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DMW Daily, June 30, 2009

Top Stories
o The Pirate Bay Acquired for $7.8 Million; Will Go Legit
o China Bans Trading in Virtual Currency, 'Gold Farming'
o Yahoo to Shutter Video Distribution Unit Maven Networks
o Joost to Become White-Label Video Provider; CEO Volpi Out
o Report: Jammie Thomas-Rasset Rejects RIAA Settlement Offer
o Survey: Over Half of Venture Capitalists Say Industry "Broken"
o High Gear Media Lands $5.5 Million for Automotive Websites
o Simage Gets $1.4 Million for Custom Digital TV in Bars
Briefly Noted
o Report: U.S. Used Game Market Hits $2B, 100 Million Units
o Pandora Requires Indie Artists to Have CDs Listed on Amazon
o White House Launches New Site to Track Federal IT Spending
o Microsoft's IE8 Sponsors Free Music via Live Nation
 Top Stories
o The Pirate Bay Acquired for $7.8 Million; Will Go Legit 
Stockholm, Sweden - Swedish software firm Global Gaming Factory (GGF) announced on Tuesday that it has paid $7.8 million to acquire notorious file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, and will turn the site into a legitimate business that compensates copyright holders. [more..]
o China Bans Trading in Virtual Currency, 'Gold Farming' 
Shanghai, China - The Chinese government has announced new limits on the use of virtual currency, in a move intended in part to curtail the practice of "gold farming," where people in poorer countries play online games and collect virtual gold which is then sold to rich players in other countries. [more..]
o Yahoo to Shutter Video Distribution Unit Maven Networks 
Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo plans to shutter its Maven Networks online video distribution and ad platform, which it acquired for $160 million in January 2008, TechCrunch reported. [more..]
o Joost to Become White-Label Video Provider; CEO Volpi Out 
New York - Joost, the video distribution firm launched by the creators of Kazaa and Skype, announced on Tuesday that it will cut staff and turn its focus from an entertainment portal to being a provider of white-label video services.
[more..]
o Report: Jammie Thomas-Rasset Rejects RIAA Settlement Offer 
Los Angeles - Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman recently found guilty of copyright infringement on a file-sharing network and ordered to pay $1.9 million in damages, has rejected a settlement offer from the record labels, CNET News.com reported. [more..]
o Survey: Over Half of Venture Capitalists Say Industry "Broken" 
Framingham, Mass. - More than half (52.9%) of venture capitalists consider their industry "broken," according to a new survey conducted by Massachusetts-based Polachi.
[more..]
o High Gear Media Lands $5.5 Million for Automotive Websites 
Palo Alto, Calif. - High Gear Media, the publisher of 38 auto-related news websites, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5.5 million in its second round of financing, led by new investor DAG Ventures. [more..]
o Simage Gets $1.4 Million for Custom Digital TV in Bars 
Chicago - Simage, the operator of a digital ad and programming network for bars and restaurants, has raised $1.4 million in angel funding, from investors including Horizon Investment Partners, Victory Records founder Tony Brummel, and individual angels. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o Report: U.S. Used Game Market Hits $2B, 100 Million Units 
New York - The U.S. market for used video games has reached $2 billion in annual revenues, with 100 million units now changing hands each year, according to a report from Wedbush Morgan cited by GamesIndustry.biz. [more..]
o Pandora Requires Indie Artists to Have CDs Listed on Amazon 
San Francisco - Streaming radio service Pandora is now requiring independent artists to stock a physical CD for sale at Amazon.com before adding their songs to the service, Hypebot reported. [more..]
o White House Launches New Site to Track Federal IT Spending 
Washington - The White House on Tuesday launched USASpending.gov, a new web site designed to inform visitors about how the federal government is spending money on information technology projects. [more..]
o Microsoft's IE8 Sponsors Free Music via Live Nation 
Los Angeles - Concert promotion giant Live Nation announced on Tuesday that it partnered with Microsoft to offer free music downloads to fans who download new customized versions of the recently-launched Internet Explorer 8 Web browser. [more..]