Washington - The potential consumer impact of a proposed merger between XM Satellite Radio and rival Sirius is in need of "greater clarity," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told The New York Times in an article on Wednesday. [more..]

Beijing - Yahoo's Chinese unit has been sued for copyright infringement by U.S. music companies including Warner Music Group, over posting links to illegal downloads, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). [more..]

Hartford, Conn. - Lawmakers in Connecticut have introduced a bill that would require MySpace and other social networking sites to verify the ages of their users, and require those under 18 to obtain their parents' permission before posting a profile, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

Dothan, Ala. - Movie Gallery, the nation's second-largest movie rental chain behind Blockbuster, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired most of the assets of MovieBeam, the on-demand movie distribution service created by Disney, for less than $10 million. [more..]

Paris - Major record label Universal Music Group's French unit has begun experimenting with releasing digital songs as unprotected MP3 files -- without digital rights management (DRM) protections -- Billboard reported on Wednesday. [more..]

Reston, Va. - About 747 million people over the age of 15 used the Internet worldwide in January, up 10% from the year before, according to new figures from comScore Networks. [more..]

Washington - C-SPAN, the Congressional cable network, on Wednesday announced a new copyright policy for its video coverage of Congressional activities that will make about half of all of its programming available for free sharing, provided it is attributed properly and not used commercially. [more..]

Beijing - UUSee, a provider of Internet TV distribution services in China, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $23.5 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund and Highland Capital Partners. [more..]

San Francisco - Online social network Friendster announced on Wednesday that it has signed a new, multi-year agreement with Google to provide search and keyword advertising on its site, replacing previous partner Yahoo. [more..]

Alviso, Calif. - TiVo announced on Wednesday the launch of Amazon Unbox on Tivo, giving TiVo users the ability to download movies and TV shows from the online retailer's new Unbox download store. [more..]

Tewksbury, Mass. - Starent Networks, a provider of multimedia delivery technology for mobile service providers, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $115 million in its planned initial public offering of stock. [more..]

Portland, Ore. - Platial, a free service that lets users aggregate stories, reviews and multimedia and combine them with online maps, announced that it has raised $2.4 million in its first round of venture capital financing. [more..]

San Francisco - Video-sharing site GoFish announced on Wednesday that it has licensed copyright filtering and identification from Audible Magic for its site. The company joins a roster of recent Audible Magic customer additions that includes YouTube and MySpace. San Francisco-based GoFish recently acquired youth-oriented social networking site Bolt Media. "This agreement also will assure our strategic content partners and advertisers that GoFish is committed to protecting the rights of artists around the world," said GoFish co-founder and CEO Michael Downing. [more..]

Los Angeles - Indie911, an online music and media site for independent artists and fans, on Wednesday announced the beta launch of a new service called hoooka, which allows artists to create their own personalized media stores and players that fans can be embed on any website, blog or social network profile. Rights holders will receive 80% of the revenue from any song or video sold through a hoooka, while 10% will go to the user who posted the hoooka on their site, blog or profile. Los Angeles-based Indie911 features over 75,000 songs from more than 9,000 artists, and an online community of over 100,000 members. [more..]

London - Europe's largest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has announced the launch of a new music download service that features more than 2.5 million tracks and is compatible with most MP3 players and mobile phones that support the Windows Media Audio format. MyMobileMusic.co.uk also features "Music Insurance," a plan that replaces customers' entire downloaded music library if their computer or MP3 player is damaged or stolen. [more..]

San Francisco - IODA, a digital distributor of independent label music, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to distribute titles from CBC Records, the label of Canada's national public broadcaster, in all territories outside of Canada. The CBC catalog contains tracks from Canada's major orchestras, in addition to recordings from classical, jazz and world music artists. [more..]

Menlo Park, Calif. - Zannel on Wednesday announced the launch of its mobile social networking service, which lets users create and share content on any mobile device across multiple networks. The company counts 1,500 content partners, including Konami, the X Prize Foundation and Warner Bros. Pictures, who are distributing their content through Zannel. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Zannel raised $6 million in its first round of funding in June 2006 from Palomar Ventures and U.S. Ventures. [more..]

Davidson, N.C. - UpSnap, a provider of free mobile search and streaming mobile audio entertainment, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with karaoke firm Sound Choice to create a mobile karaoke service. Mobile users can text "karaoke" to 27627, choose a song, and are then sent streaming audio along with lyrics for the song to their phones. North Carolina-based UpSnap is offering the service for free for 30 days, after which time it will cost $1.99 per month. [more..]

San Antonio, Texas - AT&T announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to create a number of mobile entertainment services. WWE Mobile services for AT&T subscribers will include "WWE Ringside," a $4.99 per month premium package; a basic package that includes various short-form videos; WWE ringtones and voice tones priced at $2.49 each; and WWE graphics that will sell for $1.99. [more..]

San Diego - Eyespot, a provider of online video editing software, said on Wednesday that Paramount pictures is using its technology to allow film fans to create their own movie trailer mash-ups. The first title under the agreement is the upcoming film, "Shooter." More than 20 clips from the movie, as well as its official trailer, still photos, sound effects and music from the original score will be made available online to Eyespot users. [more..]

Emeryville, Calif. - Pictopia, a firm that powers photo sites for the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Gannett and Tribune, announced that it has launched a new online photo store for National Geographic magazine. The site offers more than 25,000 photographs from the official National Geographic image collection, which customers can purchase, framed or unframed, in prints ranging from 10-30 inches. [more..]

Irvine, Calif. - Vivendi Games' Blizzard Entertainment said on Wednesday that "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade," the first expansion for its title that figures as the world's most popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, sold 3.5 million copies within a month of its release in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The figure represents a new one-month record for PC game sales, and includes more than 1.9 million copies sold in regions that play on North American realms. The "World of Warcraft" worldwide subscriber base has now grown to more than 8.5 million. [more..]

San Francisco - Electronic Arts announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with MTV Networks' Harmonix games studio to develop a new music-themed game to be distributed by EA. Harmonix has created titles including "Amplitude" and the top-selling "Guitar Hero" franchise. [more..]

Santa Clara, Calif. - Macrovision, a provider of copy-protection and game distribution technologies, on Wednesday announced an agreement to digitally distribute a selection of game publisher Activision's PC titles on its games network. The deal adds Activision's "Call of Duty" series, "Gun," "The Movies" and other titles to Macrovision's 1,700-title distribution network. The company also introduced a new Game Access Control service that lets game publishers distribute copies of purchasable game trials on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. [more..]

San Francisco - Novint Technologies, a developer of 3D touch feedback technology used in game controllers and other devices, announced on Wednesday that it is actively looking to help fund development of new titles that utilize its Novint Falcon game controller. San Francisco-based Novint, which recently raised a $9 million financing round, said it has already completed 15 development agreements, and also plans to continue acquiring 3D touch rights to existing games. [more..]