Silicon Valley Wire

Mountain View-Based Google Launches Online Classifieds Service

Mountain View, Calif. - Following weeks of speculation, Google, the
Mountain View-based search engine giant, said that it has officially
launched Google Base, a new service allowing users to post classified
ads, similar to Craigslist or eBay, as well as almost any information that
they wish to have indexed by Google. "We encourage you to submit your
item, whether it's your store inventory, collection of original poetry, or
research paper on cancer receptors," the company said on its web site.
The free listing service is also currently free of advertisements.
Depending on relevance, ads posted on Google Base will also show up in
searches on Google, Froogle and Google Local. "We saw there were large
instances of information we didn't have and couldn't make searchable,"
Salar Kamangar, Google's vice president for product management, told
The New York Times. "We realized that we could make it possible for
people to make information on information available."
http://base.google.com 
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/technology/16google.htm 

Yahoo News to Feature Posts from Gawker Media Blogs

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said that it has signed an
agreement with Gawker Media to include news and entertainment content
from the blog network's Gawker, Wonkette, Gizmodo, Defamer and
Lifehacker sites on Yahoo News. The company said that it will post
dozens of stories each day from Gawker Media's sites, which draw a
combined audience of 4.5 million visitors a month. "A group of edgy blog
titles might not seem a particularly obvious fit with one of the big Internet
companies, but Yahoo's developed a measure of geek chic, which makes
them the right media partner for Gawker," said Nick Denton, Gawker
Media's publisher.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051116/20051116005415.html?.v=1

Redwood Shores-Based Oracle Acquires Thor Technologies,, OctetString

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Looking to bolster its identity management offerings,
Oracle, the Redwood Shores-based business software giant, said on Wednesday
that it has acquired New York-based Thor Technologies, a developer of cross-
platform provisioning technologies, and Illinois-based OctetString, a maker of
virtual directory software. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Thomas Kurian, a senior vice president for Oracle Fusion Middleware, said that
the moves are a sign that the company is "investing heavily in rapidly growing
our heterogeneous, identity management product portfolio."
http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_nov/thor_octetstring_acq.html

Confidence of Bay Area Executives Falls to 33-Month Low

San Francisco -- The confidence of Bay Area executives about the local
economy is at its lowest point in 33 months, according to a new survey by
the Bay Area Council. The organization said that 20% of the CEOs and
other top executives that it surveyed expect the local economy to worsen
over the next six months, up from just 7% last quarter. Another 41%
foresee no change, while 39% anticipate improvement. The Council's
overall "index" fell seven points to 55 out of 100 "These numbers are
certainly troubling, but not yet a cause for a full alarm," said Jim
Wunderman, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "With the
two hurricanes and sustained spike in energy costs, we expected
confidence to fall. The real test will come over the next few months."
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/051115/0101277.html

Beere Financial Equity Acquires Mountain View-Based NetCert

Mountain View, Calif. -- Maryland's Beere Financial Equity, which
earlier this week changed its name from Power Save International
following a lateral merger, said on Wednesday that it has acquired
Mountain View-based NetCert USA, giving the company entry into the
potentially lucrative Chinese market with an online shopping mall and
payment platform marketed to Chinese companies. Financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed. NetCert operates an online mall with more than
2,000 merchants. In May, it expanded into China with the acquisition of
315.com.cn, a popular Chinese e-commerce site with several million
users. The company's e-stores sell everything from traditional products
like clothing, gifts and books to digital cards, software and online gaming
accessories. The acquisition is Beere's first, though the company indicated
that more are likely to come. "We are in the process of identifying other
companies in the financial services sector that would enhance our
operations," said Russell Smith, the president of Beere Financial Equity.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051116/20051116005035.html?.v=1

CNET: Friendster Hires Bankers to Seek Buyers for Company

Mountain View, Calif. -- Friendster, the Mountain View-based social
networking site, has hired an investment banking firm to explore strategic
options, including a possible sale of the company, CNET News.com
reported. Citing sources familiar with the situation, CNET said that the
company has hired Santa Monica-based Montgomery & Co. to help it
seek prospective buyers. Company executives also reportedly sought a
merger with Internet media firms earlier this year, with an asking price of
$200 million -- a figure that has since dropped to $50-$100 million.
Meanwhile, Friendster rival MySpace.com -- whose traffic has risen
840% while Friendster's has fallen off by half -- was recently acquired by
News Corp. for $580 million.
http://tinyurl.com/8oaon

