"Big Four" major label EMI has plans to launch a dedicated Web portal, but contrary to what many are reporting, it will not be a competitor to other online music shops.

A source familiar with proceedings told BetaNews this morning said that the forthcoming EMI.com is not an attempt to compete with, or displace iTunes, Amazon, or any other digital music store.

The class action antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple and AT&T last year for their strict control over the iPhone has withstood the companies' motions to dismiss, Northern California District Court Judge James Ware has ruled.

The original filing on behalf of Paul Holman, Lucy Rivello, and a class of complainants one year ago alleged that Apple "implemented a scheme to prohibit users from acquiring programs to run on the iPhone unless those were purchased directly from Apple." and that AT&T "will not provide the unlock code for the iPhone for international travel or otherwise. On information and belief, that is because AT&T and Apple unlawfully agreed that the iPhone would not be unlocked under any circumstances."

"The world's first touchscreen BlackBerry...What will it feel like?" asks Verizon's teaser page for the upcoming BlackBerry Storm that was announced today.

Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network will carry the Storm in the US, while Europe, India, and Oceania will offer the device through Vodafone. In India last August, however, the launch of the 3G iPhone was heavily qualified with disclaimers on the 3G network's limitations. Like the complaints about AT&T's 3G in the US, Indian consumers, too expressed frustration at the unreliable service provided by Vodafone's less-than-ready 3G network.

Yesterday was the last day that U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel would be available for hearings until November 17, putting the case between Real Networks and the MPAA on hold.

In the meantime, Judge Patel said the temporary restraining order placed on RealDVD would remain. "I am extending the temporary restraining order because I'm not satisfied in the fact that this technology is not in violation. There are serious questions about copyright violations. There are questions about violations of the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act], and violations of these companies' agreement."

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered the owner of a Web site dedicated to Lackawanna County, PA political affairs to disclose the identity of six anonymous posters for posting defamatory remarks about the Scranton City Council President.

This is a "Lackawanna Six" of a completely different nature. In a case centering around whether anonymity protects citizens from responsibility for defamation claims, an initial complaint was filed last year by Joe Pilchesky, a Scranton resident and webmaster of DohertyDeceit.com, a journal of local political criticism. Pilchesky claimed that he and his site were the victims of harassment, retaliation, and defamation at the hands of City Council President Judy Gatelli.

What do the Blackberry Bold, Nokia 5800, and the HTC Touch HD have in common? They're all 3G smartphones that have no US release date.

Research in Motion's latest BlackBerry, the 3G Bold, was released in Canada in August, but continues to be delayed in the US due to extensive testing of AT&T's HSPA network.

11:45 am EDT October 7, 2008 - Developments in Universal City Studios Productions LLP v. RealNetworks Inc. published online yesterday reveal that Real made its RealDVD product unavailable over the weekend because of a temporary restraining order issued by District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel.

The text of the filing begins: "Defendants have already caused significant irreparable harm to Real by prevailing upon this court to institute a temporary halt to sales of RealDVD since the evening of October 3, 2008..."

Two Abu Dhabi investment firms, both arms of the Emirate's government, have helped the AMD in its "Asset Light/Asset Smart" stragegy, and with their investments, may have changed the path of the struggling company.

Mubadala Development Company, which took an eight percent stake in AMD last year, now holds almost 20 percent of AMD, and the Government of Abu Dhabi (as ATIC) has become a 50/50 partner in AMD's spun-off fabrication company.

Nokia's upcoming mobile music service may be called "Comes With Music," but the question many of its charter subscribers will be asking -- especially those who've already been burned out on DRM -- is, will the music stay put?

When the first word in the text of a contract is qualified with an asterisk, it's generally a sign that the document should not be taken at face value. And when that first word is "lifetime," "unlimited," or "free," it's a safe bet that it was placed there more as bait than a statement of fact.

After some re-organization in parent company IAC, perennial runner-up search engine Ask.com today announced it had also re-organized its search technology.

In August, Match.com's Jim Safka became CEO of Ask.com in a reorganization that saw parent company IAC spin off into three sub-companies, the "New IAC", LendingTree, and Interval Leisure Group. Now, the company is hoping users will hop on and try out Ask's proprietary search mechanisms.

Yesterday evening, Sony officially announced its third generation Reader e-book, equipping the over two-year-old product design with an upgrade that includes tactile sensitivity.

Competition in the e-reader market is getting exciting as we approach 2009. One by one, companies are rolling out their latest offerings, each incrementally building the list of standard features in the devices.

Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have approved a bill that will give all cellular customers coverage in the Washington DC Metro transit system.

Several years ago I lived in Washington, DC, and relied exclusively on the Metro (DC's equivalent to New York's Subway, Boston's "T", and Chicago's El) for transportation to and from Northern Virginia for work. While it always seemed like I had a wireless signal in New York's subway, any time I was underground on the DC Metro, either on trains or in stations, I would be without signal. Those scant moments when the Blue Line trains were above ground while heading into Springfield, VA were the only times I could use my phone.

Skype's Josh Silverman admitted yesterday that a security breach enabled Chinese Skype users' instant message conversations to be recorded and made accessible on public Web servers.

"It is common knowledge that censorship does exist in China and that the Chinese government has been monitoring communications in and out of the country for many years," said Silverman. He went on to cite Skype's public disclosure in 2006 of putting text filters in place to block certain words the Chinese authorities found "offensive."

"Big Four" music label EMI and fourteen affiliate labels sued MP3Tunes as a company and its CEO Michael Robertson personally last year for alleged copyright infringement. A judge has tossed the personal lawsuit.

On Thursday, New York Southern District Court judge William Pauley III dismissed EMI's personal suit against Robertson, who is most frequently remembered as co-founder of MP3.com.

Music site Imeem has undergone a redesign that premiered yesterday evening, streamlining the service as its OpenSocial comrade MySpace chews up headlines with MySpace Music.

Imeem has been delivering social playlisting for nearly two years, and has finally reworked its site to be more friendly to the new user. To assist in the discovery of new music, a spotlight page with streams of new artists has been added. A new "Discover" page gives personal recommendations based upon browsing habits on the site, growing the lists as the user uses the site more.