As the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation trial dominates the news, teen-centric social-networking virtual world Habbo Hotel has shut down the ability for its 250 million users to communicate with one another as a recent news broadcast has it that a reporter posing as a child was left open for sexual invitations, according to Brand Republic.

Of course, that’s something the site — "the world's largest social game and online community for teenagers," which we described two years ago as a "parent-free zone for kids to hang out and goof off" — is surely looking to fix quickly since what’s the point of a social-networking site if you can’t communicate with other users?

Not helping Habbo is that the explosive report by the UK’s Channel 4 — which found sexually explicit chat rooms and users as young as nine, despite the site's rule that it's for teens — prompted British retailers Tesco, WH Smith and GAME to stop selling Habbo gift cards and European venture-capital firm Balderton Capital (Habbo's main investor) to yank its stake in Finnish parent company Sulake, according to CNET.Continue reading...

iPhone 4 buyers began lining up yesterday, but will find only one color (black) available today. It's already a hit in Japan.

Viacom calls legal ruling favoring Google in billion-dollar YouTube suit "fundamentally flawed" as it prepares to appeal.

CNN confirms new show with disgraced NY governor Eliot Spitzer and conservative Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker.

More brands in the news after the jump.Continue reading...