RIAA filed 493 more “John Doe” infringement suits against file-sharers Mon., the trade group said. Under an interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that Verizon sued to win, RIAA must file suit against those it suspects of illegal music sharing before establishing their identities. RIAA also sued 24 named defendants, first served through “John Doe” suits, who declined to settle with RIAA. RIAA Pres. Cary Sherman in a statement said he hoped the new suits could be settled, saying RIAA would go the “extra mile and seek to resolve these cases in a fair and reasonable manner.”
RIAA filed 493 more “John Doe” infringement suits against file-sharers Mon., the trade group said. Under an interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that Verizon sued to win, RIAA must file suit against those it suspects of illegal music sharing before establishing their identities. RIAA also sued 24 named defendants, first served through “John Doe” suits, who declined to settle with RIAA. RIAA Pres. Cary Sherman in a statement said he hoped the new suits could be settled, saying RIAA would go the “extra mile and seek to resolve these cases in a fair and reasonable manner.”
The U.K. govt. and its telecom regulator acknowledged Wed. competition in the country’s wholesale broadband market is weak, but said they're working on it. Responding to a Feb. 10 report by the Commons Trade & Industry Select Committee on the state of the market, the Dept. of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the Office of Communications (OFCOM) said they agreed with the panel’s findings. The responses, filed earlier this year, were released Wed. by the committee. To the panel’s concern that alternatives to British Telecom’s (BT’s) existing ADSL network won’t be widely available any time soon, DTI said cable companies’ investment in broadband- enabling networks is increasing. Moreover, it said, govt. policy provides “significant incentives” for 3G service rollouts by requiring mobile phone network operators to provide service to 80% of the population by 2007. OFCOM said one of its key objectives is to promote “the often substantial investment” needed for continued broadband deployment and upgrading infrastructure. The regulator will take appropriate actions to “create an environment where making these significant and risky investments can be appropriately rewarded,” it said. OFCOM is in the midst of a wholesale broadband access market review and will study the impact of next-generation telecoms networks, it said. The report questioned whether the govt. should invest more money in commercial broadband rollout rather than leaving it to market forces. DTI said Regional Development Agencies and Regional Aggregation Bodies will be key to bringing broadband to marginal communities by aggregating demand across the public sector. To the panel’s concern that further rollout will at some point be dependent on public sector bodies’ bringing “something to the table” -- causing BT to slow deployment to take advantage of public subsidies -- DTI said “this does not seem to be the case in practice.” Rather, it said, BT’s establishment of a trigger level program “has been remarkably effective” in increasing deployment. The committee report asked whether the market could deliver improvement in broadband speed. DTI said it expects to see next-generation services launched first in high-density urban areas, but the govt. “would not wish to down play the importance of lower-speed entry level products as a means of encouraging people to migrate from narrow band dial up Internet access to broadband.” In its response, OFCOM stressed it’s already doing several industry reviews in addition to the one on the wholesale broadband access market. But it agreed with the committee “that the time is right for a more fundamental review of the regulatory regime.” The committee report recommended that BT’s wholesale and retail arms not be split. DTI agreed, but OFCOM said it’s trying to determine the structure of the future regulatory framework, part of which is the way BT is regulated. DTI and OFCOM agreed it’s too early to consider a universal service obligation for broadband. The committee is satisfied with the responses, a spokesman told us, but may monitor the govt. and OFCOM to ensure they follow through. “It’s early days at OFCOM,” the spokesman said (the regulator took over from its 5 predecessors late last year). In Oct., the panel will take a look at the regulator’s telecom work, he said.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found that direct-view color TVs imported from China “materially injured” the U.S. set manufacturing industry, setting the stage for duties ranging 4-24%. The 5-0 vote Fri., which sends the case back to the Commerce Dept. for final action May 26, surprised some observers, who had expected Comr. Stephen Koplan to vote against imposing the duties. Chmn. Deanna Okun abstained.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has published in the Federal Register the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) binational panel's decision, issued April 19, 2004, in its review of the final results of the affirmative antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) threat of injury re-determination on remand made by the International Trade Commission (ITC) with respect to certain softwood lumber products from Canada (Secretariat File No. USA-CDA-2002-1904-07).
The Tex. PUC staff recommended dismissal of a complaint case pitting the Tex. Payphone Assn. (TPA) against incumbent telco Valor Telecom on grounds the TPA lacks legal standing. The staff brief, submitted to the assigned administrative law judge, said the state utility code allows only “affected persons” to file utility complaints. The staff said the trade group isn’t directly affected by the alleged offenses, so it can’t complain. The TPA complaint alleged Valor assessed unreasonable and discriminatory payphone access charges, refused to unbundle payphone access lines and assessed measured usage charges on flat-rate lines. The ALJ is due to rule on the standings issue by June 7.
