File-sharing sites haven t had a great year, especially in court, but on Wednesday they received a smidgen of good news.

The Motion Picture Association of America asked a federal court to rule that Isohunt was liable for copyright violations committed by its users, but the judge in the case was unconvinced. In his order, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson said the studios had yet to prove that the Isohunt s users had broken U.S. law.

Lawyers for the MPAA, the trade group representing the six major Hollywood film studios, are trying to convince the judge that Isohunt encouraged and contributed to the infringing activity of users. Wilson gave the MPAA until Sept. 15 to file a brief that convinces him direct infringement at the site was committed by those in the U.S. Apparently, Wilson has questions about whether U.S. residents have pirated content using Isohunt.

United States copyright laws do not reach acts of infringement that take place entirely abroad, Wilson, wrote in his order.

A spokeswoman for the MPAA did not immediately have a response.

The significance of the judge s order, at least from the point of view of Ira Rothken, Isohunt s attorney, is that MPAA s investigators have struggled to draw specific examples of infringement occurring in the U.S.

On the heels of Sony reducing the price of its PlayStation 3 and announcing the PlayStation 3 Slim, Microsoft announced Thursday that it too will be dropping the price of its console.

Starting Friday, the Xbox 360 Elite will be priced at $299, $100 cheaper than its current price. The Xbox 360 Pro, which currently retails for $299 will be priced at $249 starting Friday. Once retailers sell through their entire stock of Xbox 360 Pro units, that SKU will no longer be offered by the hardware maker.

Going forward, Microsoft will offer only the $299 Xbox 360 Elite with its 120GB hard drive, and the $199 Xbox 360 Arcade which comes bundled with five games and a 256MB memory unit.

Sirius XM Radio unveiled a dock on Wednesday that lets iPhone users listen to premium satellite radio programing, including shock jock Howard Stern, a feature missing from previous iPhone software.

The $120 XM SkyDock turns Apple Inc’s iPhone or iPod Touch into a satellite radio receiver.

The dock, which will go on sale in the next few months, is powered through a car’s cigarette adapter. It comes with technology that eases installation by tapping into the car’s radio system. It also allows users to flag songs they hear and buy them via Apple’s iTunes software.

LendingTree, which allows prospective borrowers to get quick offers from multiple lenders, claims Google is about to get into the same business.

A LendingTree lawsuit against a separate technology provider claims that it has learned Google plans to launch such a service later this month or in early September. The lawsuit claims that LendingTree has received screen shots - pictures of a computer screen - showing a trial version of Google’s service that indicate Google will give customers loan offers and contact information for lenders.

Google Inc. issued a written statement Wednesday saying it is “working on a small ad unit test” involving a limited number of mortgage-related searches.

“We have a number of experiments going on at any one time, but we don’t speculate on future product development,” the company said.

Google has made several moves that lead it away from its core business of selling ads alongside Internet search results. Last month it altered its popular Google Maps page to highlight its real estate search tools.

Other experiments have included an operating system for mobile devices, and Google Voice, which gives people an additional phone number that’s not tied to any one phone line. Earlier this year it unveiled a PowerMeter that homeowners can use to track energy use.

A Google move into the lending referral business would be one more step away from its core business, said Rob Enderle, an analyst for the Enderle Group.

“It could represent a solid threat to LendingTree, and a distraction for Google,” Enderle said.