London - The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an international record label trade group, on Friday announced the signing of new licensing agreements between European royalty collection societies that will make it easier to license music for streaming across several territories. [more..]

Los Angeles - Jack Valenti, the former head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) who served as the movie industry's top lobbyist in Washington for 38 years until retiring in 2004, died Thursday afternoon at the age of 85, the Los Angeles Times reported. [more..]

Dulles, Va. - Reflecting the increased importance of the Indian market, AOL said that it has launched a new Internet portal in India, offering local news and information, as well as free services such as email and instant messaging, to the Indian market. [more..]

New York - Toymaker Mattel on Friday introduced a Barbie-branded MP3 player, and the launch of a virtual world for young girls, called Barbie Girls. [more..]

Tokyo - Nintendo has acquired a majority stake in Japanese game developer Monolith Soft from fellow publisher Bandai Namco Holdings for an undisclosed sum, IGN.com reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Concert promotion giant Live Nation announced on Friday that it has acquired the remaining stake that it did not already own in Trunk Ltd., a retailer of limited edition rock and roll apparel and accessories. [more..]

New York - TheStreet.com, the New York-based provider of financial commentary, analysis, research, news and financial ratings, on Thursday announced the acquisition of the remaining 50.1% stake in Stockpickr.com that it did not already own. [more..]

Beijing - ChinaCache Network Technology, a provider of content delivery network services in China, has raised $31.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Qiming Venture Partners, PEHub.com reported. [more..]

San Francisco - Internet video distributor GoFish, said on Friday that it has applied to move its stock from the OTC Bulletin Board to the Nasdaq Capital Market. [more..]

San Francisco - ClickStar, a broadband video entertainment site founded by actor Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment production company, has teamed with AOL and Intel to offer a "limited supply" of free downloads of "Lonely Hearts," a film starring John Travolta and Selma Hayek that opened in theaters two weeks ago. Intel and ClickStar are funding the undisclosed costs of distributing downloads of the movie for free on AOL Video. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - Red Swoosh, a provider of content delivery technology that was acquired by Akamai several weeks ago, has released a BitTorrent file-sharing client for the Mozilla Firefox browser, TechCrunch reported. FoxTorrent allows users manage torrents and download various media files from the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing network, as well as stream files as they are downloading. [more..]

Paris - Advertigo, a developer of content recognition technology, has introduced technology called AdvestiPRINT that allows motion picture content owners to generate video fingerprints on their own to prevent copyright infringement. The company said the application is also part of its solution for automatically filtering copyrighted files uploaded to user-generated content sites. [more..]

New York - Microsoft launched a unique promotion this week for its Zune digital media players, partnering with Turner Broadcasting's Adult Swim to distribute the devices to television media buyers, executives and press at the network's Upfront advertising presentation. Guests at an Adult Swim party were provided with 30GB Zune players that came pre-loaded with a video presentation hosted by Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne, in addition to full episodes from new and returning series, original music and still photos. [more..]

New York - Eyespot, a provider of online media remixing technology, announced that it partnered with the producers of the Broadway musical "Spring Awakening" on a promotion that allows users to create video mashups using songs and video from the show. A contest will award the creator of the best mashup -- as judged by creator Duncan Sheik, the producers and cast members -- with a trip to New York to see the show and meet the cast. [more..]

Edison, N.J. - Video game publisher Majesco announced on Friday that it has received notice from the Nasdaq that the company has regained compliance with the exchange's requirements for continued listing. New Jersey-based Majesco had tipped below the Nasdaq's $35 million market value of listed securities requirement. [more..]

Los Angeles - The Championship Gaming Series, a global professional video game league, announced on Friday that worldwide salaries and bonuses for its 2007 season will exceed $5 million. The league will begin qualifying rounds this weekend, with its first draft to be held at the Playboy Mansion on June 12. Titles selected for this season include "Counter-Strike: Source" and "FIFA 2007" for PC, and "Dead or Alive 4" and "Project Gotham Racing" for Xbox 360. League events will be broadcast in North America on DirecTV; in the U.K. on BSkyB; and by STAR in Asia and Australia. [more..]