Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Tuesday that it partnered with MySpace on a contest that will offer unsigned the bands a chance at a Virgin Records demo recording contract and placement in an upcoming "Burnout" video game. The Burnout Bandslam contest will accept entries through MySpace, and award one winning band each from the U.S. and Europe with a demo contract and placement in the video game.

New York - Viacom's mtvU campus music TV network announced on Thursday that it has partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation to launch a contest that seeks the best concept for a Web-based video game that will raise HIV/AIDS awareness among 15-24 year-olds in the U.S.

New York - Touchstone, an imprint of publisher Simon & Schuster, has partnered with online social network Gather.com on a contest that will publish a book by a first-time author, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The first time I learned about Verizon's new FiOS service, I was not online (though they have a great site), but at a festival event near where I live in Virginia.  At the event they had the typical basketball games to win a prize, balloons, and an internet connection to let people find out if the Verizon FiOS network is available in their area.  Unfortunately for me, my home is not in their range yet - but like many cable consumers I would gladly switch if I could.  With a large percentage of US consumers feeling trapped in a cable monopoly with no alternatives, anyone offering the possibility of a choice is likely to be welcomed into the community.  For a company like Verizon which has had to deal with the defection of their telephone customers who are ditching their landlines to switch to VOIP - this welcome from the community must be particularly sweet.