New York - Digital advertising agency DoubleClick announced on Wednesday the launch of an online marketplace that will connect buyers and sellers of online advertising. [more..]

Bangkok - Thailand has blocked YouTube from view by its citizens, after Google refused to remove a video mocking the country's beloved monarch, Reuters reported. [more..]

Silver Spring, Md. - Discovery Communications, the media company behind such cable TV channels as The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, may be on the verge of a major round of layoffs, according to a report by industry news magazine Broadcasting & Cable. [more..]

New York - The FBI has visited casinos within the virtual world "Second Life," but authorities have not yet clarified whether the online gambling for virtual currency runs afoul of the U.S. ban on Internet gambling, Reuters reported. [more..]

New York - MusicNet, the digital music and video service provider that powers services for Yahoo, MTV, HMV, Virgin, iMesh and others, announced that it served an average of 6.8 million streams and subscription downloads per day during January and February, or a total of over 400 million plays. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - News Corp.'s MySpace has announced plans to hold a mock presidential election for the millions of MySpace users residing in the U.S. [more..]

Bristol, England - Aardman Features, the U.K.-based animated film studio behind movies like "Chicken Run" and "Wallace & Gromit," announced that it has signed a new three-year deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment. [more..]

Charlottesville, Va. - SNL Financial, a provider of business intelligence to investment banks, money managers and corporations, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired media research and analysis firm, Kagan Research. [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio, the satellite radio provider now in the process of trying to merge with rival Sirius, said on Wednesday that its radios will become a standard factory-installed feature on all 2008 Infiniti models. Infiniti said that it also plans to expand the availability of XM's NavTraffic satellite traffic alert service. XM also announced a deal with Lexus, to offer XM Radio and XM NavTraffic capability as a standard factory features on the Lexus LX 570. [more..]

San Francisco - Linden Lab plans to offer inhabitants of its "Second Life" virtual world the ability to purchase customized first and last names for their avatars, charging a $100 fee for set up and $50 annually thereafter, the Associated Press reported. Users currently can choose any first name but are limited to a selection of fictitious surnames; a select group of high-profile members, such as presidential hopeful John Edwards, have been allowed to use their actual last names. "Second Life" spokesman Alex Yenni told AP the company plans to begin offering the feature by the end of the year. [more..]

Stockholm - Musicbrigade, a Sweden-based digital music service provider, has announced a deal to power a digital music service for the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, which claims 1.4 million daily readers, Billboard reported. The service will offer a library of 1.6 million tracks and 20,000 music videos, as well as social networking, news and reviews. Song downloads will sell for about $1.40 each. [more..]

Bethel, Conn. - Mobile music distributor Global Music International (GMI) said on Wednesday that it has signed a content licensing agreement with Sony BMG, for the rights to distribute the major record label's library of music and video content in the Chinese mobile marketplace. Connecticut-based GMI recently announced a deal with China Unicom Newspace, to distribute its ringtones and other mobile media to subscribers of China Unicom, the country's second-largest carrier. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - CenterStaging Corp. announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to feature live music performance videos from its Rehearsals.com site on Joost, the streaming P2P service launched by the creators of Skype and Kazaa. Video of artists -- including Tom Petty, Norah Jones and James Taylor -- performing in a studio space in preparation for tours and recording will be made available on Joost. [more..]

Orlando, Fla. - Pro golfer Tiger Woods' official website said on Wednesday that it has signed Major League Baseball Advanced Media as its wireless distribution partner. Under the deal, MLBAM will develop, host and distribute all wireless content offered through TigerWoods.com, including ringtones, wallpapers, photos, video and games. [more..]

Glasgow, Scotland - Beanscene, a Scotland-based coffeehouse chain, on Wednesday announced the launch of a music download store that lets customers purchase songs they hear in its stores via SMS text message or PC-based download. The store is powered by 7digital, which includes access to over one million tracks. [more..]

Los Angeles - A number of musicians and other celebrities have designed personalized guitar controllers for Activision's "Guitar Hero II" game, which will be sold via an online charity auction to benefit the recording industry's MusiCares Foundation. Through April 13, users can bid on custom guitar controllers by Tenacious D, My Chemical Romance, Tony Hawk, Hot Hot Heat and others on eBay. [more..]