THE NEWS WRAP: Patent trolls killing startup culture in the US

A new study has been released that says patent trolls are killing startups.

The study, by Professor Catherine Tucker of marketing at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, found that over the last five years venture capital investment would have been $21.77 billion higher but for litigation brought by frequent litigators.

Virgin Galactic and Google set to join forces

Google is in talks with Virgin Galactic for a stake in its $2 billion space tourism venture.

Sky News is reporting that the two companies have been negotiating for months and discussions are part of Google’s project to put hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit to extend internet coverage around the world.

The deal will likely see Google pour hundreds of millions of dollars Virgin Galactic’s space tourism venture while also spending roughly $30 million in return for a small stake in the Virgin Galactic holding company.

Amazon Prime Music streaming service launched.

Amazon has released its Prime Music streaming service, which give its Amazon Prime members unlimited ad-free access to over a million songs at no additional cost to membership.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 109.69 to 16,734.19. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US94 cents.