Music Publisher Recalls CDs Containing Anti-Piracy Software

Washington, DC -- A major music company is planning to recall millions
of CDs that contained anti-piracy software capable of damaging PCs,
USA Today reported. Sony BMG has offered to exchange the 2.1 million
copies of the 20 albums already purchased by consumers. The disks
reportedly contain anti-piracy technology that is now installed on more
than half a million computer networks in at least 165 countries. Software
giant Microsoft on Tuesday began efforts to have to the software removed
from Windows-based PCs. The Sony BMG software, developed by First
4 Internet to prevent users from making unauthorized song copies,
reportedly hides itself deep within a PC's operating system. Attempting to
remove it can permanently damage a computer's ability to play CDs.
Meanwhile, the San Jose Mercury News reported that security researchers
have found that the patch Sony BMG posted to remove the offensive
software may actually cause further problems.
http://tinyurl.com/7w7qh
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/13174873.htm

Report: Online DVD Rental Market to Reach $3 Billion in 2009

London - The online DVD rental market in the U.S. and Europe will grow
to nearly $3 billion in annual revenue by 2009, nearly three times its
current level, according to a new report from market research firm Screen
Digest. The firm said that more than 381 million DVD rentals will be
delivered to U.S. customers in 2005 -- the lion's share to Netflix's 3.5
million subscribers -- while 45 million DVDs will be rented online in
Europe. By 2009, 10 years after the concept of renting DVDs online and
sending them through the mail was first launched, more than half the
U.K.'s rental transactions and rental spending are expected to be online.
http://www.screendigest.com/reports/05onlinedvdrental/readmore/view.html

Orinda-Based Intraware Lands $6 Million Investment from Digital River

Orinda, Calif. -- Intraware, an Orinda-based maker of electronic software and
license delivery and management products, said on Tuesday that it has
received a $6 million equity investment from Minnesota-based e-commerce
services firm Digital River. The move gives Digital River a 14% ownership
stake in the company, and is the first step in . what the companies said will be
a "broader strategic relationship" to include integrated service offerings. Joel
Ronning, the CEO of Digital River, said that integrating the companies'
respective platforms will give his firm "greater visibility in the enterprise
software arena."
http://www.intraware.com/company/newsroom/2005.11.15.html

Citrix Systems Acquires Santa Clara-Based Teros

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Citrix Systems, the Florida-based maker of access
infrastructure products, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Teros, a Santa
Clara-based developer of software security technology, for an undisclosed
price. Citrix said that the acquisition will extend its offerings designed to help
clients deliver various types of applications. The company said that it will
immediately begin selling and supporting Teros' product line, which will be
re-branded as the Citrix NetScaler Application Firewall. Teros' employees
will be added to Citrix's San Jose.-based application networking group, the
company said.
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/home.asp

Milpitas-Based Force10 Acquires San Jose-Based MetaNetworks

Milpitas, Calif. -- Force10 Networks, a Milpitas-based maker of networking
switches and routers, said on Tuesday that it has acquired MetaNetworks, a
San Jose-based developer of intrusion detection and prevention technology.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal gives Force10 a
customer base of advanced research networks operated by U.S. government
organizations, and will allow it to combine its Ethernet switches and routers
with MetaNetworks' 10GB intrusion prevention system, designed to secure
high performance networks against malicious traffic and attacks.
http://force10networks.com/news/pressreleases/2005/pr-2005-11-15.asp

Los Altos-Based RealTravel Lands $1 Million in Seed Funding

Los Altos, Calif. -- RealTravel, a Los Altos-based travel site on which
visitors can find and share information about destinations, said on
Tuesday that it has Lands $1 million in seed funding from high-profile
angel investors in the travel, media and social networking industries.
RealTravel lets travelers create personal travel blogs, with detailed route
maps, photos and recommendations, and allows them to share these blogs
with other users. The site officially launched in early October. 
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051115/20051115005341.html?.v=1
http://realtravel.com.

