New York - Major record label Sony BMG has agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission that the company violated online privacy rules when it improperly accepted registrations on websites from children under 13 without parental consent. [more..]

Los Angeles - After much speculation about whether Microsoft will be introducing a "Zune Phone" -- or device that mixes its Zune digital media player with Danger's Sidekick phone -- at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, Zune Group Manager Brian Seitz told Kotaku there will be "no Zune phone at CES." [more..]

London - Last.fm, the social music discovery service acquired by CBS for $280 million last May, is laying off about 20% of its 95-person staff as part of a cost-cutting initiative at CBS Interactive, PaidContent reports. [more..]

New York - Facebook backer Accel Partners' announcement of a new $480 million late-stage venture fund is fueling speculation that the venture capital firm will make a new investment in the online social network, according to published reports. [more..]

Los Angeles - PaidContent reported on Thursday that CBS, which acquired CNET Networks for $1.8 billion in May, plans to merge its CBSNews.com and CNET newsrooms, and in the process lay off an unknown number of staffers. [more..]

London - Arts Alliance Media (AAM), a European provider of digital cinema technology, announced on Thursday that it has secured $57.4 million in new financing to support its deployment of digital cinema projection systems in Europe. [more..]

New York - Tumblr, the provider of a publishing platform for mixed-media blogs and social networks, announced on Thursday that it has closed a $4.5 million second round of funding, led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. [more..]

Los Angeles - The Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) has submitted a position paper to the Change.gov website set up by the incoming Obama administration, in which it argues for the adoption of technology that will block unauthorized sharing of movies and TV programming online, Wired.com reported. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of The Washington Post, will join Facebook's board of directors, the online social network announced on Thursday. [more..]

Tokyo - Sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders beat sales of DVD recorders in Japan for the first time in November, and further are replacing DVD recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD replaced VHS, GameDaily.com reported, citing data from GfK Retail and Technology. [more..]

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. - CBS said on Thursday that its CBS Sports division will stream select games from the 2008-09 SEC college basketball season live on its website, beginning on Dec. 13 with Indiana at Kentucky. [more..]