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DMW Daily, March 2, 2009

Top Stories
o Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Freelance Writers' Settlement
o Report: Facebook Valuation Doomed Twitter Acquisition
o Privacy Complaints Make White House Reconsider YouTube
o Fan-Generated Movie Subtitle Sites Targeted by Studios
o Flash Memory Maker Spansion Files for Bankruptcy
o NTN Buzztime Lays Off 17% of Staff, Names New CEO
o Tynt Lands $3.9 Million for Online Publisher Tools
o Triond Raises $1.5 Million for Web Publishing Service
Briefly Noted
o Netflix to Stream All Nine Seasons of "South Park"
o Report: Nokia Comes With Music Looking to Dump DRM
o Midway Games Exploring Sale of "Mortal Kombat" Franchise
o Dailymotion Video Site Adds Hulu Content
o MSpot Debuts Custom Ringtone Creation Feature
 Top Stories
o Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Freelance Writers' Settlement 
Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from publishers seeking to have a settlement over payment to freelance writers for work appearing in online databases reinstated, Reuters reported. [more..]
o Report: Facebook Valuation Doomed Twitter Acquisition 
New York - Facebook was unsuccessful in its attempt to acquire the Twitter microblogging service last year due to the disputed valuation of Facebook, early Facebook investor Peter Thiel tells BusinessWeek. [more..]
o Privacy Complaints Make White House Reconsider YouTube 
Washington - The White House has stopped using Google's YouTube as the primary distributor for its online videos, following complaints from numerous parties about YouTube's privacy policies, CNET News.com reported. [more..]
o Fan-Generated Movie Subtitle Sites Targeted by Studios 
Los Angeles - Several websites in Israel and France that provided user-created subtitle translations for movies and TV shows have been shut down recently, after legal threats from movie studios and other copyright industry concerns, TorrentFreak reported. [more..]
o Flash Memory Maker Spansion Files for Bankruptcy 
Sunnyvale, Calif. - Spansion, a maker of flash memory storage media used in mobile phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronics, has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protections, in a bid to restructure $625 million in debt. [more..]
o NTN Buzztime Lays Off 17% of Staff, Names New CEO 
Carlsbad, Calif. - NTN Buzztime, a provider of interactive TV trivia games found in bars and restaurants, announced on Monday that it recently laid off 17% of its staff, and undertaken other cost-cutting measures it expects will put it back into the black by the fourth quarter of 2009. [more..]
o Tynt Lands $3.9 Million for Online Publisher Tools 
Calgary, Canada - Tynt, a provider of tools used by online publishers and social networks to increase user engagement and maximize revenue, has raised about $3.9 million, from iNovia Capital, Alberta Value Added Corp. and individual investors. [more..]
o Triond Raises $1.5 Million for Web Publishing Service 
Tel Aviv, Israel - Triond, the Israel-based provider of a Web publishing service, announced on Monday that it has raised $1.5 million in funding from Giza Venture Capital. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o Netflix to Stream All Nine Seasons of "South Park" 
Los Angeles - South Park Studios and Viacom's Comedy Central have reached a deal with online DVD rental service Netflix, that will see the first nine seasons of "South Park" made available for streaming via Netflix's subscription service, The New York Times reported. [more..]
o Report: Nokia Comes With Music Looking to Dump DRM 
Singapore - Nokia is negotiating to remove digital rights management (DRM) from its Comes With Music unlimited mobile music download service, allowing users to freely move songs between devices, Channel News Asia reported. [more..]
o Midway Games Exploring Sale of "Mortal Kombat" Franchise 
Chicago - Embattled video game publisher Midway Games, which recently filed for bankruptcy, is looking to sell its flagship "Mortal Kombat" franchise, according to court documents, GameDaily reported. [more..]
o Dailymotion Video Site Adds Hulu Content 
New York - Online video site Dailymotion announced on Monday a distribution agreement with Hulu, the video site joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal. [more..]
o MSpot Debuts Custom Ringtone Creation Feature 
Palo Alto, Calif. - Mobile music firm mSpot on Monday debuted its first direct-to-consumer website, mSpot.com, which features a tool that lets users edit, purchase and download custom ringtones. [more..]