CBS acquires Last.fm for $280m

[Last.fm] CBS are one of the few companies who needed no explanation of what we are doing, and we were impressed at how progressive their plans are. This deal with CBS gives us a chance to really make Last.fm shine, and gives us more flexibility than other funding options would for doing all the crazy stuff we’re had scribbled on whiteboards for years. CBS understands the Last.fm vision, the importance we place on putting the listener in charge, the vibrant and vocal community, the obsession with music stats, and our determination to offer every song ever recorded.

Second Chinese dissident sues Yahoo

[Ars Technica] Shi Tao, sentenced to a decade in prison back in 2004, was the first Chinese citizen known to be jailed because of e-mails turned over by Yahoo. Now, Shi has joined the World Organization for Human Rights case against Yahoo, filed in April in a San Francisco court. The case was originally brought on behalf of of jailed dissident Wang Xiaoning.

MySpace acquires Flektor for Flash slideshows

[Mashable] Clearly the Flektor deal, first rumored on Techcrunch, goes hand in hand with the Photobucket buy: it pairs a massive photo hosting and search service with the developers of snazzy, offbeat creation tools. I still don’t think it’s enough strategically: MySpace has just bought two add-ons, while Facebook has welcomed hundreds into the fold with Facebook Platform. Facebook remains the underdog, but the onus is now on MySpace to think strategically about building an ecosystem around itself.

Arrington: Cut journalists loose!

[IP Democracy] "Where they’re getting their lunch eaten is the blogs,” Arrington said. Arrington’s solution to the newspaper industry’s problem is to turn all journalists into bloggers. When asked what advice he might offer to The New York Times, for example, Arrington said the company should let all the journalists go off and do their own thing.

Also in the news: [InfoWorld] MySpace parent to buy Photobucket |
[AP] Apple debuts unprotected song sales | [NewsFactor] Novell taking risks in MSFT deal | [NYT] HP seeks to ease printing of Web pages | [Reuters] Jeopardy hooks up with Google | [AFP] Google pushing to make inroads into S. Korea |