New York - U.S. sales of video game consoles, software and accessories rose 33% in March, to $1.1 billion, with Nintendo's Wii leading all next-generation console sales and the company's DS handheld far outpacing sales of all other game devices, Reuters reported, citing sales data from market research firm NPD. [more..]

San Francisco - A number of public interest groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), over Google's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick. [more..]

New York - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive has settled several lawsuits filed against attorney Jack Thompson, an outspoken critic of game violence who has been involved in several lawsuits against Take-Two, GamePolitics.com reported. [more..]

Albany, N.Y. - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans to back state legislation that would ban the sale of violent and degrading video games to minors, the New York Daily News reported. [more..]

Washington - Joe Trippi, the former Silicon Valley business consultant who used the Internet to greatly boost the campaign of former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, said that he has joined forces with Democrat John Edwards in his bid for the White House. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - PodBridge, a provider of podcast audience measurement and ad placement services, has raised around $8.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]

Encino, Calif. - Emotive Communications, the developer of "push-ringer" ringtone technology that allows a caller to determine the ringtone heard by the person they are calling, has raised $7.7 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by D.E. Shaw Group. [more..]

Roslyn, N.Y. - Zude, a provider of personal website and online profile creation technology, has raised $5 million in a private placement and intends to launch its service to the public on May 1, Mashable.com reported. [more..]

Herndon, Va. - Broadband Advertisements, a provider of ad placement on entertainment websites, has received $100,000 in seed funding from the company's two founders, former Destiny Conferencing CTO Marshall Eubanks and Mike Smith. [more..]

Richmond, Va. - Electronics and media retailer Circuit City announced on Friday that it has partnered with Napster to offer a new digital music service on its website. Powered by Napster, the Circuit City + Napster service on CircuitCity.com will cost $14.95 per month and provide unlimited access and transfers to portable devices. The companies are offering a free month of service and five free downloads to new subscribers. Circuit City, which operates 655 U.S. stores, will also offer pre-paid download cards in-store and online. [more..]

Beijing - Consumer electronics firm Pioneer has introduced a new $299 Blu-ray Disc PC drive in China, and plans to expand the device into other markets, DigiTimes reported. So far, Pioneer has said the $299 price point will only apply to the Pioneer BDC-S02 drive for PCs. Toshiba recently introduced a standalone player for its rival HD DVD format that will sell for $299; Wal-Mart has placed an order for two million of the devices. [more..]

Tokyo - Soundbuzz, a Singapore-based digital music service, is in negotiations with major record label EMI to offer tracks free of digital rights management (DRM) for sale in Southeast Asia, Billboard reported. EMI recently broke ranks with the other major labels, announcing it would sell DRM-free tracks on iTunes and other services. The deal with Soundbuzz would reportedly include mobile downloads, a platform more popular than PC-based downloads in much of Asia. "Soundbuzz are not the only company to have approached us, and in Asia we expect this EMI initiative to generate significant activity," Paul Robinson, president and COO of EMI Music South East Asia, told Billboard. [more..]

London - The BBC has partnered with musician and charity concert organizer Bob Geldof to create an eight-part documentary TV series and website they say will be "a definitive guide to mankind." The Dictionary of Man website aims to create an archive of DVDs, books, films, photographs and art from every human society in existence, and will provide social networking features so users can trace their genealogy. "This will be an A-to-Z of mankind," said Geldof. "It will catalog the world we live in now, the people who share this planet, the way we live and the way we adapt to face common and different challenges. [more..]

Washington - The SaveNetRadio coalition said on Thursday that in the three days since launching its online campaign this week, individuals have sent nearly 280,000 messages to Congress opposing the music webcasting royalty increase imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. The group added that 3,500 artists have also called on their representatives to take action. "The reality is that there are only 27 days until the retroactive increased royalty payment comes due and thousands of webcasters go silent," said SaveNetRadio spokesman Jake Ward. "278,000 messages is a tremendous start, but we must continue to send the message to Congress to ensure they hear our message loud and clear." [more..]

New York - Bondi Digital Publishing, a provider of digital magazine archive products, announced on Friday that it will convert the entire printed history of Wenner Media's Rolling Stone magazine to digital format for release on DVD. Slated for release in the fall of 2007, "Rolling Stone Cover-to-Cover: The First 40 Years" will include over 125,000 pages from more than 1,000 back issues. [more..]

Seattle - Imagekind.com announced this week that it has partnered with Yahoo's Flickr photo-sharing site to launch commercial framing and photo sales for Flickr members. Seattle-based Imagekind.com, which operates an online community for creating, buying and selling physical artwork from digital files, said that Flickr members will be able to order framed copies of their own images, as well as offer them for sale to others, earning a commission on every print sold. [more..]