New York - In a statement filed with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) last year, Apple threatened to shut down its iTunes Store should the board increase in the royalty rates that would make the Web store unprofitable -- a move the board may make tomorrow, Fortune reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Five of Hollywood's major movie studios on Wednesday pledged to support a $1 billion effort to equip 20,000 U.S. movie theater screens with digital cinema projection systems. [more..]

Washington - A bill approved by the Senate last week that would have protected the new uses of "orphaned" copyright works will not be taken up in the House until at least after the elections, Wired.com reported, citing lobbyists. [more..]

Grapevine, Texas - Video game retail store chain GameStop announced on Wednesday that it has acquired French game retail chain Micromania from private equity fund L Capital for $700 million. [more..]

Arlington, Va. - Exits by venture-backed companies continued their drought during the third quarter, according to new data by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Gigya, a provider of widget distribution services, announced on Wednesday that it has closed an $11 million third round of financing, led by DAG Ventures. [more..]

Chicago - OneSeason.com on Wednesday launched its new Web-based sports stock market, developed with $250,000 in seed funding from investor Phil Drayer, Reuters reported. [more..]

Los Gatos, Calif. - Online DVD rental service Netflix announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Liberty Media's Starz Entertainment, that will bring movies from its Starz Play broadband subscription movie service to Netflix's instant online streaming service. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple on Wednesday announced it is dropping the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) it had been making iPhone developers sign for released iPhone software. [more..]

New York - David Pakman, the CEO of digital music service eMusic who announced earlier this week he would step down and take a position at an unnamed venture capital firm, said in a blog post today that he will be joining Venrock as a partner. [more..]

San Francisco - Slide, a publisher of social media applications that include photo slideshows and "FunSpace" and "Top Friends" on Facebook, plans tomorrow to introduce a new application that lets users embed clips of TV shows on social media sites, The Wall Street Journal reported. [more..]

Hollywood - Buzznet, a social network and publisher of music-focused websites that includes Stereogum, Absolute Punk, Idolator, Vampire Freaks, FOE and The Gauntlet, announced on Wednesday that it has hired former New York Times music reporter Jeff Leeds as its new editor-in-chief. [more..]