World cinema premieres boost Sky’s credentials

BSkyB, widely regarded as the most aggressively commercial broadcaster in Britain, will today take another step to boost its public service credentials as the debate about the BBC's modern role intensifies, writes Matt Wells.

Universal blames pirates for job cuts

Universal Music, the world's largest music group, announced 1,350 job losses yesterday as the industry continues to struggle with the consequences of rampant piracy, writes Dan Milmo.

Game on for Nokia as N-Gage storms the video market

Nokia yesterday said its new N-Gage games console and mobile phone has been flying off the shelves, with stores running out of stock a week after it was launched, writes Richard Wray.

Yahoo! internet advertising’s up

Yahoo! posted a doubling of its quarterly profit yesterday on strong advertising.

Investors shoot down Nintendo shares

Japanese videogame producer Nintendo saw its shares fall sharply yesterday as investors reacted to the surprise news that the creator of Pokemon will make its first loss, writes Richard Wray.

America Online goes Latino to net growing Hispanic dollar

AOL Time Warner responded to the changing ethnic make-up of the US when it launched a Spanish language version of its America Online internet service yesterday, reports David Teather.

Piracy costs ‘will double’ in five years

The value of lost sales to the music industry from file sharing networks such as Grokster and Kazaa will nearly double over the next five years to (£2.8bn, according to a report out yesterday, writes Dan Milmo.

End of the line for Ireland’s dotcom star

Baltimore Technologies, the Irish software concern whose spectacular rise and fall epitomised the boom and bust of the dotcom era, yesterday sold off the core business on which its fortunes were founded. By Geoff Gibbs.

We can live without Lara, says Eidos

Eidos, the company behind Tomb Raider, hopes to sustain its profitable run despite the absence of cyberbabe Lara Croft from its repertoire next year. By Annie Lawson

Birth of a new media monster

Vivendi Universal yesterday entered exclusive talks with General Electric, the parent company of US TV network NBC, to merge the companies' media assets and potentially create a new super power in the industry. By David Teather.

The Hulk adds muscle to Marvel’s profits

The punch packed by super heroes at the cinema box office caused a more than sevenfold increase in second quarter profits at Marvel Enterprises. By David Teather.

Frost digs deep again to help net distributor

ir David Frost has been forced to come to the aid of Newsplayer Group, which distributes videos of his interviews, for the second time in less than nine months. By David Black.

Ebay profits soar

Ebay is becoming 'a way of life', according to the chief executive of the online auctioneer, which today announced a doubling of profits in the past quarter. By Owen Gibson.

Yahoo! widens search with $1.6bn

Purchase of Overture throws spotlight on bright hopes emerging from the dotcom wreckage.

Judge may have to force open Windows

The US government "remains concerned" that Microsoft is making it difficult for rivals to access Windows despite being ordered to open up its software to competitors last year. By Richard Wray.