Snocap Licenses Warner Songs for Use on Legal File-Sharing Services

San Francisco - Snocap, a provider of digital music copyright management
and distribution services, announced on Monday that it now has agreements
with all four major record labels, with the signing of a licensing deal with
Warner Music Group. With the signing of Warner, San Francisco-based
Snocap is expected to soon begin offering digital songs for download on new,
legal peer-to-peer file-sharing services such as Mashboxx. Snocap employs
"audio fingerprinting" filtering technology that only allows the purchase and
download of legally authorized songs on file-sharing networks. "We believe in
the power of peer-to-peer technology and we're glad to see it join our arsenal
of other digital platforms that, going forward, will enable Warner Music
Group to continue to grow opportunities for artists to reach music fans in
multiple ways," said Alex Zubillaga, WMG's executive vice president for
digital strategy and business development.
http://tinyurl.com/dqgek

EA Discounts Some Titles, Launches PC Game Download Service

Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts, the Redwood City-based developer
and publisher of video games, has cut prices on some of its titles by 20% in an
effort to "spur sales and thwart competition," Reuters reported, citing an
analyst with Banc of America Securities. Titles now selling for $39, as
opposed to $49, include "NBA Live 06," "Burnout Revenge," "NASCAR 06,"
"Marvel Nemesis" and "SSX On Tour." EA is expected to discount additional
titles following the Thanksgiving weekend. Separately, EA has announced the
launch of an online digital distribution service that will offer full games,
demos, trailers and updates for its PC titles. The first offering from the service
will be "Battlefield 2: Special Forces," which consumers can now pre-order
and download to their PCs. The title will then be unlocked for play when it is
officially released on Nov. 22.
http://tinyurl.com/8rknb
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051114/20051114006035.html?.v=1 

U.S. Online Newspaper Readership Rises 11% in October

New York -- As the print circulation of newspapers continues to decline,
traffic to their respective web sites is growing at a rapid pace, according to
new research from Nielsen//NetRatings. During October, newspaper site
traffic grew 11% to 39.3 million unique visitors, or one out of every four U.S.
Internet users. The increase far exceeded the growth of the active Internet
universe as a whole, which rose 3% from the previous year. Among
newspaper readers, 22% said that they have shifted their readership
preferences from offline to online sources. The majority of readers, 71%, still
prefer print newspapers, while 7% divide their time evenly between the two
sources. NYTimes.com was the top U.S. online newspaper site, with 11.4
million unique visitors in October, followed by USATODAY.com and
WashingtonPost.com, with 10.4 and 8.1 million, respectively. SFGate.com,
the web site of the San Francisco Chronicle, came in at No. 6.
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/news.jsp?section=new_pr

Sunnyvale-Based Juniper to Acquire Funk Software for $122 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Juniper Networks, the Sunnyvale-based network equipment
giant, said on Monday that it has acquired Funk Software, a Massachusetts-based
provider of network access security software, for $122 million. Founded in 1982
by Paul Funk, who continues to lead the company, Funk Software provides
network security products for large and small wired and wireless networks.
Juniper said that Funk's products, which are built on open standards, complement
its existing endpoint intelligence, policy control and enforcement capabilities.
http://www.juniper.net/company/presscenter/pr/2005/pr-051114.html

Santa Clara-Based GS Technology Pulls $103.5 Million IPO

Santa Clara, Calif. -- GSI Technology, a maker of memory chips for the
networking and telecommunications markets, has withdrawn its $103.5 million
initial public offering (IPO), citing unfavorable market conditions. The move
comes more than 18 months after the company first filed to go public in April
2004. The company had yet to set details of the IPO, such as price range or
number of shares to be offered.
http://tinyurl.com/c7wbr

S.F-Based PlanetOut Acquires Publisher of The Advocate, OUT Magazines

San Francisco - PlanetOut, a San Francisco-based media and entertainment
company focused on the gay community, said that it has acquired the assets of
LPI Media, the publisher of gay magazines OUT and The Advocate, for $31.1
million. PlanetOut's media properties include Gay.com, PlanetOut.com and
Kleptomaniac.com. LPI Media, whose magazines have a combined circulation of
8 million, expects 2005 revenues of approximately $29 million. PlanetOut said
that  the acquisition will likely nearly double its estimated 2005 annual revenue.
"This transaction will further advance our strategy of building a far-reaching
media and entertainment company which aggregates the largest gay and lesbian
media brands," said Lowell Selvin, the chairman and CEO of PlanetOut.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051109/sfw103.html?.v=20

