LAS VEGAS - Funai will test online ordering of Magnavox and Sylvania 32-inch-and-under LCD TVs with 50 Nationwide Marketing Group members, potentially giving dealers the low-end gear they lack to battle national and regional chains, industry officials said.

Slap a copyright warning on a CD and the law’s “innocent infringer” defense vanishes for any infringing activity, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week in a long-running P2P case. The panel overturned part of a San Antonio ruling that said Whitney Harper’s claimed ignorance of copyright law in downloading songs “presented a disputed issue of material fact” suitable for trial. Record labels then sought and received the $200-per-work minimum damages available for innocent infringement, but the parties appealed. A P2P defense lawyer not involved in the case said the 5th Circuit was misinterpreting in the statute the term “access” to a copyright notice.

LAS VEGAS - Nationwide Marketing Group dealers are scrambling to grab cut-rate real estate for expansion but with an eye toward avoiding clashes with big-box rivals, retailers at the organization’s annual meeting said.

EchoStar and Mexican partner MVS Comunicaciones agreed to buy Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex) for $267 million in cash. The deal still requires regulatory and bondholder approval and a Q3 completion is expected, EchoStar said. The acquisition is both highly risky and strategic, company executives said during a quarterly earnings call Monday.

DTS is projecting Blu-ray player sales of 15 to 20 million units for the year ending Dec. 31, up from 10 million in 2009, DTS CEO Jon Kirchner said. Meanwhile, Dolby is forecasting shipments of 15 to 20 million units for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, CEO Kevin Yeaman said on a conference call with analysts. Both companies agree the industry is poised for growth this year.

There’s no reason why people who have had Lasik surgery can’t properly see 3D images, unless their surgery was botched, a prominent New York ophthalmologist told Consumer Electronics Daily. That’s contrary to recent Sony assertions that people who have had Lasik surgery done on one or both eyes can’t view 3D very well (CED Feb 17 p1).

LONDON -- Home 3D “is a must have” and “will move to immersion” in CE and PC products, Brian Flavel, Intel director of brand strategy, told reporters and industry executives at the company’s “Three Decades of Technology” presentation last week. Unfortunately, the 3D demonstrations at the event, which were set up by third party companies hired by Intel, were well below the standards in 3D demos by other companies.

The EPA will consider changes in the Energy Star set-top box specification for cable, satellite and IPTV service providers to “allow both utilities and manufacturers to further their promotion” of compliant boxes, the agency said in response to comments. It said talks with interested parties on proposed changes will start this month. The EPA has started work on revising the specification for box makers, releasing last week the first draft of version 3.0, which would make the program stricter.

DirecTV will take a three-pronged approach when it launches its 3D channels in June, company executives said in recent conference calls and investor conferences, apparently with little fanfare. The satellite operator will dedicate one 3D channel to documentaries, movies and concerts, and a second to live sports and concerts, the executives said. A third channel will be devoted to video-on-demand, they said. A highlight will be DirecTV’s 3D airing of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in July, CEO Michael White said on an earnings call. We were awaiting word from DirecTV at our Friday deadline whether the game will be aired live in 3D.

Tough new rules proposed at the Department of Transportation for shipping lithium batteries on airplanes would seriously threaten distribution of the cells and the devices they power at a time when industry is trying to recover from the worst economic decline since the Great Depression, 34 companies and trade groups told the department by letter Thursday.