Apple Computer said Wednesday that it had signed deals with three of the United Kingdom’s largest independent labels, partly ending a licensing spat that had kept many popular bands out of the company’s European iTunes service. The deal, with the Beggars Group, Sanctuary Records Group and V2, means that artists such as the Pixies, the White Stripes and Morrissey will …

The Recording Industry Association of America said Tuesday that it had settled its lawsuit against Israeli file-swapping company iMesh, for damages of $4.1 million. The organization had sued iMesh last September, charging–as it has in a half-dozen lawsuits against rival peer-to-peer software developers–that the company was contributing to copyright infringement on a massive scale. As a part of the deal, …

Tired of the confusing mess of copy protection tools that keep some songs and videos from playing on your iPod or Napster player? So is Leonardo Chiariglione. The Italian engineer, who founded the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG), is moving ahead with his new Digital Media Project (DMP), hoping to bridge the gaps between resolutely incompatible copy-proofing technologies from companies …