According to a recent Textile Development Memo issued by the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA), it is possible that the implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) will slip slightly from January 1, 2006 and not all of the participating countries will start at the same time, due to the need for the Central American and Dominican Republic governments to complete changes in their laws and regulations. (USA-ITA TDM, dated 11/17/05, www.usaita.com.)

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated an antidumping (AD) duty investigation of liquid sulfur dioxide from Canada.

A $1.1 billion preliminary bid by SES Global for New Skies was rejected, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. An SES Global spokeswoman said the firm had no comment on the report’s accuracy.

When ICANN’s memorandum of understanding with the Commerce Dept. (DoC) expires next year, the relationship between the govt. and the private organization that oversees technical and administrative functions of the Internet should be reexamined, Sen. Coleman (R-Minn.) told a Heritage Foundation forum on Web governance Thurs. “Lessening the ties between the government and ICANN” and a shift toward a “privatization of the Internet” should be considered when the current deal sunsets, he said. DoC has said it has a right to reject ICANN decisions but has never done so; the mere availability of that veto concerns some overseas.

A N.J. lawmaker’s proposal on statewide video franchising has irked both Verizon and the state’s cable group, who are often opponents on regulatory issues. At issue is whether the bill, whose backer hasn’t made its text public, would help or hinder the Bell’s entry into the market for selling video and other services that compete with cable operators. What’s clear is that, as expected, N.J. will be the next battleground over franchise legislation (CD Aug 18 p6).

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

The wireless industry wants a voluntary approach to the creation of an effective, ubiquitous public alert system, said industry sources. Industry wants to improve the emergency alert system (EAS) but hopes the govt. sees the wireless platform’s benefits and limitations, sources said.

A spokeswoman for Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) said Mon. that it was “not unexpected” that the game industry’s request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Mich. law making it illegal to rent or sell mature videogames to children was granted last week (CED Nov 14 p8). But she said Granholm “stands by the new legislation” and there “will be a hearing” as part of the ongoing “court process.” The spokeswoman said she wasn’t sure when the hearing will be held.

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

U.S. Dist. Court Judge George Steeh granted the videogame industry’s request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Mich. law that would make it illegal to rent or sell sexually explicit and graphically violent games to minors. In his decision, Steeh said videogames are protected by the First Amendment, as videogame trade groups have consistently maintained. Steeh said he granted the preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs -- the Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA), VSDA and Mich. Retailers Assn. -- “demonstrated that the Act,” Public Act (P.A. 108), “is unlikely to survive scrutiny, and that irreparable harm follows from the loss of First Amendment freedoms.” The judge said the claim by Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and other defendants that a “compelling state interest” justifies the law wasn’t convincing, because the state failed to prove a link between violent videogames and minors’ behavior. Steeh also said the research “did not evaluate the independent effect of violent videogames, and thus provides no support for the Act’s singling out of videogames from other media.” He went on to say that “the response to the Act’s threat of criminal penalties will likely be responded to by self-censoring by game creators, distributors and retailers, including ultimately pulling ‘T’ and ‘M’ rated games off store shelves altogether.” Steeh joined the law’s critics in concluding “there is a serious problem in determining which games are prohibited to be sold or displayed to minors under the Act.” ESA Pres. Douglas Lowenstein said his group was “gratified” by Steeh’s decision. He said that “rather than continuing to play politics and pursuing this case to its inevitable defeat, further wasting Michigan taxpayers’ dollars along the way, we hope the state will start to join us in a common effort to take steps that actually help parents raise their kids in a healthy and safe way.” Interactive Entertainment Merchants Assn. (IEMA) Pres. Hal Halpin conceded that the issue was “far from settled.” But he said “our members can begin the always-important holiday selling season knowing that we will not be placed in the position of trying to discern which games may or may not run afoul of the law.” Granholm didn’t respond to a request for comment by our deadline.