The International Trade Administration (ITA) has preliminarily determined that certain imports of frozen fish fillets from Cambodiaproduced by two entities based in Cambodiaare circumventing the antidumping (AD) duty order on certain frozen fish fillets from Vietnam.

Spanish incumbent Telefonica may be violating EU antitrust rules by maintaining too little spread between what it charges rivals for wholesale broadband access and its own customers for retail access, the European Commission said Wed. In a “statement of objections” -- the first step in formal competition proceedings -- the Commission said preliminary investigation shows that since 2001, the difference between Telefonica’s wholesale prices to other telcos and downstream retail charges to customers has been too narrow to cover its own costs for supplying its end- users. The “margin squeeze” deprives new market entrants that need access to Telefonica’s infrastructure of the ability to compete for retail subscribers, the Commission said. Retail broadband prices in Spain are high and well above EU average, and the rollout of alternative infrastructure lags far behind, it said. Telefonica rivals are limited to either building their own networks or buying one of 3 types of wholesale products available to them, all built on the incumbent’s nationwide local access network, the Commission said. The statement contains only preliminary conclusions; the telco has 2 months to respond. If found to have violated competition law, Telefonica can be fined.

Google got smacked down in court for making thumbnail images of an adult publisher’s copyrighted images in search results, but the ruling is quite narrow on issues of more import for the entire Web, a digital-rights group said Wed. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which filed an amicus brief on Google’s behalf in Perfect 10 v. Google (WID Oct 14 p2), disputed the court’s reasoning on the image infringement. But staff attorney Fred von Lohmann said the U.S. Dist. Court, L.A.’s rejection of Perfect 10’s other arguments -- that “in-line linking” of images was necessarily infringement and that Google assumed secondary liability for displaying infringed images from other sites -- was “a lot of good for the Web.”

German Economics Minister Michael Glos voiced surprise this week over EC criticism of Germany’s proposal not to regulate DT’s next-generation network, MarketWatch reported. On Feb. 17, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding wrote Glos she’s paying special attention to the proposed revision of Germany’s telecom act -- particularly new section 9a, which provides for nonregulation of new markets. The Commission is concerned about a “regulatory moratorium” because it raises serious questions about the relationship of competition, new markets and investment that should be addressed by the EU, not nations, Reding said. The legislative proposal suggests new markets be regulated only if development of sustained competition would be obstructed long run otherwise. That runs counter to the EU’s package of e-communications directives, Reding wrote: The law shouldn’t allow a monopoly to be revived, even for a limited time. She said also said Art. 9a: (1) Fails to make clear that consultation must take place before the German telecom regulator decides a new market exists. (2) Doesn’t clarify that “new market” and the duration of any regulatory moratorium must be defined by the regulator in close cooperation with the Commission. (3) Uses “sustained competition-oriented market,” an expression unknown in the EU regulatory framework that should be replaced with “effective competition.” Finally, Reding wrote, the Commission has already launched 2 EU Treaty violation procedures against Germany for infringing EU law by restricting the telecom regulator’s discretion. It’s the regulator -- not the legislature -- that must determine if and how regulation should be imposed, she said, and Art. 9a must be drafted to ensure that principle applies to new markets. Germany lags significantly behind other EU countries in broadband partly because it lacks essential regulatory measures such as bitstream access, she added. Glos said Tues. his office is surprised because the revised telecom bill was based on preliminary working-level talks between his department and the Commission, MarketWatch said. But the official said he would look into Reding’s concerns. The Head of the Federal Network Agency, Matthias Kurth, said “more transparency and sincerity” is needed in the debate to counter the impression that his agency favors “one single company and risk[s] the balance between competition and innovation.” The public consultation is aimed at defining “new market” and embracing the discussion started by the EC. The consultation should help clarify the issue for fixed net and broadband providers in Germany and across the EU, said Kurth. The Federal Network Agency will accept statements until April 19 from interested parties on 9 questions, on the agency’s website, about the definition and treatment of “new markets.” -- www.bundesnetzagentur.de/media/archive/5120.pdf

Spanish incumbent Telefonica may be violating EU antitrust rules by maintaining too little spread between what it charges rivals for wholesale broadband access and its own customers for retail access, the European Commission said Wed. In a “statement of objections” -- the first step in formal competition proceedings -- the Commission said preliminary investigation shows that since 2001, the difference between Telefonica’s wholesale prices to other telcos and downstream retail charges to customers has been too narrow to cover its own costs for supplying its end- users. The “margin squeeze” deprives new market entrants that need access to Telefonica’s infrastructure of the ability to compete for retail subscribers, the Commission said. Retail broadband prices in Spain are high and well above EU average, and the rollout of alternative infrastructure lags far behind, it said. Telefonica rivals are limited to either building their own networks or buying one of 3 types of wholesale products available to them, all built on the incumbent’s nationwide local access network, the Commission said. The statement contains only preliminary conclusions; the telco has 2 months to respond. If found to have violated competition law, Telefonica can be fined.