Palo Alto-Based Agilent to Buy Back Up to $2.7 Billion of Stock

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Agilent Technologies, the Palo Alto-based developer
of technologies for the communications, electronics, life sciences and
chemical analysis industries, said on Monday that it will buy back $2.7
billion of its stock in a modified Dutch auction. Under the tender offer,
expected to begin on Tuesday, the company will repurchase up to 73
million shares -- or 14.2% of its stoc,k for $32-$37 each. The offer is
schedule to expire on Dec. 13.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051114/20051114006188.html?.v=1

Oakland-Based Pandora Launches Free Version of Music Service

Oakland, Calif. -- Pandora Media, an Oakland-based provider of an online music
recommendation engine, said that it has launched a free, ad-supported version of
its music discovery service. The company's subscription-based version of the
service, launched in August, is based on data accrued from the Music Genome
Project, in which musician analysts looked at 400 musical attributes in describing
songs and their relation to others. Pandora's service allows users to choose songs
and create online radio stations that automatically populate with songs that share
key musical traits.
http://webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?SESSIONID=&aId=5513

Gartner: IT Staffs Must Build Diversity for Competitive Advantage

Stamford, Conn. -- It is imperative for companies to develop diversity among
their IT staffs in order to obtain a competitive position in the global market,
according to a new report by technology market research firm Gartner. "Whether
companies are trying to gain access to new customer bases domestically, are
expanding business into international markets, are moving into a global IT
sourcing model, or are simply facing the challenge of recruiting and retaining the
best and brightest people in the market, managing diversity must become a part of
their strategic kit to maintain the competitive edge in this increasingly diverse and
complex business world," said Lily Mok, research director for Gartner. The firm
has identified five key initiatives that organizations should implement to embrace
diversity, which are outlined at the link below.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051114/20051114005335.html?.v=1

Yahoo Pulls Out of AOL Talks; Google, Microsoft Remain Top Suitors

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- There is now one less bidder for a stake in America
Online, following Sunnyvale-based Yahoo's decision to exit the
discussions, The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press reported on
Thursday. That leaves Microsoft and Mountain View-based Google as the
top candidates to purchase a piece of Time Warner's Internet unit, which
has been viewed as a hot property of late, due in part to an upswing in
online advertising. People close to the situation told the AP that Yahoo's
main stumbling block was Time Warner's insistence to remain AOL's
majority stakeholder. One of the scenarios reportedly being discussed
called for Yahoo to pay $13 billion in stock for an 80% share of AOL's
content business. Top executives from Yahoo, including CEO Terry
Semel, reportedly met with Time Warner executives in late October.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/051110/aol_yahoo.html?.v=6

Intel to Buy Back Up to $25 Billion in Stock, Raise Dividend

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Shares of Santa Clara-based Intel jumped nearly 2%
on Thursday after the chip-making giant announced plans to buy back up
to $25 billion of its stock and approved a 25% increase in its quarterly
cash divided to $0.10 a share beginning with the first quarter of 2006.
Paul Otellini, Intel's president and CEO, said that the moves signal the
company's "confidence in the growth, earnings and cash generating
potential of our business." Since the company's stock buyback program
began in 1990, Intel has repurchased approximately 2.5 billion shares for
about $49 billion. It began paying a cash dividend in 1992 and has since
paid out approximately $5.8 billion to its stockholders.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051110/20051110005274.html?.v=1

San Jose-Based eBay Launches New Subscription Research Service

San Jose, Calif. -- EBay,. the San Jose-based online auction giant, on
Thursday unveiled a new service designed to give buyers and sellers a
better insight into listing, bidding and pricing trends in the marketplace.
The subscription service, known as eBay Marketplace Research, will
provide users access to data, charts and graphs that show what the eBay
community is doing, historically and in real-time. Shoppers on eBay can
check Average Sold Price to determine how much they should expect to
pay for a product, or the number of times a product has been listed and
average bids per item. Sellers, meanwhile, can look up such trends in
starting prices, shipping charges  and top search terms used by shoppers.
EBay will charge $2.99 for a two-day pass or a monthly subscription of
either $9.99 or $24.99, depending on the extent of the information.
http://www.ebay.com/marketplaceresearch.

