McLean, Va. - Microsoft said on Wednesday that it has purchased a 4% stake in online job site CareerBuilder, which is currently jointly owned by three newspaper publishers. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - In a move aimed at combating piracy, Warner Bros. Pictures announced on Wednesday that it has cancelled all promotional and word-of-mouth screenings in Canada for all of its forthcoming releases. [more..]

San Francisco - Digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit against self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller, on behalf of a skeptic whose video on YouTube debunking Geller's claims was removed after what the EFF says was a bogus copyright claim. [more..]

Bonn, Germany - A ten-year, $100 million project has been hatched to create a free online encyclopedia of the planet's 1.8 million known plant and animal species, Reuters reported. [more..]

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Finland-based mobile game development studio Universomo. [more..]

London - Major record label Warner Music Group announced that it has signed a deal with online ticket reseller Viagogo, providing fans who purchase tickets resold through the service with free downloads, ringtones and videos, Reuters reported. [more..]

Washington - The Newseum, a 250,000-square-foot news museum scheduled to open near the National Mall in October, said that it has received a $15 million funding commitment from the Annenberg Foundation. [more..]

San Jose, Calif. - Me.com, a provider of tools that allow users to create their own social networks, has received $1.5 million in financing from Silicon Valley real estate developer Kimball Small, VentureBeat reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Concert promotion giant Live Nation on Wednesday announced the launch of a new VIP program across all of its North American amphitheaters, which will give fans the ability to purchase premium seats, VIP parking spaces and special access to premium bar and lounge areas from its website. The site also offers a music search engine that provides information on tour dates, concert tickets, artists and venues. Live Nation owns, operates or has booking rights in more than 160 venues, which last year hosted 26,000 events in 18 countries. Separately, Live Nation said it partnered with Nokia on Nokia Ticket Rush, which will deliver concert promotions such as pre-sale alerts to mobile phones. [more..]

London - Last.fm, a provider of personalized Web radio with social networking features, announced on Wednesday that it will begin creating personalized music video channels for its users, utilizing partnerships with both major and independent labels. The service will initially feature videos from artists on Ninja Tune, Nettwerk Music Group, Domino, Warp, Atlantic and Mute, with audio encoded at 128kbps -- compared to YouTube's 64kbps. London-based Last.fm said it aims to eventually offer every music video ever made. [more..]

Seattle - Microsoft has signed advertising deals with Volvo and Chivas Brothers, which will support two webisode series from TV production company Reveille ("The Office," "Ugly Betty"), the Associated Press reported. Financial and product placement details of the arrangements were not disclosed. Volvo will sponsor a series called "Driving School," while Chivas Regal will be involved with a travel and adventure series, "This is the Life," both of which are slated to premiere on MSN Video in the next six months. [more..]

Glendale, Calif. - Disney on Wednesday announced the launch of an online media store to complement its line of media players for children. DisneyMixCentral.com offers songs and music videos from Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records artists like Hannah Montana and The Cheetah Girls, which may be downloaded to Disney Mix Stick MP3 players and Disney Mix Max video players. Later this month, Disney plans to add full-length movies from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment to the store, including "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and "The Princess Diaries." [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - Warner Bros. International Television Distribution said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based online video distributor ViDeOnline. Under the deal, ViDeOnline will distribute legal downloads of an initial batch of over 100 Warner Bros. films, such as "V For Vendetta," "Superman Returns" and "Happy Feet," on its new 08Media portal. [more..]

London - Digital media delivery firm 7digital on Wednesday announced the launch of a dedicated digital music and video download store in Ireland. The store will offer songs from major and independent label artists in MP3, WMA and AAC formats, at bitrates up to 320kbps. The company partnered with Universal Ireland on a launch promotion that will see over 700 back catalog titles reduced in price to about $10 (Euro 7.77), a discount of about $4 (Euro 3.00). London-based 7digital also provides digital music delivery for O2, MSN, Last.fm, Yahoo and others. [more..]

Seattle - Corbis, a photo licensing agency owned by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, on Wednesday announced the launch of OutlineLive, a new collection of celebrity photography the company says makes it faster and easier to license shots for editorial use. The archive will initially feature more than 35,000 images from leading celebrity photographers. [more..]

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ said on Wednesday that developer 5TH Cell is currently at work on "Drawn to Life," a title for the Nintendo DS handheld that will let players draw their own heroes using the device's stylus. Scheduled for release in the fall, the game will also allow players to draw various environmental elements, and allow players to trade their creations over a Wi-Fi connection. [more..]