German Economics Minister Michael Glos voiced surprise this week over EC criticism of Germany’s proposal not to regulate DT’s next-generation network, MarketWatch reported. On Feb. 17, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding wrote Glos she’s paying special attention to the proposed revision of Germany’s telecom act -- particularly new section 9a, which provides for nonregulation of new markets. The Commission is concerned about a “regulatory moratorium” because it raises serious questions about the relationship of competition, new markets and investment that should be addressed by the EU, not nations, Reding said. The legislative proposal suggests new markets be regulated only if development of sustained competition would be obstructed long run otherwise. That runs counter to the EU’s package of e-communications directives, Reding wrote: The law shouldn’t allow a monopoly to be revived, even for a limited time. She said also said Art. 9a: (1) Fails to make clear that consultation must take place before the German telecom regulator decides a new market exists. (2) Doesn’t clarify that “new market” and the duration of any regulatory moratorium must be defined by the regulator in close cooperation with the Commission. (3) Uses “sustained competition-oriented market,” an expression unknown in the EU regulatory framework that should be replaced with “effective competition.” Finally, Reding wrote, the Commission has already launched 2 EU Treaty violation procedures against Germany for infringing EU law by restricting the telecom regulator’s discretion. It’s the regulator -- not the legislature -- that must determine if and how regulation should be imposed, she said, and Art. 9a must be drafted to ensure that principle applies to new markets. Germany lags significantly behind other EU countries in broadband partly because it lacks essential regulatory measures such as bitstream access, she added. Glos said Tues. his office is surprised because the revised telecom bill was based on preliminary working-level talks between his department and the Commission, MarketWatch said. But the official said he would look into Reding’s concerns. The Head of the Federal Network Agency, Matthias Kurth, said “more transparency and sincerity” is needed in the debate to counter the impression that his agency favors “one single company and risk[s] the balance between competition and innovation.” The public consultation is aimed at defining “new market” and embracing the discussion started by the EC. The consultation should help clarify the issue for fixed net and broadband providers in Germany and across the EU, said Kurth. The Federal Network Agency will accept statements until April 19 from interested parties on 9 questions, on the agency’s website, about the definition and treatment of “new markets.” -- www.bundesnetzagentur.de/media/archive/5120.pdf.

In its 14th week, the PS2 version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted from EA was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Feb. 19. There were no new games in the top 10. EA had 3 other SKUs in the top 10: The Xbox version of Most Wanted at #4 (up one), EA Sports Arena Football for PS2 at #6 (down 2 in its 2nd week) and Madden NFL 06 on PS2 at #7 (up 3 in its 28th week)… World of Warcraft from Vivendi Universal Games was again the #1- selling PC game in the U.S., according to NPD Group data for the week ended Feb. 11.

The ICANN community favors the introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDS) but is divided over how it should happen, found a draft preliminary report for the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council. The report, posted as part of ICANN’s policy development process for new gTLDs, said ICANN constituencies and public commentators recognize that “new additions to the root are within the scope of ICANN’s technical mandate, are necessary if ICANN is to meet its core mission and values… and are part of ICANN’s normal operations.” But there’s no agreement on how many new gTLDs there should be, when and by what method they should be launched, or whether they should be sponsored. The report recommended further analysis along several lines, including whether introduction should be restricted to one kind of gTLD or a broader range of applications. It called for more analysis about the operational impacts and costs of approving new gTLDs, and fact-based market analysis on how desirable new gTLDs might be to end-users. It also urged that specific proposals made in comments -- such as reclassifying gTLDs into chartered and unchartered -- be tested for early consensus. Comments are due March 13 -- new-gtlds-pdp-initial-report@icann.org

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the preliminary results of two changed circumstances reviews of the antidumping (AD) duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Canada and Germany.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty administrative reviews: