London - In a watershed moment for the music industry, major record label EMI Music announced on Monday that it will begin selling songs free from digital rights management (DRM) -- in a higher-quality file and for a premium price -- at online retailers, starting with Apple's iTunes Store. [more..]

Chicago - Media firm Tribune on Monday ended months of speculation about its future by accepting an $8.2 billion takeover offer from real estate mogul Sam Zell, the chairman of Equity Group Investments. [more..]

London - The European Commission is investigating whether Apple and the major record labels violated EU competition rules, with iTunes Store deals that prohibit users in one country from downloading music from a website intended to serve another country, the Financial Times reported on Monday. [more..]

Washington - National Public Radio (NPR) on Monday submitted a memorandum to the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which again stated its request for a public rehearing of the CRB's recent ruling on royalties webcasters must pay to stream music online. [more..]

Reston, Va. - ComScore, a provider of Internet audience measurement services, on Monday filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (IPO) to raise up to $86.25 million in an initial public offering (IPO). [more..]

Geneva - The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the U.S. failed to comply with its order to change its ban on Internet gambling, opening the U.S. to possible commercial sanctions, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

New York - The founder of online gambling firm BetOnSports was arrested last week in the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis, Missouri plans to ask he be sent to St. Louis to face charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, Reuters reported. [more..]

London - According to a new survey, European video game developers earn on average about a third less than those doing the same jobs in North America, GamesIndustry.biz reported. [more..]

Seoul, South Korea - Today, Pandora TV will announce a $10 million Series B funding round, led by DCM (formerly known as Doll Capital Management) - a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. [more..]

Miami, Fla. - Scrapblog on Monday announced that it has officially launched its Web-based multimedia scrapbook authoring software service. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Venture capital firm Hercules Technology Growth Capital announced that it has provided $1 million each to two social networking ventures -- one being San Francisco-based Wallop, and the other a stealth-mode company based in Los Angeles. [more..]

Mumbai, India - Online game developer Games2Win has raised about $5 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Clearstone Venture Partners and SVB Financial Group, PEHub.com reported. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - News aggregator Topix announced on Monday a redesign of its site and a new focus on citizen journalism. The site, which also changed its domain from .net to .com, will now allow anyone to submit local news online or via cell phones, or become local news editors who will combine user-generated submissions with Topix's locally categorized news from 50,000 traditional news and blog sources. Founded in 2004, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Topix claims about 10 million monthly unique visitors. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - YuMe Networks, an ad network optimized for broadband video, announced on Monday the launch of a new video ad format that will be embedded within downloadable content from the BitTorrent file-sharing network. The company's technology measures how many people view the ads, how many times they view the ads, and whether they click through to sponsor sites. The first client for Redwood City, Calif.-based YuMe's ad format is game publisher Eidos, which will embed an ad for its upcoming "Tomb Raider" game within video files from game-focused cable TV network G4 distributed on BitTorrent. [more..]

Washington - Isupportthismessage.com on Monday launched its grassroots site aimed at providing feedback to messages being sent by politicians and interest groups. The site, founded by a trio of dot-com veterans and political insiders, will post video, audio and print messages from interest groups and politicians, and allow users to comment on and post their own multimedia messages in response. It also displays the percentages of site readers who support and oppose individual messages. Isupportthismessage.com will then provide hard copy and electronic reports to interest groups, Congressional offices and candidates. [more..]

San Francisco - Independent travel media company Lonely Planet said on Monday that it has launched a video site at LonelyPlanet.tv, which will combine user-generated travel videos and original Lonely Planet programming. Powered by Reality Digital, the site will also offer blogging, forums, geo-location and other features. [more..]

San Francisco - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, announced on Monday a partnership with JamBase, a provider of tour date information for over 30,000 bands and 50,000 venues worldwide. Under the agreement, Blinkx will transcribe and index JamBase's artist interview and concert videos, making it easier for users to find and watch them. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - Video game developer Harmonix, creators of the "Guitar Hero" franchise and a recent acquisition of MTV Networks, announced on Monday that it has partnered with publisher Electronic Arts on a new music-based title that will allow gamers to form virtual bands and perform chart-topping songs. Slated for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the fall, "Rock Band" will feature virtual drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone peripherals, and songs licensed from publishers EMI and Warner/Chappell, and labels EMI, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG, Universal Music Enterprises and Warner's Rhino Entertainment. [more..]

San Francisco - Mobile game publisher Hands-On Mobile announced on Monday an agreement with Activision, to bring the popular "Guitar Hero" franchise to mobile devices. The music-based console game was first launched in 2005, and a recently released sequel was the best-selling console and handheld game in dollars for the U.S. during the month of December, according to NPD data. [more..]