New York - Major record label EMI Group has ended discussions with major online music sellers on the possibility of selling songs without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, as the parties were unable to agree on advance payments for songs sold as unprotected MP3s, Bloomberg News reported, citing people briefed on the offer. [more..]

New York - AOL is in talks to acquire Third Screen Media, a developer of mobile phone advertising technology, in a deal that could be worth up to $80 million, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. [more..]

Framingham, Mass. - Vivox, a developer of integrated voice services for virtual worlds and online games, announced on Tuesday that it will provide Linden Lab with integrated voice communication for its Second Life virtual world. [more..]

Washington - A new report card on congressional web sites from the Washington-based Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) finds their overall quality "disappointing," with over a third of the sites earning a substandard or failing grade. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Ning on Tuesday announced the launch of a new version of its free platform that allows anyone to create their own online social network. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - BigBand Networks, a provider of technology that allows cable TV providers to offer video, voice and data services, said it plans to raise about $147 million million in its initial public offering (IPO). [more..]

Durham, N.C. - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has invested $50 million in Motricity, a North Carolina-based provider of mobile content delivery technology, the company disclosed on Tuesday. [more..]

New York - ROO Group, a provider of online video distribution services, announced on Tuesday that it will acquire the assets of Wurld Media, a legitimate peer-to-peer media distribution service, for up to $10 million. [more..]

San Diego - Veoh Networks, a provider of Internet TV broadcasting and video-sharing services, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), to host an online campaign video channel featuring speeches, tour stops and clips that breakdown the Senator's stance on key issues. [more..]

Arlington, Va. - Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), the online publishing unit of The Washington Post Company, said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Massachusetts-based Internet TV firm Brightcove to launch ad-supported Internet video channels across its websites. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - iSkoot, a provider of mobile Internet communications technology, has raised $7 million in its second round of venture capital, led by Charles River Ventures. [more..]

New York - Entertainment Media Works (EMW), a provider of product placement aid for brands and operator of a site that lets consumers purchase items seen on TV and other media, announced that it has raised $4 million in its first round of funding, led by Granite Ventures. [more..]

New York - Independent record label Wind-up Records (Evanescence, Creed, Seether) on Tuesday announced a marketing partnership with Google's YouTube that will make music videos from its artists available on the video-sharing site. The deal will also enable fans to use pre-cleared tracks from Wind-up artists in their own video mashup creations posted to the site. YouTube and Wind-up will share ad revenue sold around Wind-up content. [more..]

Las Vegas - Sony Electronics announced on Tuesday that its Bravia Internet Video Link device will sell for $300 when it ships to retailers in July. When attached to a compatible Sony television, the device can access Internet video from providers including AOL, Yahoo, Grouper and Sony Pictures over a broadband connection -- without the need for a PC. Sony said the majority of its 2007 TV models will support the Internet Video Link. [more..]

Espoo, Finland - Nokia announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Finland-based mobile operator Elisa, to conduct a six-month pilot of its new N-Gage mobile gaming service. Elisa, which counts 2.2 million subscribers, will combine its existing mobile gaming platform with the Nokia N-Gage platform and carry out intensive testing and evaluation. The N-Gage mobile gaming platform is expected to launch officially in mid-2007. [more..]

Los Angeles - Mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile on Tuesday launched its made-for-mobile animated series, "Lil' Hollywood," a follow-up to its "Lil' Bush" animated mobisodes that were adapted for a TV series debuting on Comedy Central this summer. A new episode of the series, created by writer Donick Cary ("The Simpsons," "Late Night with David Letterman"), will be shown weekly for the next six weeks. [more..]

Chicago - Independent record label Victory Records (Hawthorne Heights, Atreyu) on Tuesday announced the beta release of a proprietary digital media player that can be embedded on blogs, social networks and other websites. In addition to songs and music videos, the free VictorStream player offers links to Victory's Web store, news and concert information, and integration with the label's own VictorMe.com social network. [more..]

Silver Spring, Md. - Freewebs, a site that allows users to create multimedia websites and blogs, said that it has partnered with Photobucket, a site that allows people to upload videos, images and graphic art and link it to websites. Under the agreement, Maryland-based Freewebs' users will be able to add photos, slideshows, videos and remix videos from existing Photobucket accounts directly to Freewebs' publishing platform. [more..]

Los Angeles - RazorGator Experiences, the provider of an online exchange where users can buy and sell tickets, announced on Tuesday that the NCAA will use its service for the 2007 NCAA Men's Final Four basketball tournament. The company ensures that if a buyer doesn't receive their confirmed tickets, it will substitute comparable or better tickets for the same price, or issue a full refund. Los Angeles-based RazorGator also handles secondary ticket sales for the Tournament of Roses and several NFL teams. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - TVN Entertainment, a provider of video-on-demand delivery services, announced on Tuesday a new agreement with Disney's Buena Vista Video-On-Demand unit, to license the company's movie titles for video-on-demand distribution. TVN affiliates will now have access to new release, direct-to-video and library Disney titles for viewing over a 72-hour period. [more..]

Stockholm, Sweden - Wireless network operator T-Mobile's U.K. unit has partnered with Terraplay to operate a mobile gaming service with subscription, rental and pay-per-play billing options. The service will launch with titles from ten publishers, including several multiplayer games, in addition to competitions, tournaments and user loyalty features. [more..]

Santa Clara, Calif. - Macrovision, a provider of copy-protection and game distribution technologies, announced on Tuesday that the Walt Disney Internet Group has signed an agreement to distribute its casual games in Europe and Australia via Macrovision's game network. The deal includes downloadable casual PC games such as "Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball," "The Little Mermaid Pinball" and "The Lion King Grubalicious," which are available in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Japanese game publisher Capcom said on Tuesday that it has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 game physics engine. Capcom said the engine will be utilized in an unannounced project being developed in North America. [more..]

San Francisco - Japanese game developer Sega announced on Tuesday that it is developing a title based on "The Golden Compass," the first book in author Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy and forthcoming movie from New Line Cinema. Sega said Shiny Entertainment is developing the game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo Wii and the PC, while A2M is creating the Nintendo DS version. The game is scheduled for release in the fall, while the movie debuts in theaters on Dec. 7. [more..]

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ said it plans to release "Conan," the first title in its multi-year deal to develop games based on Robert E. Howard's original stories, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in early 2008. The game is in development at Nihilistic Software. [more..]

New York - Atari said on Tuesday that it shipped its "Bullet Witch" title for Xbox 360 to North American retailers. The game was developed by Japan-based Cavia, and published in partnership with Japan's AQ Interactive. Separately, Atari announced plans to publish Bohemia Interactive's "ArmA: Combat Operations" PC game in May. [more..]

San Jose, Calif. - Japanese mobile game publisher Namco Networks on Tuesday posted a version of "Ms. PAC-MAN" for sale on Apple's iTunes Store for play on the fifth generation iPod. The $4.99 iPod version of the game was released in part to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Ms. PAC-MAN." The company launched the original "PAC-MAN" for iPod on iTunes in September. [more..]