Ubisoft said it signed a distribution deal with Square Enix to bring videogame Kingdom Hearts II to Australia, New Zealand, Benelux, France and Nordic lands including Iceland. Terms weren’t disclosed. The game, a hit in the U.S. and Japan, will ship for PS2 in PAL territories this fall, the game publisher said. To date more than 9.1 million units of games in the Kingdom Hearts series have been sold worldwide. Since its Dec. and March releases in Japan and N. America, respectively, the sequel has sold 2.4 million plus units total. The games feature classic Disney characters as well as characters and locations created by Square Enix. The latter’s CEO, John Yamamoto, said his company chose Ubisoft for PAL distribution based on the publisher’s “strong distribution channels.” Ubisoft, meanwhile, said it is looking to enter or expand its offerings in game categories where until how it has had little to no presence, including kids games, role-playing games (RPGs), sports, movie and TV licensed games. Ubisoft hopes to introduce 5 new game brands in each of the next 2 years, it said. Ubisoft, with about 2,800 developers at its internal studios, plans to add 500 developers during the current fiscal year, it said. Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams said in a research note “this will add to product development costs [but] Ubisoft’s studios are located in low-cost territories and this should mitigate the overall increase in headcount.”

Thrane & Thrane uses gateway earth stations in Burum, Netherlands and Fucino, Italy to tap Inmarsat’s BGAN service, the firm told the FCC International Bureau. The submission was in response to IB requests to identify locations of land earth stations used in connection with BGAN, now operating in the U.S. under a 60-day STA.

MTV Networks this week added programming to the iTunes lineup. Programs from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV and The N are available for $1.99. Popular shows include “Blade: The Series,” “Viva La Bam” and “Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg.” MTV-owned “South Park,” which debuted on iTunes earlier this year, has sold 1 million-plus episodes.

MTV Networks this week added programming to the iTunes lineup. Programs from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV and The N are available for $1.99. Popular shows include “Blade: The Series,” “Viva La Bam” and “Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg.” MTV-owned “South Park,” which debuted on iTunes earlier this year, has sold 1 million-plus episodes.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule that revises certain National Organic Program (NOP) regulations in 7 CFR Part 205 to comply with a U.S. District Court's final judgment in the case of Harvey v. Johanns (Harvey) on i) the use of nonorganic agricultural products in, or on, processed products labeled as organic, and ii) the transitioning of dairy animals to organic food.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted its June 2006 Modernization Monthly newsletter to its Web site.

Senate Democrats Dorgan (N.D.) and Conrad (N.D.) should oppose proposed Senate telecom bill language that would preempt state laws for wireless and VoIP providers, N.D. Attorney Gen. Wayne Stenehjem said in letters to the 2. “Erosion” of state authority would have a serious effect on wireless subscribers in N.D., which has more wireless phones in use than land-lines, the letter said. Consumer complaints on terms of service could not be resolved as quickly under the new language, the letter said: “The FCC, or other federal regulatory agency, simply cannot provide the timely, essential consumer protection that we provide in the state of North Dakota by the attorney general and the Public Service Commission.” N.M. also worries about the preemption provision. Attorney Gen. Patricia Madrid sent letters to state Sens. Bingaman (D) and Domenici (R) saying the provision would reduce the ability of the state to protect consumers.

In P2P disputes, as in Iraq, “winning the war is a lot easier than winning the peace,” MetaMachine CEO Sam Yagan told the P2P Media Summit Thurs. The beleaguered company behind the eDonkey protocol, which has surpassed BitTorrent as the world’s most popular, promised to convert to a “closed” P2P system after reaching settlement with the RIAA post-Grokster (WID Sept 29 p12). But the content and P2P industries risk losing P2P’s huge audience if they don’t experiment with new methods of enticing users, the 29-year-old CEO said in a keynote. Later, the creator of the first ad-supported, licensed P2P network warned his peers against “arrogance” in dealing with open-minded label executives.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda, which contains certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulatory rulemakings (rulemakings).

Globalstar Wed. asked the FCC for a speedy rulemaking to expand its Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) authority. The mobile satellite services (MSS) operator complained it’s the only MSS licensee kept from using all its spectrum for ATC operations. Assailing Commission treatment of MSS firms as “disparate” and claiming it’s at a “competitive disadvantage,” Globalstar demanded ATC authority across all 27.85 MHz of its spectrum in the 1610-1621.35 and 2483.5-2500 MHz bands.