The videogame industry Wed. won a round in its battle against a Cal. videogame law that would require retailers to clearly label violent videogames and bar them from renting or selling those titles to customers under 18. U.S. Dist. Judge Ronald Whyte, San Jose, late Wed. handed down a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the law, which was to have taken effect Jan. 1.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced a preliminary "low duty" tariff rate quota (TRQ) limit of 20,251,211kg. for tuna and skipjack, in airtight containers, not in oil, in containers weighing with their contents not over 7 kg. each, for the January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006 period.

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

A law enforcement campaign targeting spammers was announced by the FTC, U.S. attorneys, the FBI, Canadian consumer protection officials, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and 3 state attorneys general Tues. The effort targets CAN-SPAM Act violators who send e-mails with false header information, use misleading subject lines, fail to include an opt-out mechanism and don’t include the sender’s physical address.

The videogame industry criticized the Family Entertainment Protection Act after Sens. Bayh (D-Ind.), Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Lieberman (D-Conn.) introduced the legislation Fri. The bill would make it illegal to rent or sell Mature (M), Adults Only (AO) or even Ratings Pending videogames to kids under 17.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) is amending its preliminary affirmative antidumping (AD) duty determination on certain artist canvas from China as: (1) it inadvertently stated an inaccurate producer name for one exporter/producer combination rate, and (2) it inadvertently failed to include one combination rate in its November 2005 preliminary affirmative AD duty determination.

Having shifted from selling stores to buying them, Rent-Way is weighing acquisition of chains of 5-20 stores in early 2006, CEO William Short told analysts in an earnings conference. Rent-Way has had preliminary discussions with several chains, most operating in its markets, CFO William McDonnell told us. “The environment for opportunities out there is something we're going to pursue aggressively in 2006,” Short said. Most of the chains available would cost less than 10 times monthly revenue, company officials said. Rent-Way has made some purchases the past 90 days, including 12 stores from Rent- a-Center, which is closing some outlets. If Rent-Way succeeds in buying some dealers, it will likely reduce new store openings planned for 2006, McDonnell said. The sales are being driven retailers battling effects of the hurricanes and high gas prices, McDonnell said. For Rent- Way, a buying binge represents a sharp change. The chain had an accounting scandal in 2000-2001 and sold more than 200 of its stores to RAC. Meanwhile, Rent-Way posted an increase in 4th-quarter net income to $4.3 million from $3.8 million a year earlier, as it benefited from a $9 million adjustment tied to a conversion feature of the chain’s preferred stock. The adjustment helped offset losses tied to the hurricanes ($1.9 million) and a $2.2 million write-off of jewelry receivables tied to switching vendors, the company said. Revenue rose to $125 million from $121.3 million on a 1.4% gain in same-store sales. Sales fell short of Rent-Way’s projections for revenue of $125-$128 million due largely to the hurricanes. Rental revenue jumped to $104.5 million from $100.7 million, while revenue from prepaid phone business dpi Teleconnect declined to $3.7 million from $5.2 million. Rent-Way benefited from strong sales of DLP-based rear projection TVs -- offsetting a decline in CRT-products, which are a “diminishing” portion of the chain’s revenues, McDonnell said Rent-Way carries rear projection TV from Mitsubishi and Philips, among others.

In its 4th week available, EA’s Need For Speed: Most Wanted for PS2 was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Dec. 11. EA had 3 other SKUs in the top 10: Madden NFL 06 for PS2 at #2 (up 7 in its 18th week), the Xbox version of Most Wanted at #4 (down 2 in its 4th week) and NCAA Football 06 for PS2 at #7 (up 11 in its 22nd week). Activision had 2 games in the top 10, both for PS2: Tony Hawk’s American Wastleand at #6 (up 11 in its 8th week) and Call of Duty 2: Big Red One at #8 (up 4 in its 6th week).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its second administrative reviews of the antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders on certain softwood lumber products from Canada.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of stainless steel plate in coils from Belgium for the period of May 1, 2003 through April 30, 2004.