An order letting the FCC void exclusive video contracts between apartment building owners and pay-TV providers (CD July 6 p2) began circulating late Thursday on the eighth floor, according to FCC and industry officials. The draft from Chairman Kevin Martin’s office seems to stick closely to preliminary FCC findings that the agency can intervene in some such cases, said several industry officials. In seeking public comment March 27, the commission said it “tentatively” found that it can regulate exclusives when it finds they “impede competition and impair deployment of services.”

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has posted to its Web site the monthly reports containing official June 2007 trade data from the Department of Census for imports and exports of textiles and apparel:

Comcast got preliminary approval to stop sales of circuit-switched phone service in Utah (CD Aug 23 p11), an FCC public notice said. Unless the agency tells the cable operator otherwise, it can cut off service Sept. 30. Public comments on the plan are due to the commission by Sept. 14. The FCC said Comcast told subscribers that they can buy its VoIP product instead, and it “will assist affected customers that do not select this service during their transition to new carriers.”

The International Trade Administration frequently issues notices on antidumping and countervailing duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.

New Games: Worms: A Space Oddity, shipping in the spring from THQ, will introduce the Worms strategy-game franchise to Nintendo’s Wii. The game is being developed by Team17 Software in the U.K. But this fall THQ will release two other Worms games: Worms: Open Warfare 2 for Nintendo DS and PSP and Worms 2007 for wireless handsets. THQ also shipped MotoGP ‘07, the latest entry in its motorcycle racing franchise, for the Xbox 360 at $59.99 in the U.S… Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for Windows PC went gold and will ship in Europe and Australia Sept. 28, followed by North America Oct. 2, id Software and Activision said Thursday. The latest Quake title was developed by Splash Damage; the Windows PC version will cost $49.99 for a regular version and $59.99 for a Limited Collector’s Edition in the U.S. Versions of the title for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 are being developed separately by Activision Foster City and Nerve Software… Take-Two Interactive’s BioShock for the Xbox 360 became the top-rented videogame in the U.S. during its first week of availability, according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Aug. 26. The PS2 version of Madden NFL 08 from Electronic Arts, the previous week’s top game, slid to No. 2 in its second week. The 360 version of EA’s game slipped one to No. 3, while the Xbox version slipped two to No. 8. EA had two other games in the top 10 on three platforms: The PS2 version of NCAA Football 08 at No. 5 (down two in its fourth week), NCAA on 360 at No. 6 (down two) and NASCAR 08 for PS2 at No. 10 (down two in its fifth week). Rounding out the top 10 were Activision’s Transformers: The Game for PS2 at No. 4 (up one in its ninth week), Transformers on 360 at No. 9 (up four) and Nintendo’s Mario Party 8 for Wii at No. 7 (up two in its second week).

The International Trade Administration has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping duty administrative reviews:

The International Trade Administration has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping duty administrative reviews:

The International Trade Administration has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping duty administrative reviews:

Comcast has preliminary approval to stop selling local exchange and international phone service in about a dozen Colorado communities, said a Friday FCC notice seeking public input on the plan by Sept. 10. Unless the commission tells the cable operator otherwise, Comcast can stop providing those services Sept. 26. Comcast has been getting out of selling circuit-switched phone service to focus on VoIP (CD Aug 23 p11).

In its first week available, the PS2 version of Madden NFL 08 from Electronic Arts (EA) was the top- rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Aug. 19. The Xbox 360 version was No. 2, the Xbox version was No. 6 and the PS3 version was No. 7. EA’s PS2 version of NCAA Football 08 -- the previous week’s top title -- slipped to No. 3.