New York – Reality TV music juggernaut "American
Idol" has announced that viewers will now be able to vote for their
favorite singers via Facebook.

The Facebook-enabled voting will take place on
AmericanIdol.com, with viewers able to vote up to 50 times via Facebook, aside
from existing telephone and text-message voting options. 

"We have been wanting to do online voting for several years, and
now Facebook has offered us a secure solution and we are ready to go,"
said series creator Simon Fuller.

"The show has always involved a high
level of engagement with its viewers through texting and phone voting, and it’s
great to expand on this tradition."

Facebook voting is expected to launch
with the March 1 episode of "American Idol."

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4gqacxw
(Entertainment Weekly)

San Diego – Michael Robertson, the founder of MP3.com and
MP3tunes, on Thursday announced the "alpha" release of DAR.fm, a
"TiVo for radio" service that lets users record radio programs and
store them in the cloud. The free service requires only a Web browser to
schedule recordings from a listing of 600 stations and show guides.

When a user
clicks "Record," DAR’s servers are instructed to capture the
material, and store it for future playback from a computer, smartphone,
Internet radio or other device.

"I’m very excited because this moves radio into the 21st century making
it what people have come to expect from media: on demand, interactive and
playable everywhere," said Robertson.

Related Links:
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=338

http://www.dar.fm

Los Angeles – The Federal Court in Australia has rejected an
appeal from the motion picture industry, of a ruling from last year that found
Internet service provider iiNet was not responsible for copyright infringements
committed by users of its service, TorrentFreak reports.

The movie studios and local
anti-piracy organization AFACT sued iiNet in 2008, alleging the ISP was not
preventing its subscribers from engaging in online copyright infringement.

In
February 2010, the Federal Court ruled that iiNet was not liable for customers’
infringements, and an appeal of that ruling by AFACT and the studios has now
been rejected.

"I do not think [iiNet] could reasonably be expected to
issue warnings, or to terminate or suspend particular accounts, in reliance
upon any such notice in circumstances where it has been told nothing at all
about the methods used to obtain the information which lead to the issue of the
notice," the ruling reads.

"It cannot be right that, in effect, the
ISP, who has the power to prevent copyright infringement online and admitted
they were taking place, does not share the responsibility to stop them,"
said AFACT head Neil Gane.

The case is likely to be appealed to Australia’s
High Court.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4k6ptgw
(TorrentFreak)

http://tinyurl.com/4sj7h3m
(DMW previous coverage)

New York – Viacom’s (NYSE: VIA) MTV Music Group on Thursday announced
the launch of a new awards show for digital music, the OMAs. The inaugural "O
Music Awards" will take place on April 28 across multiple platforms and
screens, "with the direction of the show taking its cues from the digital
realm and will be lo-fi, highly lean-forward and interactive."

The event’s
categories and nominees will be announced in the coming weeks via the Web and
social media.

"Music is the fastest growing category in the digital space,
but currently lacks an event that truly celebrates and rewards the innovation
happening every day," said Van Toffler, president of MTV Music & Logo
Group.

"MTV has redefined the concept of the traditional award show and
we’re set to flip it on its head again with the launch of the OMAs."

Regarding
the awards’ name, the company says, "the O preceding the Music Awards in
OMAs will be purposely left unassigned and open for the audience
interpretation."

Related Links:
http://www.omusicawards.com

Santa Clara, Calif. – Intel (NASD: INTC) on Thursday introduced
Thunderbolt, a new connection standard that combines high-speed data-transfer
and HD video on a single cable. The company said the 10Gbps speed can transfer
a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds. Apple is the first customer for
Intel’s Thunderbolt (formerly called "Light Peak"), including the
technology on its new line of MacBook Pro laptops announced today.

Other
companies planning to release products supporting Thunderbolt include Aja,
Apogee, Avid, Blackmagic, LaCie, Promise and Western Digital.

"Working
with HD media is one of the most demanding things people do with their
PCs," said Mooly Eden, general manager of Intel’s PC client group.

"With Thunderbolt technology, Intel has delivered innovative technology to
help professionals and consumers work faster and more easily with their growing
collection of media content, from music to HD movies."

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4nsap73

New York – Less than three weeks after AOL (NYSE: AOL) announced its
$315 million acquisition of The Huffington Post, David Eun, the former Google
executive who has been running the Internet company’s media business for the
past year, has resigned as the president of AOL Media, AOL announced in an
internal memo published by All Things D.

"David and I discussed different
roles for him in the new organization but came to the conclusion that there
wasn’t a fit for what he is looking for at this point in his career,"
wrote CEO Tim Armstrong.

Upon closing of the acquisition, AOL will form the
Huffington Post Media Group, led by Arianna Huffington, whose new title will be
president and editor-in-chief.

Jon Brod, the president of AOL Ventures who has
been leading AOL’s integration efforts since the deal was announced, will take
on the additional role as COO of Huffington Post Media Group.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4upvp89
(All Things D)

http://tinyurl.com/4tg9ua2
(TechCrunch)

Washington – TBD, the D.C.-area local news site launched by
Allbritton Communications last summer, will cut about a dozen jobs — half its
staff — and refocus on arts, entertainment and lifestyle content, the
Washington Business Journal reported.

Editor Erik Wemple told the paper he
plans to remain in his current role. Bill Lord, the manager of WJLA-TV, which
took over operations of the site in early February, said the plan is to shift
to an "integrated newsroom model" instead of a web-only staff.

Allbritton had high hopes for TBD when it launch the site in August, using a
mix of staff writers, community bloggers and outside content to provide direct
competition to The Washington Post.

Just three months after the launch,
however, Jim Brady, the former executive editor of washingtonpost.com, resigned
as general manager, reportedly following a dispute over the direction of the
site.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4zca5yz
(Washington Business Journal)

http://www.tbd.com