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DMW Daily, April 3, 2009

Top Stories
o Report: Google in Talks to Acquire Twitter
o Groups Press Obama to Diversify IP-Related Appointments
o Two Swedes Charged With Operating Intl. Piracy Network
o U.S. Private Equity Fundraising Falls 81% in First Quarter
o MediaDefender Acquires Fellow Anti-Piracy Firm MediaSentry
o Swoopo Lands $10 Million for "Entertaining" Online Auctions
Briefly Noted
o Nintendo to Release New DSi Handheld Game on Sunday
o Vice President of CTIA Dies Suddenly at Trade Show
o Verizon Wireless Launches MP3 Store With 5 Million Tracks
o Stanford Offers iPhone App Development Course Free on iTunes
 Top Stories
o Report: Google in Talks to Acquire Twitter 
San Francisco - Responding to rampant speculation that his company is in talks with potential suitor Google, Biz Stone, the co-founder of microblogging service Twitter on Friday did little to quell the rumors. [more..]
o Groups Press Obama to Diversify IP-Related Appointments 
Washington - A coalition of public interest groups has written to President Obama, calling on him to "diversify" future appointments to intellectual property policy positions, after Obama named several former attorneys from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to top positions within the Justice Department. [more..]
o Two Swedes Charged With Operating Intl. Piracy Network 
Los Angeles - In the same week that Sweden enacted a new anti-piracy law, two 29-year-old men have been arrested for allegedly sharing copyrighted files, and operating an international network that made copyrighted films available online, TorrentFreak reported, citing Sweden's Aftonbladet. [more..]
o U.S. Private Equity Fundraising Falls 81% in First Quarter 
New York - As the economic crisis continued during the first quarter of 2009, U.S. private equity firms raised 81% less than the same period a year ago, according to new figures from Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst. [more..]
o MediaDefender Acquires Fellow Anti-Piracy Firm MediaSentry 
Los Angeles - ArtistDirect, a provider of online music marketing and distribution services, announced that its MediaDefender anti-piracy unit has acquired MediaSentry, a fellow provider of anti-piracy services, from parent company SafeNet for $936,000. [more..]
o Swoopo Lands $10 Million for "Entertaining" Online Auctions 
Cupertino, Calif. - Swoopo, an online auction site that "combines e-commerce and entertainment," has raised around $10 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by August Capital. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o Nintendo to Release New DSi Handheld Game on Sunday 
Los Angeles - Nintendo of America plans to release its third-generation DSi handheld game system in the U.S. on Sunday, with a price tag of $170. [more..]
o Vice President of CTIA Dies Suddenly at Trade Show 
Washington - CTIA, the nonprofit membership organization representing the wireless communications industry, said that Mark Desautels, its vice president of wireless Internet development, died suddenly on Monday while attending the group's trade show in Las Vegas. [more..]
o Verizon Wireless Launches MP3 Store With 5 Million Tracks 
Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless this week added more than 5 million MP3s to its online media store, enabling downloads to its music-enabled handsets and any MP3-capable devices. [more..]
o Stanford Offers iPhone App Development Course Free on iTunes 
San Francisco - Stanford University has begun offering its course on iPhone application development for free through Apple's iTunes Store, Wired.com reported. [more..]