Around the Web: 6.19.2008: Gene Simmons gets tongues wagging

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

-- Gene Simmons, right, blames the decline of western civilization on Radiohead. OK, not really, but he’s not a fan of the band’s approach to selling music. Mashable

-- 5 billion: That’s the number of songs that have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store, Apple said today. CNet

-- We first heard the rumor last week, and Kara Swisher nails it this week: Search and Advertising Technology group EVP Qi Lu is the next on his way out of Yahoo. And, as we told you, another reorganization is on its way. Who will be next? Boomtown

-- Where do all of those Yahoo execs go? Google? Facebook? Start-ups? At least 50 have bailed in the last year and a half. Here’s the 411 on where they are now. TechCrunch

-- This Yahoo employee is going to Craigslist. Jeremy Zawodny

-- Electronic Arts has a departure of its own. Newsweek

-- At last: Home-schoolers finally get a home at Facebook. AllFacebook

-- Mais, non, Facebook: Skyrock cleans your clock in France. Bonne chance. CNet

-- The folks at Friendster have been telling us this for months. It may not be tops in the U.S., but in Asia, it leads all social networks. The most recent data: In April, Friendster clocked 36 million users in Asia, versus a distant second Facebook at 18 million. And this is a growing market as more and more of the region’s 3.8 billion residents go online. Poke that, Facebook. VentureBeat

-- Money from YouTube? No problem, Citi says. Google can squeeze $500 million out of it in 2009. Has Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt learned the fine art of reality distortion fields in Apple board meetings? Silicon Alley Insider

-- Viacom has sent a threat letter alleging trademark infringement to AllSP.com, one of several popular but unauthorized video sites that offers full-length, commercial-free episodes of Comedy Central’s ‘South Park.’ Web Scout

-- And this just in: Is Amazon getting ready to take on PayPal? TechDirt

-- Jessica Guynn