BOSTON -- FCC Chmn. Powell Wed. opened a major international meeting here on ultra wideband with a plea for the group to move forward with an international agreement. In coming days, ITU’s Task Group 1/8 will try to hammer out a consensus on UWB in a rare meeting outside Geneva. Powell told delegates that while balancing interests presents major “challenges” for regulators “the promise of UWB technology is simply too great to do otherwise.”

The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) 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.

When Blu-ray products are introduced beginning in late 2005 and 2006, it will be with the support of many major CE companies and PC industry powerhouses Dell and Hewlett-Packard, but also as part of the feature set of the next-generation “PlayStation 3,” Benjamin Feingold, pres. of Sony-affiliated Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, told the “DVD Lucky 7” conference Tues. in W. Hollywood.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that at the request of the petitioners, it is postponing the preliminary countervailing (CV) duty determinations on bottle-grade polyethylene terephthalate resin from India and Thailand until no later than August 21, 2004 (from June 17, 2004).

All agenda items but one were approved at the FCC’s 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) Advisory Committee (WAC). Agenda Item 1.9, “to review the technical, operational and regulatory provisions applicable to the use of band two 500-2 690 MHz by space services” was shelved after objections from the committee. WAC Chmn. Nancy Victory recommended the committee “take another look” at the item. Approved recommendations for preliminary viewing included several that reexamine or review regulatory procedures for various WRC-related documents, consideration of frequency- related matters for future development of IMT-2000, the study and consideration of satellite frequency allocations, and various spectrum requirements and specifications.

ABC, NBC and Fox plan to broadcast live coverage of ceremonies throughout the week for former President Ronald Reagan, they said. CBS couldn’t be reached for comment at our press time, but on its Web site CBS provided a live feed Mon. of the ceremonies in Cal. ABC News began coverage in Cal. with anchor Peter Jennings and plans extensive live coverage including the funeral procession on Wed. to the Capitol, a ceremony in the Rotunda, and the state funeral at the National Cathedral on Fri., ABC said in a statement. ABC News’ radio coverage will continue through the President’s funeral on Fri. ABC’s regular programming will be interrupted for special reports throughout the week, officials said. NBC also plans live coverage of the events and was nailing down details at our press time, a spokeswoman said. Preliminary plans at Fox News include live coverage on Wed. with anchor Britt Hume and on Fri. with a special of the burial in Cal. with Chris Wallace, a spokeswoman said.

The Census Bureau (Census) has issued an Automated Export System (AES) broadcast advising AES filers that the AES Production Region opened earlier than expected at 6:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 7, 2004.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that, at the request of the petitioner, it is postponing the preliminary antidumping (AD) duty determination on outboard engines from Japan until no later than July 16, 2004 (from June 16, 2004).

The ITA has previously stated that the China-wide rate applies to all entries of subject merchandise except for entries from exporters/producers that are identified individually above.

In its first full week available, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King from New Line Home Entertainment was the top-rented DVD in the U.S., Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended May 30 showed Thurs. Rentrak said the title earned $6.64 million on DVD in the week for a total of $6.73 million to date. Last week’s #1 DVD -- Paramount’s Paycheck -- slipped one notch to #2, earning an additional $4.54 million for a total of $9.50 million to date.