Telecom Giant AT&T Invests in Petaluma-Based Clovis Solutions

Petaluma, Calif. -- Telecommunications giant AT&T said on Thursday
that it is making an undisclosed investment in Petaluma-based Clovis
Solutions, a developer of networking software for carriers. Virasb Vahidi,
AT&T's senior vice president of corporate strategy and development, said
that the investment comes from a venture fund that the company has
established to make equity investments in early-stage firms whose
technologies directly support AT&T’s networking objectives. Clovis'
platform is designed to help carriers deliver their communications
services with significantly less research and development expenses. The
company's other venture-capital investors include Sevin Rosen Funds,
Walden International and American River Ventures.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051110/nyth161.html?.v=25

Report: 82% of U.S. Households Will Have HDTV Sets by 2010

Monterey, Calif. -- Sparked by large price drops and increased
programming, 82% of all U.S. households will own an HDTV set by
2010, according to a new report from market research firm Kagan
Research. The firm projects that 9.1 million HDTV sets will be sold in the
U.S. this year, up from 5.6 million in last year. "Rapid price declines,
coupled with increasing levels of HD programming will drive the number
of HD households to nearly 97 million in 2010, penetrating more than
82% of total television households," said Patrick Johnson, an associate at
Kagan. The firm said that the average price of an HD set will drop by
38% over the next five years to $1,139. Kagan also estimated that
subscribers to cable HDTV programming services will grow nearly 10-
fold to over 30 million by 2010, when satellite HDTV subscribers will
number 18 million.
http://www.kagan.com/HDTV/110905

America Online Survey: Instant Messaging Up 19% This Year

Dulles, Va. -- Instant messaging is up 19% this year compared with last,
with many Americans now sending more IMs than emails, according to a
new survey by America Online. All told, 38% of those surveyed said that
they send as many or more IMs than emails, and the younger users are,
the more likely they are to favor IM. "Usage is spiking, and not just
among teens. Parents, grandparents and professionals are all using instant
messaging," said Chamath Palihapitiya, AOL's vice president and general
manager of AIM and ICQ. The company said that a quarter of users want
to see entertainment content within IM and 20% want to make voice calls
to landlines and cell phones directly from their IM service. The top
markets for instant messaging include Miami, New York, Boston,
Chicago and Atlanta. San Francisco ranks No. 8.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051110/20051110005439_1.html

Redwood City-Based Visto Lands $70 Million in New Funding

Redwood City, Calif. -- Visto, a Redwood City-based developer of a
platform that allows mobile operators to offer wireless push email
services, said on Wednesday that it has  secured $70 million in one of the
largest funding rounds by a Bay Area tech company in recent months.
DFJ ePlanet Ventures led the round, which also included participation by
previous investors  Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Oak Investment Partners,
Meritech Capital Partners, Rustic Canyon, VantagePoint and Allegis
Capital. Visto's push email service is currently available from wireless
operators including: Vodafone, Rogers Wireless and Sprint-Nextel. The
company said that it will use a portion of the funding to expand into new
geographic regions.
http://www.visto.com/news/releases/05_11_09_funding.html

Palo Alto-Based Nanosys Raises $40 Million in Funding Round

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Nanosys, a Palo Alto-based developer of
nanotechnology products, said on Wednesday that it has raised $40
Million in private equity financing, with El Dorado Ventures leading the
round. New investors Masters Capital, Medtronic and Wasatch Advisors,
as well as more than a dozen of the company's previous investors also
participated. Nanosys has more than 400 patents and patent applications
covering fundamental areas of nanotechnology. The company
collaborates with partners to develop various products for computing,
optoelectronics, communications, energy, defense and the life and
physical sciences.
http://tinyurl.com/dex68

Menlo Park-Based Versant Ventures Closes $400 Million Healthcare Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Versant Ventures, a Menlo Park-based venture capital firm
focused on the healthcare sector, said on Wednesday that it has closed a new
$400 million fund. The firm, which now manages more than $1 billion in
capital, said that Versant Venture Capital III will invest in early-stage healthcare
companies. To date, Versant has invested in more than 65 companies in the
medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, healthcare services and
healthcare information technology sectors. The firm also has announced the
promotion of Kevin Wasserstein to managing director. Wasserstein joined
Versant in 2002, and focuses on investing in and building early-stage
investments in the medical device sector.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051109/sfw076.html?.v=33

