Yahoo to Acquire Associated Content for Reported $100M

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Sunnyvale,
Calif. – Yahoo (NASD:  YHOO) announced on
Tuesday that it will acquire Associated Content, a publisher of aggregated content
from 380,000 contributors. While financial details of the deal were not
disclosed, All Things D cited sources pegging the purchase price at $90
million, while sources told AdAge that Yahoo paid slightly more than $100
million.

Founded in 2004, Denver, Colo.-based
Associated Content attracts more than 16 million monthly unique users.

Its
editorial staff reviews more than 50,000 pieces of content per month from paid contributors,
including articles, images, audio and video.

The company has raised more than
$21 million in venture capital to date, from backers including Softbank
Capital, Canaan Partners, and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

"Combining our
world-class editorial team with Associated Content’s makes this a
game-changer," said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

"Together, we’ll create
more content around what we know our users care about, and open up new and
creative avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers across our network."

 

Related Links:
http://i.acdn.us/siteimg/yahoo_press_release.html

http://snipurl.com/whjdh
(All Things D)

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=143947

http://www.associatedcontent.com

Funny or Die to Shutter U.K. Operations

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Comedy website Funny
or Die is shuttering its U.K.
operations, citing financial difficulties, PaidContent reported.

The site, a
partnership with U.K. TV producer Hat Trick Productions, had been creating
original Web programming for nearly two years.

"Following an assessment of
the last 18 months, during which time Funny Or Die UK has seen numerous visitors
to its site who have in turn gone into the American site, the decision has been
made to merge the UK
site and content into the American Funny Or Die website," Hat Trick told
PaidContent.

 

Related Links:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-funny-or-die-shutting-uk-site-/

http://www.funnyordie.com

Report: Several Top Sales Reps Leaving AOL

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Several top sales reps from AOL (NYSE: AOL) recently have left the struggling Internet
company in search of greener pastures, Business Insider reports.

One of them,
according to unnamed sources, is Ali Van Putten, who earlier this year was named
a finalist for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Sales Excellence Award.

The report listed a dozen former sales reps who have chosen to depart since AOL’s recent
reorganization shifted many of their duties.

The defections apparently have
hurt the company, which in April reported a 58% drop in first-quarter profits
and a 23% drop in revenue.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/whed8
(Business Insider)

Are You Interested in Using Spotify When It Becomes Available in the U. S. ?

By
Joakim Baage
-
0

Canadian Court Exempts 30-Second Song Samples From Royalties

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Canada’s federal
appellate court has ruled that online music services do not have to pay
performance royalties on 30-second streaming song samples, Billboard reports.

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) had
sought a ruling that narrowly defined "research" as a fair use for copyrighted
song samples in terms of academic research, while the court concluded that "research"
includes window shopping.

A similar decision allowing royalty-free 30-second
samples was reached last year by the Copyright Board of Canada.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/whdjw
(Billboard)

http://www.socan.ca

Facebook, Social Games Firm Zynga Ink Five-Year Partnership

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Palo Alto,
Calif. – Facebook announced on
Tuesday that it has settled a running dispute with social games publisher Zynga,
and signed a five-year deal that will see Zynga expand its use of Facebook’s
virtual currency platform, Credits, in its games.

Zynga, whose popular games
include "FarmVille" and "Mafia Wars," had reportedly been
considering leaving Facebook over the use of its currency platform.

"Facebook
was a pioneer in opening their platform in 2007 and in just three years tens of
millions of Facebook users play our games everyday, from FarmVille and Cafe
World to Treasure Isle and Mafia Wars," said Zynga founder and CEO Mark
Pincus.

"We are excited about Facebook’s long-term commitment to social
gaming and Zynga, and look forward to working with them and other platform
providers to bring the best social gaming experience to users worldwide."

Zynga
said it is currently testing Facebook Credits in select games, and will expand
to more titles over the coming months.

 

Related Links:
http://www.facebook.com/press.php#!/press/releases.php?p=162172

http://snipurl.com/whbax
(PaidContent)

http://www.zynga.com

Sweden's Pirate Party Becomes Web Host for The Pirate Bay

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Stockholm, Sweden – File-sharing hub The Pirate Bay is back
online Tuesday with an unusual new hosting provider — Sweden’s Pirate Party, TorrentFreak
reported. The site was offline on Monday, after U.S. movie studios succeeded in
getting a German court to compel the site’s Germany-based ISP, CyberBunker, to
disconnect it from the Internet.

"Today, on 18 May, the Swedish Pirate
Party took over the delivery of bandwidth to The Pirate Bay," Pirate Party
founder Rick Falkvinge said in a statement.

"We got tired of Hollywood’s cat and mouse game with the Pirate Bay
so we decided to offer the site bandwidth. It is time to take the bull by the
horns and stand up for what we believe is a legitimate activity."

Sweden’s Pirate
Party was itself formed amid the international litigation efforts to shut down
The Pirate Bay, as a political party whose key focus was to push for less
restrictive copyright and patent regimes.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/wha6l
(TorrentFreak)

http://snipurl.com/whasc
(DMW previous coverage)

http://thepiratebay.org

http://www.piratpartiet.se/international/english

Google to Acquire Internet Telephony Firm GIPS for $68.2 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Mountain View,
Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on
Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Global IP Solutions (GIPS), a
Norway-based developer of VoIP and video conference technology, in a deal
valued at $68.2 million.

The acquisition price represents a premium of 27.5%
over GIPS’s most recent share price.

GIPS customers include Nortel, Oracle, Samsun, Yahoo and AOL.

"The
Web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and
audio communication over the Internet are becoming important new tools for
users," said Rian Liebenberg, Engineering Director at Google.

"GIPS’s
technology provides high quality, real-time audio and video over an IP network,
and we’re looking forward to working with the GIPS team at Google to continue innovating
for the Web platform."

 

Related Links:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/ir_20100517.html

http://gipscorp.com

Titan Gaming Gets $1 Million for Online Game Platform

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Titan Gaming, the provider of an online platform for multiplayer games,
announced on Tuesday that it has raised $1 million in funding from angel
investors.

Backers include Clearstone Venture Partners principals William
Quigley and Jim Armstrong; MP3.com founder Michael Robertson; and Vonage
co-founder Carlos Bhola.

Founded in 2006, Los Angeles-based Titan offers gaming
companies and content sites a platform for offering skill-based matchmaking,
tournaments and points or cash competitions.

The company intends to use the
funds to finalize its technology and secure mass distribution deals. Its first
customers are slated to go live in July.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/wh87g

http://www.titanplatform.com

Target to Expand Video Game, Electronics Sections in Stores

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Minneapolis
– Retail store chain Target (NYSE: TGT) announced on Monday that it will redesign and expand
the consumer electronics and video game departments at its stores nationwide,
expected to be completed by June. The video game section is being expanded by
30%, with a majority of stores to get new game "learning centers" and
trial stations. The company will also expand its selection of larger TV screen
sizes, as well add new products like SLR digital cameras, and Amazon’s Kindle.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/wfglr

http://www.target.com

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