The SEC sued a former California Amplifier controller, accusing him of accounting fraud and insider trading, in inflating the company’s earnings during the 12 months to Nov. 2000. Richard Kusatzky allegedly concealed $5 million in manufacturing expenses to inflate California Amplifier’s profit during fiscal years 2000 and 2001 by $7.83 million, the SEC said. A total of $8.61 million of pre-tax income was overstated during that period. California Amplifier -- a major supplier of LNBs and reflector dishes to EchoStar and DirecTV -- settled a separate administrative case alleging that it didn’t have enough accounting controls. Kusatzky, who was controller Jan. 1997- March 2001, is accused of profiting by exercising all his vested options in California Amplifier and selling 15,000 shares of stock, the SEC said. Kusatzky’s trading helped him avoid more than $350,000 in losses, according to the suit filed in U.S. Dist. Court, D.C. In fiscal 2000, Kusatzky hid $5.9 million in expenses, causing California Amplifier to report a profit when it actually incurred a loss, the SEC said. For the next 3 quarters of fiscal 2001, Kusatzky concealed another $1.9 million in expenses. Kusatzky’s alleged fraud wasn’t detected because California Amplifier lacked adequate internal controls, the SEC said. California Amplifier issued financial statements generated from a spreadsheet that Kusatzky maintained separately from the company’s accounting system, the SEC said. Once Kusatzky reduced expense figures on the spreadsheet, he could falsify California Amplifier’s financial statements filed directly with the SEC, the agency said. California Amplifier officials and Kusatzky weren’t available for comment. Meanwhile, California Amplifier said first-quarter net income improved to $3 million from $1 million, as revenue soared to $41.6 million from $26.1 million on strong sales of DBS components to EchoStar and DirecTV. Materials costs have risen in recent weeks for California Amplifiers’ LNBs and reflector dish, partly because steel prices have doubled, CEO Frederick Sturm said. To broaden its business -- 96% of revenue is satellite-related -- California Amplifier seeks to expand into the Wi-Fi market. Recently acquired Vytek will oversee California Amplifier’s wireless business and has 3-4 “product opportunities” including those for in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi-equipped vending machines, Sturm said. California Amplifier will start a beta test this month with its raster enhanced access point product for 802.11 wireless, he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting comments by May 17, 2004 concerning the issues raised by the U.S.' March 18, 2004 request for World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations with China regarding its value-added tax (VAT) on integrated circuits (ICs).
The SEC sued investor Alfred Teo and 10 of his relatives, friends and associates, alleging they gained millions of dollars in profits from insider trading involving Musicland and C-Cube Microsystems stock. Teo was a major shareholder in Musicland and purchased 45,000 additional shares in the company prior to it announcing Best Buy’s $685 million tender offer for the chain in Dec. 2000, SEC said in a suit filed in U.S. Dist. Court, Newark. Musicland’s stock rose 30% on news of the proposed sale. Teo sought to conceal the extent of his ownership and control of Musicland stock to avoid the risk of triggering Musicland’s shareholder rights plan, the SEC said. Teo, who had confidential “communications” with Musicland senior management prior to the announcing of the deal, concealed his purchase of nearly 6 million shares of stock above the “poison pill” trigger, officials said. After the proposed sale was disclosed, Teo sold those shares, realizing a $22 million profit. Teo is alleged to have tipped off 8 associates about the proposed sale of Musicland. The associates realized a $1.1 million profit as result of the tips, the SEC said. Teo, who also was a member of the Cirrus Logic board, is alleged to have “misappropriated non- public information” about C-Cube and purchased stock shortly before its $865 million sale to LSI Logic in 2001. At the time, Cirrus also was weighing a bid for C-Cube, but later acquired Stream Machine, which developed A/V codecs. Teo served on the Cirrus board from July 1998-April 2001. Teo purchased 35,000 shares of C-Cube stock prior to the proposed sale and realized a $180,012 profit by selling the shares after it was announced, the SEC said. Three of the defendants in the cases -- Charles Fortune, Jerrold Johnston and Lawrence Rosen, founder of online CD retailer N2K -- reached agreement with the SEC under which they returned their profits to the SEC and paid a civil penalty. The other defendants include Teo’s sister-in-law Teren Seto Handelman; John Reier, the CFO of Alpha Industries, a company controlled by Teo; Mark Lauzon, who sold raw plastic to Teo’s companies; Philip Sacks and his son, Mitchell; David Ross and Richard Herron.
According to The Journal of Commerce, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report that sharply criticized the 10 largest U.S. seaports for their environmental records, indicating that lawsuits would follow if the ports don't clean up their act. (JoC March 29-April 4, 2002, www.joc.com )