Cupertino-Based Navio Secures $25.4 Million in Second Round

Cupertino, Calif. -- Navio Systems, a Cupertino-based developer of digital
rights technology for music and media companies, said that it has raised $25.4
million in its second round of funding, led by Taiwan's WK Technology Fund.
New investor VantagePoint Venture Partners and previous investor Add
Partners also participated in the round, which the company plans to use to add
operational capacity, further its development efforts and expand into other
countries. Navio's web-based service allows companies to transform their online
communities into digital content marketplaces.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051108/sftu086.html?.v=33

Cupertino-Based Navio Secures $25.4 Million in Second Round

Cupertino, Calif. -- Navio Systems, a Cupertino-based developer of digital
rights technology for music and media companies, said that it has raised $25.4
million in its second round of funding, led by Taiwan's WK Technology Fund.
New investor VantagePoint Venture Partners and previous investor Add
Partners also participated in the round, which the company plans to use to add
operational capacity, further its development efforts and expand into other
countries. Navio's web-based service allows companies to transform their online
communities into digital content marketplaces.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051108/sftu086.html?.v=33

Abebooks.com Acquires Berkeley-Based BookFinder.com

Berkeley, Calif.. - Abebooks.com, a Canadian online marketplace for new and
used books, said that it has acquired Berkeley-based BookFinder.com, an online
price comparison shopping service for books. Financial terms of the deal were
not disclosed. Founded in 1996, Abebooks.com offers 70 million new, used,
rare and out-of-print titles for sale by more than 13,000 independent
booksellers. BookFinder.com lets buyers browse over 100 million book titles
from its network of thousands of booksellers, enabling consumers to compare
prices for books from various retailers. "Our goal is to help booklovers find and
buy any book from any bookseller anywhere, so the acquisition of
BookFinder.com makes perfect sense," said Hannes Blum, the president and
CEO of Abebooks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/051107/abebooks_bookfinder.html?.v=1

Double Fusion Raises $10 Million, Moves from Israel to San Francisco

San Francisco - Double Fusion, a developer of in-game video game advertising
technology, said that it has raised $10 million in a a new round of venture
capital financing that will help the company to relocate its operations from
Jeruslaem to San Francisco. The round was co-led by Accel Partners and
Jerusalem Venture Partners. The company also has named Geoff Graber, the
former general manager of Yahoo Games, as its CEO. Graber also was a co-
founder and president of Muse, and in 1995 launched Electronic Arts'
operations in China. Founded in 2004, Double Fusion's technology allows
advertisers to place dynamic ads within video games, generating revenue while
adding an extra element of realism to the games.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051108/uktu002.html?.v=35 

Sony, ESA Foundation to Raise Up to $2 Million for Charity

Foster City, Calif. -- Hoping to raise up to $2 million for charity, Foster City-
based Sony Computer Entertainment America said that it has partnered with the
Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a video game industry trade group,
to release a limited-edition game pack for the PlayStation 2 system. Proceeds
from the $19 game pack, which includes Sony's own "ATV Offroad Fury 2,"
"Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild" from THQ and Electronic Arts' "Need for
Speed: Hot Pursuit 2" -- will go to the ESA Foundation, the video game
industry's own charitable organization that benefits a range of children's
http://tinyurl.com/dpacd 

Firms Pay $150 Million for 75% Stake in S.F.-Based LeadClick Media

San Francisco -- LeadClick Media, a  San Francisco-based provider of
online sales lead generation services, said on Tuesday that Florida-based
First Advantage Corp. and Santa Ana-based First American Corp. have
together acquired a 75% stake in the company for $150 million. Under
the terms of the deal, First American paid $45 million in cash, while First
Advantage provided the balance in a combination of cash, stock and
notes. LeadClick screens about 20 million online visitors each month and
collects hundreds of thousands of qualified leads for a variety of services.
First American and First Advantage said that the acquisition will allow
them to offer a stronger picture of prospective business leads to mortgage
and automotive lenders, as well as other providers of personal financial
services..
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051108/latu092.html?.v=31

Menlo Park-Based YouTube Lands $3.5 Million in First Round

Menlo Park, Calif. -- YouTube, a Menlo Park-based web site that allows
people to watch and share original videos, said that it has raised $3.5
million in its first round of private equity funding from Sequoia Capital.
The company said that it plans to use the investment to help accelerate its
growth through enhanced product development and expanded sales and
marketing efforts. YouTube's service is designed for people to upload, tag
and share personal video clips. It also allows users to create their own
personal video network.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/051107/0100442.html

