insert relevant video streams. Introduced at the DEMO 07 event in Palm Desert, Calif., the "blinkx it" widget lets users embed a video player to their sites and set keywords that then draw relevant video streams from San Francisco-based Blinkx's 7 million hours of indexed audio, video, viral and TV content. The tool will become publicly available online on Thursday. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - SplashCast on Tuesday introduced its media syndication platform that lets users create streaming media programs that combine audio, video, music, photos, text and RSS feeds, at the DEMO 07 event in Palm Desert, Calif. Portland, Ore.-based SplashCast's user-generated streaming media programs can be broadcast live on any website, social network page or blog that subscribes to a user's channel. The free service is now available in an open beta trial. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - Nextumi on Tuesday introduced Share2Me, which lets users share digital content like photos, videos, text, Web pages and music via a single click on a button added to their Internet Explorer or Firefox browser. Once the button application is installed, users can integrate e-mail addresses, IM buddies and social network friends, and share content with them in one click. Dublin, Ohio-based Nextumi said it also plans to launch a mobile version of Share2Me later this year. [more..]

Palm Desert, Calif. [DEMO 07] - BUZ Interactive announced on Tuesday the launch of its GETaBUZ application, which allows consumers to create voicemail greetings that combine voice and music. Users choose from a wide variety of available music tracks to mix their voicemail messages, and may then either set their creation as their voicemail greeting, or send it directly to another mobile phone number's voicemail service. A free beta version of Palo Alto, Calif.-based BUZ's service launched today; the company will eventually charge between $0.99 and $2.99 per BUZ, depending on the music choice. [more..]

Shanghai, China - Chinese online game operator The9 said on Tuesday that it has signed an amended agreement with Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment, to additionally publish the recently released expansion pack to Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" massively multiplayer online game in mainland China. The companies did not say when "The Burning Crusade" would launch in China. [more..]