Microsoft puts up roadblocks on Vista for Mac owners
After years of delays and billions in development and marketing efforts, it would seem that Microsoft would want anyone who possibly can to buy its new Windows Vista operating system.

Sony to drop a component in PlayStation 3 for Europe
Sony said Wednesday that the European version of its new video game console, which is scheduled for release on March 23, would not contain a special chip designed to help the new machine play more older games.

Briefing: College students to get piracy settlement offer
Also: Chief executive named at Vantage Media; Eircom gets 3G license; Google in China deal; India expansion leads IBM work force growth

CBS hopes March Madness leads to video mania
The CSTV Networks division of CBS is inviting viewers to upload do-it-yourself video clips backing their favorite team to a community section of the CSTV Web site.

New Republic's editor in chief sells his share of magazine
CanWest Global Communications now assumes full control, with Martin Peretz remaining as editor in chief.

Sirius radio chief pressing merger with XM
The chief executive of Sirius Satellite Radio, Mel Karmazin, is defending the proposed merger with its rival, XM Satellite Radio, at a congressional hearing.

EMI music chief going to Sony
The chairman of EMI's music-publishing unit, Martin Bandier, will leave to head Sony's music unit.

Thai government paves way for seizure of the broadcaster ITV
The government said Tuesday that it would terminate the license of iTV if the broadcaster did not pay a $2.8 billion fine by next Tuesday — a sum that iTV, which has a market value of $34 million, said would be "impossible" to pay.

Academy Awards ads routed Super Bowl's
In the two biggest nights for U.S. television advertising, the commercials shown during the Oscars clearly outdid the coarse and mean-spirited Super Bowl ads.

Internet renegades go by the book
The renegade Internet entrepreneurs who started the file-sharing service Kazaa and the online phone service Skype have started a Web video venture that is doing everything by the book.

EU starts court case against Germany over law favoring Deutsche Telekom
European regulators have started legal proceedings against Germany over a new law that allows Deutsche Telekom to keep rivals off a high-speed network it is building to deliver on-demand movies and other services to German living rooms.

Ericsson bids for Tandberg TV
The deal could create a leader in technology for sending video over Internet and mobile networks.

Microsoft expands into health care search
Microsoft is buying a specialized search engine tailored to deliver useful medical information to consumers.

College students to get piracy settlement offer

A trade group representing the recording industry said Wednesday that it would give hundreds of U.S. college students suspected of illegally sharing music online a chance to reach settlements before being sued for copyright infringement.

The move comes as the industry seeks to stamp out what it is says is rampant music piracy on campuses. The Recording Industry Association of America said it was sending letters offering discounted settlements to 400 computer users at 13 universities.

The group intends to send hundreds of such prelitigation letters to university computer users every month. "The theft of music remains unacceptably high and undermines the industry's ability to invest in new music," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the association. "This is especially the case on college campuses."$@

Chief executive named at Vantage Media

SAN FRANCISCO: Vantage Media, a provider of Web marketing services, said it had named a chief executive and taken $70 million in private equity financing to expand into Europe.

Vantage hired Steve Jillings, the former chief executive of the anti- spam company FrontBridge Technologies. He led FrontBridge when Microsoft agreed to acquire it in 2005.

Vantage also plans to expand into new pay-for-performance categories, including financial services. $@(Reuters)

EIRCOM, the Irish telephone company that was acquired by Babcock & Brown Capital last year, will receive the last third-generation wireless network license in Ireland. The Commission for Communications Regulation last year withdrew the permit from Smart Telecom. The remaining three licenses are owned by Hutchison Whampoa, Vodafone Group and O2. Eircom controls 79 percent of the fixed-line telephone market in Ireland. $@(Bloomberg)

GOOGLE reached an agreement with China Network Communications Group to place Google's search bar on its Web site, CNCMAX.cn. The site gives users access to online games, videos and music. Google had 17 percent of the search market in China in the fourth quarter, compared with 58 percent for the Chinese company, Baidu.com, according to Analysys International, a research firm in Beijing.$@ (Bloomberg)

IBM said its global work force grew 8 percent in 2006, with most of the increase coming in India, where the company has been hiring many workers in recent years. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, IBM said that at the end of 2006, it employed 355,766 people, up from 329,373 a year earlier. Its base in India was 52,000 people, up from 36,000 a year earlier. Three years earlier, IBM had 9,000 employees India.$@ (AP)

THE PHILIPPINES sold its 6.4 percent stake in the phone company PLDT to First Pacific, a Hong Kong bank, for 25.2 billion pesos, or $519 million. $@ (Reuters)