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DMW Daily, June 5, 2008

Top Stories
o Verizon Wireless to Acquire Alltel for $28.1 Billion
o Labels Sue Spanish File-Sharing Sites Blubster, Piolet & Omemo
o Report: Disney to Merge Internet Group, Video Game Business
o Deal Paves Way For Discovery Communications to Go Public
o Retired Justice O'Connor Backs "Our Courts" Video Game
o Star Tecmo Developer Quits, Sues Company Over Unpaid Bonuses
o Washington Post Launches Online Publishing Unit
o U.K. IPTV Provider Inuk Networks Lands $18.6 Million
o LiveU Scores $9 Million for Wireless Video Transmission Platform
o Kiptronic Raises $3 Million for Streaming Ad Insertion
Opinion & Analysis
o Mark Cuban: Why Tiered Broadband is a Wonderful Thing
o Analysis: Mixx Traffic Sources Explain Traffic Levels
Briefly Noted
o Verizon, Screenvision Team on Interactive Text Polls in Cinemas
o BBC to Place All TV Channels Online in U.K. by Year's End
o Glam Media to Launch New Web Networks for Hip-Hop, Families
o Last.fm to Sponsor Indie Concert Series with Bowery Presents
 Top Stories
o Verizon Wireless to Acquire Alltel for $28.1 Billion 
Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to pay $28.1 million to acquire Alltel, the Arkansas-based telecommunication services provider. [more..]
o Labels Sue Spanish File-Sharing Sites Blubster, Piolet & Omemo 
Madrid - The major record labels' units in Spain announced on Thursday that they have filed a $20 million copyright infringement claim in the country against Pablo Soto Bravo, the founder of MP2P Technologies -- which operates file-sharing sites including Piolet, Omemo and Blubster. [more..]
o Report: Disney to Merge Internet Group, Video Game Business 
Los Angeles - Disney plans to merge its Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) online unit with its Disney Interactive Studios video game business to form a new unit to be called Disney Interactive Media Group, PaidContent reported, citing an internal memo from Disney CEO Bob Iger. [more..]
o Deal Paves Way For Discovery Communications to Go Public 
Silver Spring, Md. - In major step to becoming a public company, Discovery Holding Company (DHC) and Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership said that they have agreed to combine their stakes in Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications, a move that leads the way for the company to become publicly listed. [more..]
o Retired Justice O'Connor Backs "Our Courts" Video Game 
New York - Recently retired U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor has announced her support for a new video game called "Our Courts," an online interactive civics program designed for children in grades 7 through 9, Reuters reported.
[more..]
o Star Tecmo Developer Quits, Sues Company Over Unpaid Bonuses 
Tokyo - Tomonobu Itagaki, the star designer at Japanese video game publisher Tecmo whose Team Ninja created the "Ninja Gaiden" and "Dead or Alive" franchises, has announced his resignation from the company and a lawsuit against his former employer over alleged unpaid bonuses, IGN.com reported.
[more..]
o Washington Post Launches Online Publishing Unit 
Washington - The Washington Post Company said that it has launched The Slate Group, a new online publishing entity that will oversee Slate Magazine, Slate V, TheRoot.com and The Big Money, a business site launching later this year. [more..]
o U.K. IPTV Provider Inuk Networks Lands $18.6 Million 
London - Inuk Networks, a provider of IPTV delivery services, announced on Thursday that it has completed an $18.6 million second round of funding, led by broadcaster S4C and venture capital firm Wesley Clover. [more..]
o LiveU Scores $9 Million for Wireless Video Transmission Platform 
Fair Lawn, N.J. - LiveU, a developer of technology that can transmit live video over wireless networks, announced on Thursday that it has raised $9 million in a second round of financing, co-led by Canaan Partners and Carmel Ventures. [more..]
o Kiptronic Raises $3 Million for Streaming Ad Insertion 
San Francisco - Kiptronic, a provider of streaming ad insertion technology, has landed a $3 million second round of venture capital, VentureWire reported. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Mark Cuban: Why Tiered Broadband is a Wonderful Thing 
Speed is what I need. If that means that those 5 pct of users that consume 65pct of bandwidth are kicked off or charged per bit to reduce their consumption.... so be it. [more..]
o Analysis: Mixx Traffic Sources Explain Traffic Levels 
If the trajectory from CNN continues and if Mixx is able to secure a similar lift from other media partners, the future will be very rosy for Mixx, blogs Heather Hopkins. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o Verizon, Screenvision Team on Interactive Text Polls in Cinemas 
Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Screenvision to test a new text messaging promotion that will interact with moviegoers in theaters before the show begins. [more..]
o BBC to Place All TV Channels Online in U.K. by Year's End 
London - The BBC, whose board recently criticized the U.K. broadcaster's website as being too costly, has announced plans to put all of its TV channels online for streaming to U.K. residents, Variety reports. [more..]
o Glam Media to Launch New Web Networks for Hip-Hop, Families 
New York - Glam Media, a group of vertical content and advertising networks targeting women, on Thursday announced that it has partnered with Russell Simmons-backed hip-hop social network Global Grind, to launch a new vertical network of sites and blogs targeting the hip-hop community. [more..]
o Last.fm to Sponsor Indie Concert Series with Bowery Presents 
New York - CBS-owned social music discovery service Last.fm on Thursday announced a partnership with New York City concert promoter Bowery Presents, to hatch a new Last.fm-sponsored concert series that will feature emerging artists. [more..]