Reston, Va. - Sprint Nextel said on Monday that it will cut 8,000 jobs -- about 14% of its workforce -- by the end of March to save about $1.2 billion a year on labor costs. [more..]

San Francisco - Microblogging service Twitter has signed a term sheet with Institutional Venture Partners to raise a new round of funding at a $250 million valuation, TechCrunch reported, citing two unnamed sources. [more..]

Washington - As one of the top overall contributors to the Obama campaign and inauguration, Internet search giant Google now plans to begin wielding some of its new-found influence in Washington, the Los Angeles Times reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal last week served News Corp.'s MySpace with a subpoena, demanding access to the identities of registered sex offenders that MySpace claims it has removed from the site, CNET News.com reported. [more..]

Boston - The New York Times Co. said on Monday that it has reached an agreement with publisher GateHouse Media, which accused the company of copyright and trademark infringement. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Revenue from Microsoft's Zune media player platform was down $100 million, or 54% for the quarter, PaidContent reported, citing the company's 10-Q filing. [more..]

London - Virgin Media has suspended plans to launch what would have been the first legal peer-to-peer service from an Internet service provider, after at least two of the major labels, Universal Music and Sony Music, demanded their music not be included, The Register reported. [more..]

Hollywood, Calif. - TheWrap.com, an entertainment business-focused news site founded by former New York Times Hollywood correspondent Sharon Waxman, on Monday announced its launch. [more..]

Arlington, Va. - Venture capitalists invested $28.3 billion in 3,808 deals in 2008, marking the first yearly decline of total investments since 2003, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). [more..]

Kfar-Saba, Israel - Modu, the developer of a small mobile phone that can be slipped into a wide variety of branded "jacket" enclosures, as well as other consumer electronics that connect to the Internet, has raised $7 million in new financing from Qualcomm, and signed a deal with the wireless giant to manufacture its product, TechCrunch reported, citing the Hebrew-language Calcalist. [more..]

Research Triangle Park, N.C. - Digitalsmiths, a provider of video indexing, analysis and publishing technology, announced on Monday that networking firm Cisco has invested an undisclosed sum in the company. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - The Recording Academy, producer of the annual Grammy Awards, announced on Monday that Radiohead and Paul McCartney will be among the artists performing live at this year's ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 8. [more..]

New York - Viacom's MTV Networks on Monday announced the launch of Comedy Tribe, its newest vertical ad network, anchored by its ComedyCentral.com site [more..]

Los Angeles - RealD, a provider of digital 3D cinema projection systems, said on Monday that its theaters brought in 71% of the total box office for Lionsgate's "My Bloody Valentine 3D," which made $27 million in its first week of release. [more..]

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless said on Monday that it has signed deals with the Disney/ABC Television Group and ESPN, that will bring full-length episodes of shows from ABC Entertainment, ABC News and Disney Channel, as well as content from ESPN, to Verizon Wireless V CAST Video and Mobile Web customers. [more..]