DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

In the days following Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) announcement of its unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), much of the news focused on the battle between Google and Microsoft to color the other’s motives as anti-competitive. As reports surfaced that Yahoo may try to avoid being acquired by Microsoft by giving control of its search advertising to Google in exchange for a large revenue share (although nothing has made public by either Google or Yahoo on this), Microsoft reportedly began lobbying government officials to block any such deal between the two on antitrust grounds setting the stage for what is likely to be a long and public battle between Google and Microsoft over control of the Internet.

Washington - SaveNetRadio, a coalition with ties to the Digital Media Association, a trade group of large webcasters, said that 31 artists traveled to Washington today to meet with more than 50 lawmakers to discuss the effect new royalty rates will have on Internet radio services. The visit to Capitol Hill followed an open-air concert on the lawn of the U.S. Senate last night. SaveNetRadio is seeking support for the bipartisan Internet Radio Equality Act, which would vacate the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision to hike the rates webcasters must pay to stream music online.

Washington - A group of radio broadcasters including Clear Channel, and the Digital Media Association -- which represents large webcasters like Yahoo, AOL and Live365 -- have joined National Public Radio in submitting challenges to royalty rates for music webcasting set earlier this month by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).