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Judge Tosses SEC Insider Trading Suit Against Mark Cuban

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:40:20 -0500

Dallas - A federal judge on Friday dismissed an insider trading lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against billionaire Mark Cuban, an Internet entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, the Associated Press reported. The SEC had alleged that Cuban benefitted from inside information before selling shares in Internet search engine Mamma.com back in 2004.

Amazon to Replace Kindles Damaged by Screen Cover

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:20:43 -0500

Seattle - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has changed its policy, and will now offer free replacement Kindle e-book reader devices to owners whose screens were cracked due to a possibly defective cover for the device sold by Amazon, CNET News.com reported.

MTV to Let Artists Upload Own Songs to "Rock Band" Game

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:11:59 -0500

New York - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Games plans later this year to launch a service that will let any musical artist upload and submit their songs for possible inclusion in its "Rock Band" music video game, Billboard reported.

Warner Bros. Ends Up Paying $49 Million for Midway Games

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:03:00 -0500

New York - Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. Entertainment paid a total of $49 million to acquire the assets of bankrupt video game publisher Midway Games, as opposed to the $33 million purchase price stated when the deal was announced in May, Gamespot reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Report: Microsoft, Yahoo Near Search, Advertising Deal

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:40:10 -0500

New York - The long-rumored online advertising and search partnership between Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) is reportedly close to being a done deal, according to the blog All Things D. "Top executives at Microsoft -- including SVP of the Online Audience Business Group Yusuf Mehdi, search head Satya Nadella and top digital exec Qi Lu, as well as others -- have all flown down to Silicon Valley from their Redmond, Wash., HQ today to iron out the remaining issues, which seem to have to do with the deployment of technology," the blog reported.

Report: U.S. Game Sales Plunge 31% to $1.17B in June

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:18:54 -0500

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales plunged 31% in June, to $1.17 billion, the most precipitous drop since the industry saw a 41% year-over-year decline in September 2000, according to figures from market research firm NPD Group. "This is one of the first months where I think the impact of the economy is clearly reflected in the sales numbers," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Sports Blog Network SBNation Lands $8 Million

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:54:22 -0500

Washington - SBNation, a network of sports-related blogs, has raised $8 million in new financing, led by Comcast Interactive Capital.

Lat49 Raises $1.34 Million for Geo-Contextual Advertising

Mark Hefflinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:21 -0500

Vancouver, Canada - Lat49, a provider of geo-contextual online advertising services, has closed a $1.34 million first round of venture capital financing, led by PenderFund Capital with participation from previous backer Discovery Capital.

Macrovision Rebrands as Rovi, Debuts Liquid TV Listings

Mark Hefflinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:44:55 -0500

Santa Clara, Calif. - Macrovision (NASD: MVSN), the digital entertainment technology company, on Thursday officially changed its name to Rovi, and began trading under the symbol "ROVI" on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

The company said that it made the move after dramatically changing its product portfolio over the past two years, going from being largely a developer of anti-piracy technology to a provider of informational databases on various media, through acquisitions like All Media Guide and TV Guide owner Gemstar.

Rovi will offer a chip that television and set-top box makers can include to enable viewers to more easily access digital audio and video services, including Blockbuster OnDemand, Flixster, Roxio CinemaNow, Slacker and YouTube XL, Wired.com reported.

The company also on Thursday announced a new media listings guide, called Liquid, that aims to integrate broadcast and cable TV listings with content stored on a user's home network, and content avaialable online.

*Disclosure: Macrovision/Rovi is a sponsor of Digital Media Wire.

Grokster CEO Wayne Rosso to Help Pirate Bay Go Legit

Mark Hefflinger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:19:22 -0500

Stockholm, Sweden - Global Gaming Factory (GGF), the Swedish firm that is acquiring file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million, has tapped former Grokster CEO Wayne Rosso to help establish a new, legal version of the service, TorrentFreak reported.