San Francisco-Based StubHub Signs Pacts with NBA's Wizards, Nets

San Francisco -- StubHub, a San Francisco-based online marketplace for
event tickets, said on Tuesday that it has signed sponsorship deals with
the NBA's Washington Wizards and New Jersey Nets. Under the deals,
StubHub has become the exclusive ticket resale marketplace of each
organization, and will be promoted both on and offline. Earlier this year,
the company announced similar partnerships with the NFL's Indianapolis
Colts and Atlanta Falcons, and the University of Southern California and
University of Alabama.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051108/20051108005419.html?.v=1 

San Francisco-Based Shockwave.com Launches In-Game Ad Network

San Francisco - Shockwave.com, the San Francisco-based provider of
online games, said that it has launched an in-game advertising network
that allows advertisers to target its audience of 20 million unique monthly
visitors. Initial advertisers on the network include SBC, Intel and
Microsoft Game Studios. AtomShockwave said the network will initially
deliver a minimum of 10-12 million impressions a month, growing to
more than 50 million impressions a month by early 2006, as additional
game titles are added to the network.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051107/sfm111.html?.v=23

Grokster File-Sharing Service Shuts Down, Settles Copyright Litigation

Washington, DC -- After coming out on the losing end of a recent
Supreme Court decision, peer-to-peer file-sharing software provider
Grokster has agreed to shut down and settle copyright infringement
litigation brought by the movie and music industries. A landmark
decision four months ago found that providers of file-sharing software
can be held liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
"The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this
service to trade copyrighted material is illegal," Grokster said on its web
site. "There are legal services for downloading music and movies. This
service is not one of them." Under the settlement, the company agreed to
Grokster agreed to shut down its service and pay $50 million in
damages."This settlement brings to a close an incredibly significant
chapter in the story of digital music," said Mitch Bainwol, the CEO of the
DC-based Recording Industry Association of America. Grokster,
however, said that it also "hopes to have a safe and legal service available
soon." In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Grokster was
in talks to be acquired by Mashboxx, a legal peer-to-peer file-sharing
service being developed by former Grokster president Wayne Rosso.
http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/110705_2.asp
http://www.grokster.com   

Study: Nearly 70% of Ringtones Purchased by Women

San Francisco -- Nearly 70% of all ringtones downloaded are purchased
by women, according to a new study by San Francisco-based Telephia, a
provider of performance measurement information to the mobile industry.
During the most recent quarter, 69% of mobile ringtones were bought by
women, compared with just 31% by men. Overall, more than 9% of the
wireless population purchased a ringtone during the period. The top five
ringtones last quarter included Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani, Don't
Cha by The Pussycat Dolls, Let Me Hold You by Bow Wow & Omarion,
Just A Lil' Bit by 50 Cent and We Belong Together by Mariah Carey.    
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051108/20051108005601.html?.v=1

WSJ: Oracle CFO Greg Maffei to Leave After Just Four Months

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- After just four months on the job, Greg Maffei
will step down as the company's CFO, The Wall Street Journal reported
on Thursday. Maffei, the former CFO at Microsoft, replaced Harry You
in June, after You left after just eight months to accept a job at
BearingPoint. Citing people close to the situation, the Journal reported
that Maffei's decision may be the result of "personality clashes."
Questions had been swirling about Maffei's status with the company for
several weeks, ever since Oracle abruptly cancelled an analyst meeting
with the CFO on Oct. 24. The news sent shares of Oracle down more than
2% in Thursday's trading.
http://online.wsj.com/home/us

Redwood Shores-Based Oracle Completes Acquisition of G-Log

Redwood Shores. Calif. -- Oracle, the Redwood Shores-based business
software giant, said on Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of
Pennsylvania-based G-Log, a privately held maker of logistics and
transportation management software. Financial terms of the deal were not
disclosed. Oracle said that the deal will allow it to offer products designed
to help clients better manage their supply chains. G-Log's logistics and
transportation software is used by clients such as Big Lots, DuPont,
Family Dollar Stores and Halliburton. The deal was first announced in
September.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051103/sfth008.html?.v=33

