The Journal of Commerce Online reports that Target Corporation and its affiliate, Associated Merchandising Corp., have filed suit in the Court of International Trade accusing the U.S. of gender discrimination in tariffs imposed on similar items of apparel, footwear, and gloves. The article notes that in some cases, duties are higher on items for women and girls, but in other cases, the duties are higher on items for men and boys. (JoC Online dated 05/14/07, www.joc.com.)
American Shipper reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Census Bureau have "gone back to the meeting table" in an effort to finalize the mandatory Automated Export System filing rules. Once changes are agreed to, CBP and Census will have to reissue a new proposed rule for mandatory AES with all new deadlines for comments and final implementation. (American Shipper, February 2007, www.americanshipper.com)
Inmarsat wants the FCC to condition a proposed merger of Telenor and Inceptum on allowing Inmarsat to change its distribution structure, according to FCC filings. “The power to change the existing distribution structure lies entirely with [Telenor and Inceptum] who continue to benefit from it,” said Inmarsat. Inmarsat was created to be a wholesaler of maritime satellite system services to countries with exclusive rights to “land” Inmarsat services, and then resell them. That meant Inmarsat end users had to buy Inmarsat offerings through a controlled distribution network. Inmarsat went private in 1999; its distribution network and associated requirements remained. “While about a dozen global distributors once offered the full suite of Inmarsat services, the number of such distributors today stands at a mere three,” Diane Cornell, Inmarsat vp-govt. affairs, told the FCC in a recent ex parte. Inmarsat wants “a normal competitive environment” with “no artificial limit” on distributors, said Cornell. Inmarsat, which has taken its case globally, told the FCC that the U.K. Office of Fair Trading formally has asked the E.C. to review the merger. Referral does not necessarily mean the EC will review the merger, Cornell told us. If the EC accepts the referral, the parties then defend the merger, after which the EC will have 35 days to decide whether to clear or it could move it to a longer phase II review, Cornell said.
The U.S. govt. has filed with the WTO to get out of its duty to give foreign Internet gambling operators access to American bettors, officials told reporters Fri. A WTO appeals body recently ruled against the U.S. on the point in a dispute with Antigua (WID April 2 p4). The panel agreed that the U.S. hadn’t meant to open itself to online gambling through the 1993 Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT) -- but ruled that’s what the agreement requires, said John Veroneau, deputy U.S. trade representative (USTR).
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has recently posted to its Web site a notice announcing that effective May 1, 2007, it will no longer accept "carbon paper" and "downloadable" versions of the following application forms, and that only the D-Trade (electronic) version of these forms may be used, and must be submitted through D-Trade:
China and Russia again led the USTR Priority Watch List of weak intellectual property (IP) rights regimes in a Special 301 report released Mon. Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India, Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela also made the list. The report identified Russia’s AllofMP3.com and China’s Baidu as “notorious virtual markets” for illicit trade in copyrighted works. Efforts to shut down AllofMP3.com -- “the world’s largest server-based pirate music website” -- have failed, but Russian authorities are investigating the operation, the report said. And Baidu is the “largest of an estimated 7 or more China-based ‘MP3 search engines’ offering deep links to song files for downloads or streaming,” the report said.
Patent owners must turn to Congress or foreign govts. for damages on software infringed overseas, the Supreme Court ruled Mon. in Microsoft v. AT&T. The decision in the case involving an AT&T patent on voice-compression technology used in Microsoft Windows products such as NetMeeting means software makers like Microsoft don’t have to pay damages for overseas patent infringements involving their software, only for domestic infringements.
DoJ asked XM and Sirius for more on their proposed merger in a 2nd information request, the companies said in filings to the SEC. DoJ and FCC likely will query competitors, vendors, advertisers and customers, too, sources said. Meanwhile, NAB again released data to back a demand that regulators reject the merger as anticompetitive.
DoJ asked XM and Sirius for more on their proposed merger in a 2nd information request, the companies said in filings to the SEC. DoJ and FCC likely will query competitors, vendors, advertisers and customers, too, sources said. Meanwhile, NAB again released data to back a demand that regulators reject the merger as anticompetitive.
Amid unity on Internet fraud and cross-jurisdictional enforcement authority, FTC commissioners disagreed on a more pressing priority for Congress: identity theft protections. Asked by the Senate Commerce Committee’s Acting Chmn. Pryor (D-Ark.) whether legislation should include free credit freezes -- an issue that some blamed for inaction by the last Congress (WID Nov 20 p1) -- Republicans and Democrats gave different answers. But they spoke with one voice on the need to repeal the “common carrier exemption” that blocks FTC action on some telecom matters.