The judge leading the phone hacking inquiry will have powers to call media proprietors, editors and politicians to give evidence under oath, the PM said.
Lord Justice Leveson will oversee the public inquiry into the News of the World scandal and media regulation.David Cameron said those who sanctioned wrongdoing should have no further role in running a media company in the UK.
The family of murdered Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked, said they were "delighted" at the inquiry.
The prime minister held talks in Downing Street with Milly's parents, Bob and Sally Dowler, and sister Gemma - the third such meeting the family has had with senior politicians since revelations emerged that Milly's phone messages were allegedly accessed after she went missing in 2002.
Meanwhile, NoW's parent company, News Corporation, has dropped its bid to take full control of BSkyB.
Following fresh revelations about alleged malpractice at News International - News Corp's UK newspaper arm - Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had referred the company's bid to acquire the 61% of shares it does not already own in the broadcaster to the Competition Commission.
Despite the company's announcement, a Labour motion - backed by the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and smaller parties - calling on Rupert Murdoch's company to drop its bid was debated in the House of Commons.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was "unusual for a motion in this House to succeed before the debate on it begins" but News Corp's decision would not have happened without political pressure.
But Mr Miliband said it was a "painful truth" that politicians have been in thrall to the media for too long.
For the government, the Leader of the House Sir George Young said the Commons had "reflected the public mood" and was a "champion for its causes".
Former prime minister Gordon Brown spoke out against alleged law-breaking at News International on an "industrial scale" and said there were no private deals with the company when he was in Downing Street.
Turning to the inquiry, he said the rights of the public to information need to be balanced with the privacy of individuals.
In the US, senators have asked the authorities to investigate amid allegations that the phones of victims of the September 11 attacks may have been hacked into by News of the World journalists. News International has not commented on the claims.
The Homeland security committee chairman, Republican Peter King, called for an FBI inquiry. Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller and Barbara Boxer urged the attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether US laws had been broken.
Democratic senator Robert Menendez, who wrote to the attorney general separately, said the claims newspapers sought to "exploit information about... personal tragedies for profit" needed to be probed.
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