Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace has won a $234 million anti-spam judgment against "Spam King" Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines, who were found guilty after not showing up in court to defend against charges they violated the 2003 Can-Spam Act, the Associated Press reported.

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week expanded the ordinance that allows for the county to shutter a property that becomes a "public nuisance," such as in gang or drug-related instances, to include properties used to illegally manufacture and sell recordings and audiovisual works. "This ordinance is an important milestone in our efforts to curb piracy in Los Angeles," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "In its approval of this ordinance, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have officially recognized that piracy isn't just an industry problem, but one that has a significant impact on the local economy as well."

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple's (NASD: AAPL) Canadian unit has settled a class action lawsuit with Canadian iPod owners over claims to the device's battery life, and will pay consumers there who purchased an iPod before June 24, 2005 a $45 credit, Canada's Gazette reported. The settlement is similar to one Apple made with U.S. iPod owners in 2005. Some 80,000 Canadian should be eligible for the $45 credit, which is redeemable through Apple's online store.

San Francisco - Project Playlist, a service that aggregates streaming music links into playlists, and has been sued for copyright infringement by three of the four major record labels, has hired former Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CEO Jay Berman as a consultant, CNET News.com reports. Project Playlist CEO Jeremy Riney told News.com that he will shut his site down if he is not able to license music legally from the labels; the sole major not party to the lawsuit against the company, Sony BMG, is reportedly negotiating with Project Playlist.

Los Angeles - TorrentSpy, the BitTorrent tracker that was ordered by a federal judge this week to pay the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) $111 million in copyright infringement damages, has filed for bankruptcy protection in England and will not pay up, the company's attorney, Ira Rothken, told Wired.com.

Washington - The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) annual undercover sting operation where underage consumers try to buy R-rated movie tickets, DVDs and M-rated video games has found a dramatic improvement at video game retailers, where its secret shoppers were able to buy M-rated games just 20% of the time -- down from 42% in 2007 and 85% in 2000. The video game industry and retail partners also fared better than movie theaters, where secret shoppers gained access to R-rated films 36% of the time, and DVD retailers, where R-rated title purchases were successful 47% of the time.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Online social network Facebook on Thursday introduced a number of new privacy protections intended to safeguard younger users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, the Associated Press reported.

Washington - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill pushed for by Hollywood studios that would beef up law enforcement dedicated to protecting intellectual property, as well as increase penalties for piracy. "We applaud the members of the House of Representatives for passing the PRO-IP Act, H.R. 4279," said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president Dan Glickman. "It is a comprehensive, bipartisan measure that will strengthen our nation's economy and generate more jobs for American workers by bolstering protections for intellectual property."

Los Angeles - TorrentSpy, a BitTorrent tracker site that lost a copyright infringement suit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last year, has been ordered by a federal judge to pay a massive $110 million in damages. "This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA. "The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders."

New York - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive (NASD: TTWO) has sued the Chicago Transit Authority and sales agent Titan Outdoor for pulling ads for its "Grand Theft Auto IV" game without any explanation, Reuters reports.

New York - New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday introduced new legislation, endorsed by leaders of the New York State Senate and Assembly, that would increase penalties on those caught trying to record films in movie theaters for piracy purposes.

New York - A federal judge in New York has created a formula for calculating the royalties that large webcasters AOL (NYSE: TWX), RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) must pay songwriters and music publishers for streaming their songs between 2002 and 2009, which could provide just one performing rights organization, ASCAP, as much as $100 million in payments. U.S. District Judge William Conner's ruling stipulates that the webcasters must pay 2.5% of music-related revenue to ASCAP's 320,000 members; by that math, for 2006, AOL owes $5.95 million, and Yahoo owes $6.76 million.

Washington - The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill that would provide more resources for the government to combat intellectual property crimes, increase penalties, and create a White House-level position to coordinate efforts. The bill, which was already amended to remove a portion that would have penalized each track on compilation CDs as a separate infringement, will now move to a vote in the full House; a Senate version of the bill was introduced last fall.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has rejected a pillar of the recording industry's argument in the copyright infringement lawsuits it has filed against file-swappers, ruling that simply "making available" songs in a shared folder on their computers does not equate to infringement. In Atlantic v. Howell, Judge Neil V. Wake has dismissed the label's motion for summary judgment against Pamela and Jeffrey Howell, saying in his ruling that "merely making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work available to the public does not violate a copyright holder's exclusive right of distribution."

New York - Divisions of three of the four major record labels on Monday filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Project Playlist, a site that lets users create playlists from streaming songs served from all over the Internet, Reuters reported. For its part, Project Playlist maintains that it does not host any music files, but instead merely links to files on many third-party sites, including many on record label websites.

London - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has threatened legal action against nearly a dozen U.K.-based online retailers who are buying Apple iPods in the U.S., where they cost about $30 less, and then reselling them in the U.K. at a discount on Apple's pricing, The Register reported.

Washington - A bipartisan group of powerful lawmakers this week introduced legislation that would mitigate the legal risk and potential damages associated with the use of "orphan works," or songs, books or other copyrighted media where the creator or owner cannot be identified. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are sponsoring the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 in the Senate, while House Judiciary IP Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced The Orphan Works Act of 2008 in the House.

Dublin - Ireland's largest Internet service provider, Eircom, has been sued by the major record labels under the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) on charges of aiding copyright infringement, RTE Business reported.

Washington - The Justice Department is investigating whether an advertising tie-up between Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) and Google (NASD: GOOG) violates antitrust laws, Reuters reported. Under a two-week test, scheduled to end this week, Yahoo is using Google's online ad system to provide relevant ads alongside its search results.