Dulles, Va. - Marking its second acquisition of an advertising company this week, AOL said on Wednesday that it has acquired a controlling interest in Germany's ADTECH AG, a provider of online advertising services. [more..]

Seattle - Amazon.com on Wednesday announced plans to launch a digital music store later this year that will sell millions of songs from more than 12,000 record labels in the unprotected MP3 format. [more..]

New York - A day after Attorneys General from seven states sent a letter to MySpace, demanding the names and locations of registered sex offenders using the site, and deletion of their profiles, the company said it has removed and blocked "a few thousand" such profiles, Reuters reported. [more..]

Washington - Looking to send a strong message in the wake of the recent uproar involving radio personality Don Imus, XM Satellite Radio said that it has suspended popular shock jocks Opie & Anthony following comments made on their satellite radio show last week. [more..]

Seattle - RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Sony NetServices, which provides European mobile networks with digital music services, for $9 million. [more..]

Silver Spring, Md. - Discovery Communications, the media company behind such cable TV channels as The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, said that it has completed its deal to acquire Atlanta-based Cox Communications' 25% stake in the company in exchange for Travel Media, its unit that owns the Travel Channel and TravelChannel.com. [more..]

New York - Major record label Warner Music Group has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against music-focused social networking site Imeem, Reuters reported. [more..]

San Diego - Sony Online Entertainment, the company's online game development unit, announced that it has acquired Sigil Games Online, developers of the "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes" multiplayer title. [more..]

Pompano Beach, Fla. - Moniker.com, a provider of Internet domain asset management services, announced that it has brokered the sale of the domain name Porn.com for about $9.5 million to MXN, an Internet media and investment firm. [more..]

Hong Kong - Finet Group, a Hong Kong-based online financial information service provider in China, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Chinese online game developer Hangzhou Tianchang Network Technology Co. Ltd. for about $26 million in cash. [more..]

San Mateo, Calif. - Rock You, a developer of Web-based widgets such as photo slideshows, glitter text and voicemail accessories, said on Wednesday that it has raised an undisclosed amount in its second round of funding, led by Partech International. [more..]

San Francisco - Vator.tv, a site that allows entrepreneurs to upload videos of an "elevator pitch" for their business idea, has raised an undisclosed sum of new funds, VentureBeat reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Microsoft Game Studios and developer Bungie Studios announced on Wednesday that the final chapter in their "Halo" game trilogy, "Halo 3," will ship to retailers on Sept. 25. The companies launched the multiplayer beta of the game on Wednesday, alongside a special Halo-themed edition of Microsoft's Zune portable media player. The previous installment of the game, "Halo 2," generated a record $125 million in sales in its first day on sale. [more..]

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports that Universal Music Group has dropped efforts to have a video critical of its hip-hop artist Akon posted by conservative pundit Michelle Malkin removed from YouTube. UMG sent YouTube a takedown notice on the video, in which Malkin uses snippets of Akon's act to criticize him as a "misogynist." With assistance from the EFF, Malkin then sent a counter-notice to YouTube, claiming her video made fair use of UMG content; the video is now once again available on the site. [more..]

New York - Sling Media, the developer of a device that "place-shifts" premium home TV channels and other services to any Internet-connected device, plans to resell faster broadband service the company says will improve its customers' viewing experience, Reuters reported. The company partnered with GetConnected on the broadband upgrade service, slated to launch later this year. Sling Media said it may also begin showing ads on its service this summer, as part of a new feature called Clip and Sling that lets users share clips of TV shows and movies over the Internet. [more..]

Los Angeles - The HD DVD Promotional Group, made up of companies marketing the next-generation DVD technology developed by Toshiba, announced on Wednesday that it will launch a promotional campaign that includes a $100 rebate on select Toshiba HD DVD players that will cut the price on the devices to $299. The group will promote the technology in on-screen movie theater advertisements, expected to reach 30 million consumers on 12,000 screens nationwide. [more..]

San Diego - Social music community mTraks announced on Wednesday that it has raised $550,000 from a consortium of private angel investors, and also launched a public beta version of its service. The service offers both subscription options and music for sale in unprotected 192kbps VBR MP3 audio, and features a catalog of 750,000 songs from over 6,000 independent record labels. [more..]

Los Angeles - Napster has partnered with Motorola to offer its on-demand music subscription service across Motorola's entire line of phones that support such services. The companies will develop promotions for North America, the U.K. and Germany that include a free month of Napster To Go, and plan to explore offering bundled music at retail. [more..]

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless on Wednesday announced the launch of ESPN MVP, a mobile sports application developed by the Disney-owned sports network. Available as part of Verizon's $15 per month V CAST service, the application provides sports news, scores, video, and fantasy team management. ESPN MVP was initially part of Mobile ESPN, a failed virtual mobile network operator eventually shuttered by the company. [more..]

San Francisco - Wolfgang's Vault, a site that sells vintage rock memorabilia and concert recordings, announced on Wednesday the online re-launch of Crawdaddy, the rock music criticism magazine founded in 1966 by Paul Williams. Williams will serve as an advisory editor for the online version, a new issue of which will be posted online every Wednesday. The online version will feature contributions from Williams, a music news blog, and profiles, features and interviews with both well-known and emerging artists ranging from the 60's through the present day. [more..]

New York - Take-Two Interactive's Rockstar Games said on Wednesday that it plans to publish "Midnight Club: Los Angeles," the latest installment in the racing game franchise, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in early 2008. The game is currently in development at Rockstar San Diego. [more..]

Taipei, Taiwan - GigaMedia, an operator of online games in Asia, said on Wednesday that it has acquired a license from Japan's Sega to operate the massively multiplayer online game "Phantasy Star Universe" in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The previous installment in the franchise was a top-seller in Japan; the forthcoming version is slated to launch in late 2007. [more..]