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Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings has quietly met with some of the largest U.S. cable companies in recent weeks to discuss adding the online movie streaming service to their cable offerings, according to sources familiar with matter.

The top after-market NASDAQ losers Thursday were: U.S. Auto Parts Network, SIGA Technologies, GTx, Amicus Therapeutics, SunPower Corp, Spectranetics Corp, Viacom, Orexigen Therapeutics, Zoltek Companies and Electronic Arts.

Shares of Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix were down more than 4 percent Wednesday following a day earlier announcement that Comcast was jumping into the online streaming foray.

Paramount Pictures, the movie studio that controls all the rights over the fictional mafia family's story The Godfather, has sued the estate of Mario Puzo, arguing that the heirs of the author has wrongfully authorized the publishing of a pair of sequel novels.

According to the latest study released by comScore, Inc., a market research firm, people are beginning to watch longer videos online. The duration of an average video has jumped from 5.8 minutes in December 2011 to 6.1 minutes in January 2012. Despite the growth in video duration, viewers actually dropped during that period. In January, 2012, 181 million U.S. Internet users watched about 40 billion videos compared to the 182 million users who watched 43.5 billion videos in December.

The battle for the control of the living room has begun. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is building a home-entertainment system that streams music wirelessly through the home. The announcement from Google comes as rumors about Apple's television set, dubbed iTV, have started to surface.

There's been a lot of news coming from streaming video services recently. Earlier this week, Redbox, the movie rental service, announced a new joint venture with Verizon through which the companies will offer a streaming video service. Not to be outdone, Amazon has announced a deal with Viacom, Inc. that will allow Amazon Prime members to stream TV shows from Viacom-owned television stations such as Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT, MTV and others.

Amazon.com Inc is about to announce a Web video deal with Viacom Inc in what sources said was one of the last steps in a plan to launch a standalone subscription service to compete with Netflix Inc.

Amazon.com Inc is about to announce a Web video deal with Viacom Inc in what sources said was one of the last steps in a plan to launch a standalone subscription service to compete with Netflix Inc.

The challenge for the Los Gatos, Calif.-based entertainment provider is to stand out as others such as Hulu and Amazon with its Prime service and Redbox try to gain an edge in the streaming business.

Facebook realized it needed to strike a more cooperative tone with Madison Avenue ahead of its initial public offering and the accompanying intense scrutiny on profit growth.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.'s core profit topped analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter, boosted by a rise in revenue from market data and technology, which helped offset a soft trading environment.

Viacom Inc's profit beat Wall Street forecasts on Thursday helped by a double-digit growth in fees paid by cable, satellite and phone companies for its stable of networks, including MTV and Nickelodeon.

Eastman Kodak eased away from the Hollywood spotlight on Wednesday, asking to have its name removed from the theater that hosts the Oscars.

MTV had originally announced the filming of spinoff show for Jersey Shore's Snooki and JWoww in Hoboken way back in April 2011, but now Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer has effectively bunged a spanner in the works by refusing show's production company a permit to shoot there.

Survival story The Grey starring Liam Neeson in a battle against weather and wolves led the box office pack with a better-than-expected $20 million in ticket sales over the weekend.

The controversial SOPA and PIPA bills, which were shelved last week, after an internet-wide protest, accrued tens of millions of dollars in lobbying money; money that, in the end, was all for naught.

Opponents of two controversial Internet control laws, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) scored a partial gain Friday when a vote on PIPA was suddenly scrubbed.

Opponents of two controversial Internet control laws, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) scored a partial gain Friday when a vote on PIPA was suddenly scrubbed.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Tuesday his bill rivaling the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act pending in the U.S. Congress now has more co-sponsors than SOPA.

Adult thriller Contraband starring Mark Wahlberg grabbed the weekend movie box office title, beating expectations with an estimated $24.1 million in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters.

Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro Tuesday blasted the proposed Stop Online Privacy ACT (SOPA) pending in the U.S. Congress as “terrible,” a “threat to innovation” and potentially destructive legislation.

Low-budget horror movie The Devil Inside scared up a surprisingly strong $34.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to take possession of the weekend box office crown, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol easily beat its rivals in the race to No. 1 at box offices over the Christmas holiday weekend, returning action star Tom Cruise to winning form after several recent flops.

Action adventure film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows led a trio of sequels at the box office over another underwhelming weekend that saw ticket sales fall from last year.

Hollywood has yet to shake off the Thanksgiving hangover, with box office receipts slumping in the weeks since the late November holiday.

Sixteen top technology leaders – including the founders of Google, Netscape, Yahoo and eBay – published full-page advertisements Wednesday opposing the pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Congress.

Comedian Louis CK took a major risk by putting his new stand-up special online for $5 without any copy restrictions, but the risk paid off. He raked in over $500,000 in revenue in four days.

Verizon Communications Inc plans to launch a standalone service allowing customers to stream movies and television shows over the Web, in a fresh challenge to Netflix Inc and the traditional cable TV business, according to several people briefed on the plan.