U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message stating that FDA has removed the affirmation of compliance code 'FSE' (Prior Notice (PN) Shipper Registration Exemption) as an affirmation of compliance since it is not used in filing PN.
A federal appeals court said lawsuits challenging the amounts of billed federal universal service surcharges belong in the federal courts, not state. The 4th U.S. Appeals Court, Richmond, was ruling on a N.C. class-action lawsuit challenging the 53-cent monthly universal service surcharge BellSouth billed to its N.C. customers. The suit (Case 03- 1316) claimed BellSouth violated state fair-trade laws by failing to disclose how it calculated its universal service surcharge and was charging customers an amount well above what it actually had to contribute to the fund. A lower federal court ruled that the suit should be heard in the N.C. state courts. BellSouth appealed, and the 4th Circuit agreed the remand to the state court was incorrect because the universal service charge is imposed under federal law, so actions seeking to change the charge present a federal case. The court went on to dismiss the lawsuit against BellSouth, saying the plaintiffs want the court to determine a reasonable rate for the universal service charge, something barred by the filed-rate doctrine. That doctrine says courts can’t substitute for regulators and prescribe rates.
On July 22, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed H.R. 4842, the "U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Implementation Act," clearing the measure for the President.
The Wis. PSC ordered SBC and Sage Telecom to file their entire negotiated commercial agreement by Aug. 6. The PSC said the amendments the carriers filed to current interconnection agreements referenced a negotiated Local Wholesale Complete (LWC) agreement. The PSC said it needed to see everything associated with the filed amendments to determine whether to approve them. The PSC rejected the SBC/Sage arguments that the LWC addressed matters outside state jurisdiction and contained sensitive trade secrets that would harm their interests if made public. The PSC opened a new docket (Case 05-TI-1054) to review the agreement once filed. Intervenors in that case must register by Aug. 6.
P2P leaders are complaining they weren’t invited to testify on a Senate bill that could hold P2P software providers liable for copyright infringement by the software’s users and, critics say, also could undermine the Sony Betamax fair-use decision. The Senate Judiciary Committee last Thurs. held a hearing on S- 2560, a bill by committee Chmn. Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.); the P2P industry had pressed vocally for a hearing ever since the bill was introduced. Despite the lack of a P2P witness, only one of the 5 witnesses endorsed the bill as written.
Advocates of filtering software that deletes portions of DVD movies deemed objectionable by some carried the day Wed., when the House Judiciary Committee voted 18-9 in favor of a bill legalizing such filtering. But implementation of the movie filtering remains in question in light of a patent infringement suit against ClearPlay, the leading provider, and the RCA’s discontinuation of ClearPlay-enabled DVD players.
Shares in Lexar Media tumbled about 14% Fri. after the flash memory card maker posted an $18.1 million loss (-23? per diluted share) for its 2nd quarter ended June 30 vs. a $7 million profit (9?) a year ago. But the company said sales soared 100% to $163.2 million. In a conference call with financial analysts Thurs. evening, CEO Eric Stang said the disappointing results reflected higher than expected price cuts and price protection obligations. He also said Lexar suffered from “the inability to fully recognize the benefits of lower costs achieved during the quarter due to the timing of cost reductions.” A day earlier, rival SanDisk said “the pricing moves that we initiated early in the 2nd quarter stimulated consumer demand” and competitors didn’t -- or couldn’t -- match the low pricing (CED July 16 p7). Despite his company’s falling short of goals in the “very tough” quarter, Stang said Lexar still believed that “market dynamics will become increasingly favorable for our business model over the 2nd half of the year as new flash suppliers stimulate further cost reductions.” The expected growth in MP3 capability and 3, 4 and 5 megapixel cameras in cellphones should only drive demand more but that likely won’t be significant anytime soon -- especially in the U.S., which is only now starting to see one- megapixel cameras in cellphones, Stang said. He also said the company was upbeat about “the potential created” by its recently announced multiyear deal with Kodak: Lexar will manufacture and distribute Kodak-branded memory cards globally. The company is hoping Kodak cards represent 10-20% of what it sells in the 2nd half, Stang said, noting that the Kodak-branded products were targeted at mainstream consumers. There are now 55,000 stores worldwide carrying Lexar’s cards, up from 48,000 at the end of the first quarter, Stang said. He also said the company had 76 recognized patents, up from 72 at the end of Q1, and it expected to continue “aggressively” take action against any companies that infringed on them. The company has pending patent infringement suits against companies including Fuji and Toshiba, he said. Stang also said he expected discovery to end in Lexar’s trade secret case against Toshiba this quarter and a trial was “likely” to start first quarter 2005. The company sued Toshiba in 2002, claiming Toshiba stole trade secrets from it. Stang predicted that his company will report “$175 million or more” in 3rd- quarter revenue, but a loss of 1-5? per share. He said the company expected to return to profitability in Q4. Stang didn’t discuss the class action securities lawsuit filed against Lexar earlier in the week on behalf of shareholders (CED July 16 p7).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a set of four frequently asked questions (FAQ) and responses (dated July 8, 2004) on the "Rail" portion of its final rule on the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (ocean, air, rail, and truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice stating that the U.S. has requested the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel (DSP) regarding Mexico's tax measures on soft drinks and other beverages as well as on syrups, concentrates, powders, essences or extracts that can be diluted to produce such products (beverages and syrups) that use any sweetener other than cane sugar.
A federal court dismissed an appeal by the U. of Ill. that sought a shield of sovereign immunity from counterclaims filed by Fujitsu in an on-going legal battle over patents for plasma displays. The D.C. Appeals Court ruled that the university’s “entitlement” to the 11th Amendment guarantee of sovereign immunity can’t be “conclusively determined” and dismissed the appeal due to a “lack of jurisdiction.”