Palo Alto-Based Sharpcast Lands $3 Million in First Round

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Sharpcast, a Palo Alto-based provider of wireless
consumer software and services, said that it has secured its first round of
funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurveston
and Selby Venture Partners. Dow Jones' VentureWire reported that the
round totaled $3 million. Sharpcast is developing a wireless services
platform designed to allow consumers to access and share their photos,
contacts, email and other digital content across all their computers and
mobile devices. The company expects to launch its first product in the
first half of 2006. Sharpcast is led by CEO Gibu Thomas and CTO Ben
Strong, who were the team behind Bluelark Systems, the developer of a
handheld web browser known as Blazer. Bluelark was acquired at the end
of 2000 by Handspring, now part of Palm. .
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051102/sfw080.html?.v=30

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Launches Redesigned Mapping Service

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Sunnyvale-based Yahoo on Thursday launched a test
version of its enhanced Yahoo Maps service, which the company said is
designed to be easier to use and includes increased personalization. New
features include multi-point driving directions, local content integration, a
larger main map and the ability to pan, zoom and re-center images.
Yahoo said that the changes came as a result of user feedback. Yahoo 
said that it currently has 181 million registered users.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051103/35384.html?.v=1
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta

Electronic Arts to Produce Games Based on Fox TV's "The Simpsons"

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts, the Redwood City-based
developer and publisher of video games, said that it has signed a long-
term deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television and Gracie Films for
the rights to develop a series of video games based on Fox's hugely
popular animated TV series "The Simpsons." Financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed. EA will work closely with writers of "The Simpsons"
to create games for next-generation video game consoles. No launch dates
for upcoming titles have been disclosed. EA said that development will
take place at its Redwood Shores studio, which previously has created
such titles as "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," "The Lord of the Rings" and
"The Sims."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051102/25311.html?.v=1

U.S. Trailing Most of World in Listening to Music on Cell Phones

New York -- While almost one in five mobile phone owners worldwide
now listen to music on their phones, those numbers are significantly
lower in the U.S., according to a new study by market research firm TNS.
In the U.S., just 4% of cell phone users say they listen to MP3s or digital
music on their phones on a regular basis. "The pricing of downloads is
still probably the greatest single barrier to encouraging more people to
download and listen to songs on their phones," said  Hanis Harun, TNS's
regional director for the Asia Pacific region. Harun said that other factors
play a smaller part, including limitations of the capabilities of handsets
and the time it takes to download. "However, all the evidence points
towards mobile music becoming increasingly competitive, on a
worldwide scale, with personal digital music players such as iPods," said
Harun.
http://www.tns-global.com/gti2005

San Mateo-Based Akimbi Systems Raises $8 Million in Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- Akimbi Systems, a San Mateo-based maker of virtual
infrastructure management tools used by software development and test
teams, said that it has raised $8 million in its second round of funding, led
by Mayfield Fund. Previous investors Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
and Partech International also contributed. Akimbi said that it will use the
proceeds to accelerate its go-to-market and product development efforts.
Launched in September, Akimbi Systems makes tools designed to help
developers shave months off software development projects, reduce costs
and increase the quality of software systems.
http://www.akimbi.com/company/news.aspx

San Francisco-Based AtomShockwave Acquires AddictingGames.com

San Francisco - AtomShockwave, a An Francisco-based distributor of
short films and online games, said that it has acquired the casual games
site AddictingGames.com. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
With the addition of AddictingGames, which has more than 5 million
monthly unique visitors, AtomShockwave said that its Shockwave.com
site has become the third-largest casual games site on the Internet, with a
monthly audience of more than 30 million users. AtomShockwave also
now claims to be the largest privately-held online entertainment company.
http://www.shockwave.com   
http://www.addictinggames.com   

Santa Clara-Based Intel Re-Opens Upgraded Fab in Arizona

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, said
on Wednesday that it has re-opened its upgraded semiconductor
manufacturing facility in Chandler, Ariz. The project, which began in
2004 and cost roughly $2 billion, was completed in approximately 18
months. Called Fab 12, the factory is Intel's second volume-production
fab using 65nm process technology produced on the industry's largest
wafer size (300mm). Intel has four other fabs using 300 mm wafers,
including two in Oregon and one each in New Mexico and Ireland. As
part of the conversion project, Intel sent over 800 Fab 12 employees to
other Intel facilites during the construction phase. "The logistics of
relocating 800 employees and their families were extremely complex and
cost millions of dollars," said Steve Megli, the co-plant manager of Fab 12.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20051102corp.htm