In response to the government’s recent proposed Digital Britain amendments, the UK music business has issued a holding statement that some media are describing as a “climbdown” on the issue of suspending P2P freeloaders’ accounts - but which actually says nothing of the sort.

One has to wonder why Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) bothered creating Silverlight, when Adobe’s Flash had long ago become the effective standard for rich on-web media. So we scratched our heads when ITV (LSE: ITV) made the crazy decision to use Silverlight, which few people had on their computers, for one…

By Roy Greenslade: Despite the advance of the digital age, there is an enduring love for newsprint. So it comes as little surprise to hear that a newspaper closed down barely two months ago is to be resurrected. The Burton Trader, a free weekly that ceased publication in July during…

By Stephen Brook: Up to 50 editorial jobs at the Press Association could be at risk as a result of Teletext’s decision to shut down its core TV service. The closure of the Teletext TV service, announced in July and due to take place in January, has already put 70…

—Newsquest re-launch: The Gannett-owned regional publisher has given a facelift to 150 of its newspaper websites, including Telegraphandargus.co.uk and Lancashiretelegraph.co.uk, adding more than four million previously print-only archived stories, as well as improved search and a new design. According to the latest magazine ABCs, Newsquest’s sites collectively attracted an average…

AIM-listed TV-and-web gaming vendor NetPlayTV is aiming to raise £12.8 million, to strengthen its balance sheet and finance further growth, by offering nearly 30 percent of its equity through a new share offer. It’s been a big year for the firm, which bought Bingos.com, acquired Rubberduck’s mobile quiz subscribers and…

—ITN/Mail: Yet another online video contract for ITN’s prolific On multimedia division - it’s supplying showbiz, lifestyle, general and business news videos to Mail Online. Via Guardian.co.uk. —Radiohead manager: Radiohead co-manager Brian Message’s ATC, the Mama live music group and Barenaked Ladies managers Nettwerk are forming a new label, Polyphonic,…

Hyderabad, India-based mobile content distributor IMI Mobile is buying Mobytec, the operator of mobile backup and content sharing service Mobyko, intending to pitch it to carriers as a consumer social media aggregation service. No acquisition price was disclosed. Mobyko is a bit like Zyb, which Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) bought in…

After failing to be sold itself, Reed Business Information is now selling TWgroup, its travel publishing unit including Travel Weekly, Gazetteers.com, Travolution, the Globe Travel Awards and associated websites and events. The group is going to Holiday Autos founder Clive Jacobs (yes, a car hire businessman is buying a travel…

Sky’s PC and mobile ad sales house, Sky Digital Media, is planning to cut five percent of its 50-strong workforce after recent advertising declines. The company - which sells ads both on to Sky’s own properties like Sky.com and its 365 Network sites, plus a network of third-party publishers -…

Joost was squeezed out of the market by broadcasters picking their own VOD channels instead of aggregators, acknowledges Mike Volpi, who resigned as CEO after abandoning the company’s consumer focus and has joined its equity holder Index Ventures as a partner. “The biggest lesson - people want to watch great…

After surviving mostly on syndication and press release redistribution for the last couple of years, digital news site Netimperative is closing down after nearly 10 years in the business. Netimperative launched in 2000 and had variously operated premium subscription services and knocked out original editorial over the years, serving the…

—Trinity Mirror: The publisher has announced that five newspaper offices and 11 jobs at its weekly Scottish newspaper division are under threat as part of a restructure. As it has done at flagship centres in Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow, Trinity wants to modernise operations at Scottish and Universal Newspapers,…

The job losses are now coming from multiple parts of Guardian Media Group units. Just a few weeks after saying it would cut 50 of its 850 editorial staff as part of £10 million savings, GMG’s Guardian News & Media is now also cutting 82 out of 840 posts from…

— Telegraph Demotix deal: Telegraph Media Group has signed up citizen journalism aggregator Demotix to provide news and pictures for the world news pages of Telegraph.co.uk. The exclusive UK deal puts Demotix’s widget, featuring the best shots from its 5,600 contributors around the world in 120 countries, and follows similar…

—The Face: The style title that rose to become the fashion addict’s mag of choice in the 80s and 90s could be resurrected by Bauer Media five years after its closure, according to one report. Bauer hasn’t ruled it in or out, it says there are no current relaunch plans.…

While the global services division of Ian Livingston’s BT (NYSE: BT) implodes, the telco’s UK retail operations are holding their own. In the first three months of the year, it took 42 percent of new UK broadband sign-ups (at 99,000, that’s double what Virgin got), taking its broadband base to…

—Bauer Media: Paul Wright has been appointed director of digital media at magazine group Bauer Media, 10 months after leaving his executive role at Sky Digital. Wright will now be responsible for the online commercial and editorial activities of the company’s lifestyle brands, including FHM and Grazia. He reports to…

—thelondonpaper: News International’s free evening title thelondonpaper cut its losses during its second year of publishing from £12.96 million in the year to June 30—compared to the £16.48 million loss posted after its first year. Turnover rose by £6 million to £14.08 million and the paper claims it is outperforming…