Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to introduce a set of public service announcements for the upcoming digital TV transition, which for the first time will feature the commissioners themselves, TVWeek.com reports. To this point, PSAs on the transition have been produced by networks and cable and satellite companies, and some had criticized the FCC for not taking a more direct role. "The chairman and commissioners truly understand the issues related to the DTV transition, and certainly have the expertise to help promote important factors related to the digital switch," an FCC spokesman told TVWeek.com.

Washington - The Future of Music Coalition, a non-profit established to represent the rights of artists on digital music issues, has recruited artists including Wilco, Bright Eyes, DJ Spooky and Aimee Mann to contribute to "Rock the Net," a compilation album whose proceeds will go to support its lobbying efforts on Network Neutrality. "As musicians and entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of treating all websites equally -- from the busiest online music store to the smallest blog," reads a note on the Web page for the album, which is also currently offering a free stream. A CD version will also become available for purchase on July 29.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a formal probe of Yahoo's (NASD: YHOO) proposed online advertising partnership with Google (NASD: GOOG), and will seek documents and information from third party companies with a vested interest in the sector, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Google and Yahoo had agreed to voluntarily delay the deal -- which would see Google serve ads against Yahoo search results -- while the Justice Dept. made an informal inquiry, "but a formal investigation signals that the department may have found some cause for concern," The Post reported.

Washington - The U.S. House Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property yesterday approved the Performance Rights Act, which would for the first time compel AM and FM radio stations to pay record labels and musicians royalties to play their songs, on top of the current payments to songwriters and music publishers. "A loophole in the law lets AM and FM music radio stations earn $16 billion a year in advertising revenue without compensation the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial. It's not right, it's not fair and we are going to make sure it is changed," said Doyle Bartlett, executive director of the MusicFIRST Coalition, a record label lobbying group.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace announced on Thursday that it partnered with NBC News (NYSE: GE) and MSNBC.com for a "Decision '08 Convention Contest," which will award two citizen journalists credentials to attend the Republican or Democratic National Conventions in the fall. Five finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges from the organizers based on their two-minute video submission answers to the questions: "Why do you vote?"; "Why are you the best person for this job?"; and "How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?"

New York - Rolling Stone recently posted an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and reports that his iPod contains songs from artists including Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Earth, Wind and Fire, Jay-Z, Howlin' Wolf, Yo-Yo Ma and Sheryl Crow. "If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder," Obama told RS. "When I was at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie had that run with "Music of My Mind," "Talking Book," "Fulfillingness' First Finale" and "Innervisions," and then "Songs in the Key of Life." Those are as brilliant a set of five albums as we've ever seen."

Denver - In a first for a national political convention, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) has announced that it has partnered with Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) to provide a live, Spanish-language streaming simulcast of the entire 2008 Democratic National Convention from Denver. "With Spanish as the primary language of approximately 35 million Americans -- not to mention the more than 300 million Spanish-speakers outside the United States -- offering bilingual coverage of the Convention makes more people feel welcome under the Democratic Party's 'big tent'," said Texas State Senator and Convention Co-Chair Leticia Van de Putte.

Washington - Google's (NASD: GOOG) proposed online advertising partnership with Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) is drawing a good degree of scrutiny in Washington, where, along with the Senate Judiciary Committee -- which has already announced plans to hold a hearing on the deal -- four other Congressional committees in addition to the Justice Dept. are said to be examining different aspects, AdAge reported.

Washington - With Barack Obama the presumptive Democratic nominee, Congressional Quarterly has launched the Democratic edition of its CQ Politics' "VP Madness" online game. VP Madness pits a field of 32 potential running mates against one another in an NCAA basketball-style tournament bracket. Site visitors will vote on first-round match-ups starting June 5, and then return to make additional picks based on the results of each of the four subsequent rounds. Candidates include Democratic Party heavyweights like Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, as well as newer arrivals to the national scene, such as Jim Webb and Kathleen Sebelius.

Washington - A U.S. House subcommittee on Thursday approved a bill that would beef up the government's protection of intellectual property, after removing a controversial provision that would have increased penalties for pirated compilation CDs by allowing each track to figure as an infringement. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP Act), which would create a White House-level Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative, and new division within the Department of Justice, in addition to raising financial penalties for copyright infringement.

Washington - Large Internet radio purveyors AOL (NYSE: TWX), Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK), Pandora and Live365 earlier this week sent a letter to key lawmakers in Washington, asking them to consider performance royalty parity for broadcast, satellite, cable and Internet radio. The letter was addressed to U.S. House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), whose committees are currently re-evaluating the broadcast radio industry's royalty rate exemption.

Washington - A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a new bill that would increase civil penalties for copyright infringement, bolster criminal enforcement, and create a new federal agency tasked with copyright protection, CNET News.com reported.

Washington - In a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative sent on Monday, six lawmakers -- including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers -- said the U.S. should consider altering its ban on Internet gambling instead of paying compensation to countries who say the U.S. is violating trade agreements, Reuters reported.

Washington - A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has called for a "thorough review" of the video game industry's ratings process, in a letter to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) that focuses on Take-Two Interactive's (NASD: TTWO) violent "Manhunt 2" game.

Washington - The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday approved a major college spending bill that includes provisions urging schools to adopt anti-piracy programs on their campus networks, CNET News.com reported. However, it appears that the provisions -- which include investigating "technology-based deterrents" to file-sharing and looking into alternative, legal download services -- will not be directly tied to receiving federal financial aid.

Washington - A bill introduced in the U.S. House on Friday would withhold federal financial aid from colleges and universities that don't test copyright-protection technologies on their campus networks.

Washington - A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday would give the Justice Department the power to pursue civil copyright enforcement actions against individuals who use file-sharing networks. The Intellectual Property Enforcement Act was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and committee member Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Washington - Nine consumer privacy organizations on Wednesday asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a list of consumers who do not want their online behavior tracked for advertising and other purposes, similar to the national "Do Not Call" list the FTC operates to prevent calls from telemarketers.

Cincinnati, Ohio - The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week struck down a law that required adult entertainment providers to keep records on all of the performers featured in their products, saying the law was overly broad and violates First Amendment protections.