Los Angeles - News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox and Viacom's Paramount Pictures have joined Disney in the practice of offering films for purchase and download from Apple's iTunes Store on the same day they are released on DVD, with Fox adding "Juno" to the retailer's offering on Tuesday, Variety reported. [more..]

Washington - The Consumer Federation of America and the Consumers Union have petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a "do not track" list of consumers who do not want online advertisers from collecting information about them without their consent, Reuters reported. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - PluggedIn on Wednesday announced the beta launch of its broadcast and HD-quality music video streaming site, which features over 10,000 videos from both major and independent label artists. [more..]

New York - Buddy Media, a developer of social media applications, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $6.5 million second round of financing, led by Softbank Capital. [more..]

San Francisco - Music-focused social network Imeem has raised an undisclosed sum of new funding from Sequoia Capital, Tech Confidential reported. [more..]

Austin, Texas - There are now more than 100 virtual worlds operating or that are in development which target the 18-and-under youth market, according to a report from virtual worlds trade media company Virtual Worlds Management. [more..]

Boulder, Colo. - Collective Intellect, a firm that provides social media analytics, announced on Wednesday that it has landed $6.6 million in its second round of funding, led by Grotech Capital Group. [more..]

Vancouver, Canada - Strutta, a site that hosts video-based competitions, has raised $1.2 million in financing from GrowthWorks, Telefilm Canada and angel investors, NewTeeVee reports. [more..]

Scott Karp: Are users becoming the brand for web services like Facebook and Twitter? [more..]

Jay Baage: Accenture is not the first management consultancy (and certainly not the last) to give their clients the following advice: Don’t bet against the Internet. [more..]

Los Angeles - Notorious Sweden-based file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay has launched an uncensored blogging service, after one of the service's founders saw a friend's blog removed from Wordpress for linking to copyrighted material, TorrentFreak reports. [more..]

London - Apple's U.K. iPhone launch partners, O2 and Carphone Warehouse, have slashed the price of the device there by 100 pounds ($197) in anticipation of the launch of a new model of the device, Reuters reports. [more..]

New York - A rare club performance by Madonna scheduled for April 30 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York will be webcast live by Microsoft's MSN Music to U.S. users, and to the rest of the world on May 15, Billboard reports. [more..]

New York - Verizon said on Wednesday that it has filed with the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to become the first provider to offer digital TV service throughout the five boroughs of New York. [more..]

Amsterdam - Apparel designer Tommy Hilfiger on Wednesday announced the launch of TommyTV, an online video channel collaboration with Sony BMG Europe that will showcase high-profile artists paired with emerging talent at intimate gigs across the world. [more..]

Victoria, Canada - Dittybase Technologies said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), to become the worldwide digital distributor and licensor for the CBC Music Collection. [more..]

Austin, Texas - Video game developer and publisher NCsoft on Wednesday introduced NCcoin, a new micro-transaction system that will allow players to use real-world money to purchase in-game items and upgrades within its titles. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts on Wednesday announced that its "The Sims" franchise has now sold 100 million units worldwide. [more..]