File-sharing service Grokster is in talks to be acquired by Mashboxx, which is attempting to establish a legal peer-to-peer music company.
Financial terms of the deal under discussion could not be learned, but Grokster itself is expected to have little or no value. Instead, Mashboxx would likely share a portion of any future revenue Grokster generates with Grokster's current owners.
In June, Grokster and another company, StreamCast Network's Morpheus, were on the losing end of a Supreme Court ruling that said file-sharing companies could be sued for copyright violation if they encourage illegal activity. Grokster had argued that, because file sharing has legal applications, it was not liable for copyright violations.
Following the court ruling, Grokster appears to be taking a different tack as it fights to survive. Mashboxx, established by Wayne Rosso, Grokster's former president, and two Madrid-based lawyers, is developing a legitimate peer-to-peer service that would allow users to sample music free, but then pay to download.
The service, expected to launch in the next few months, has announced it signed a deal with Sony (SNE) and is finalizing deals with the other major labels.
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Very Verizon: Dell (DELL) plans to sell a laptop computer early next year with a built-in connection card for Verizon Wireless' high-speed service.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ) and Vodafone, is also talking to other laptop computer makers, including Lenovo.
The second-biggest U.S. mobile-phone provider has a high-speed wireless network based on EV-DO technology with coverage for more than a third of the population. Current users of the service must buy separate fast-wireless cards that are not built in to their computers.
Phone companies around the world are developing high-speed networks to deliver services such as web surfing and e-mail to computers and phones in a bid to boost revenue to eventually substitute for falling phone-call prices.
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Norwegian crude: Norwegian energy and aluminum group Norsk Hydro has agreed to buy U.S. Spinnaker Exploration for $2.45 billion in cash to expand oil and gas output and add potential for new discoveries.
Hydro (NHY) offered $65.5 per share, a 34 percent premium over Houston-based Spinnaker's (SKE) Friday closing price of $48.75. It would pay $2.45 billion in cash for the shares and assume $110 million in debt.
The takeover would bring holdings in 350 licenses, including a quarter of the Front Runner field already in production. Spinnaker now produces 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which is due roughly to double to 50,000 boed by 2008.
Hydro's current total output is around 575,000 boed, most of it from off Norway and one-tenth from international fields.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. Reuters contributed to this report.
