On April 2, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued its third version of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding the inbound portion of its final rule requiring the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.

Singing Machine Co., having fallen behind in paying creditors, is weighing filing for bankruptcy, it said in an SEC documents accompanying the proposed resale of 2.7 million shares. The karaoke supplier isn’t current on $2.7 million of outstanding accounts payable related to 2 factories in China, it said. Faced with a limited amount of cash, Singing Machine has signed a factoring agreement with Milberg Factors, which is advancing it $3.5 million. The pact with Milberg requires the company to maintain $7.5 million in tangible net worth and working capital and pay a $200,000 minimum annual fee. The company’s financial struggles follow a 20% cut in executive pay Jan. and planned resignations of CFO April Green and Senior Finance Vp John Dahl, who were eligible for severance of $73,600 and $75,000, respectively, as of Dec. 31. Exec. Vp-Sales John Dromgold, who resigned in Dec., but remained a consultant until Feb., is being paid $164,598, which represents his salary through June 30, Singing Machine said. At the same time, Singing Machine reached a proposed settlement of a shareholder lawsuit that calls for a $1.3 million cash payment. Singing Machines will pay $850,000, while its former auditor, Salberg & Co., is responsible for the remainder. A hearing on a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement is scheduled before U.S. Dist. Court Judge William Zloch, Ft. Lauderdale, on April 24, the company said. The suit was filed in July 2003. Singing Machine, which has seen 2 CEOs depart in the past year, has struggled since entering a consignment agreement with Best Buy 2 years ago. Best Buy returned $2.75 million in unsold karaoke products in Feb. 2002, but kept the inventory in its stores as the sales agreements switched to consignment, Singing Machine said. Singing Machine suffered a 2nd blow when it signed a contract with Trans World Entertainment guaranteeing a minimum gross profit of $3.5 million on the sales of its products between Sept. 1, 2002 and Jan. 15, 2003. The agreement expired on Jan. 15, 2004 and Trans World was paid $2.5 million as a result of its not gaining the guaranteed gross profit. Singing Machine also has been hampered by dwindling sales of its MTV Networks branded products. It posted sales of $30.8 million (32.3% of consolidated sales) in sales of MTV-related goods in fiscal 2003, but declined to $8.3 million (12.2%) in the 9 months ended Dec. 31. The company amended its licensing agreement with MTV earlier this year to reduce the minimum annual royalty guarantee to $1.3 million from $1.5 million and extend the contract to April 30. Singing Machine’s 3rd-quarter loss widened to $10.4 million from $3.3 million as sales plunged to $28.6 million from $45.6 million. Its gross profit margin declined to 4.6% from 21.7%. Among those listed as selling shareholders in the SEC filing are Omicron Master Trust (434,034) and SF Capital Partners (187,013).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has published in the April 5, 2004 Federal Register its final negative antidumping (AD) duty determination that wax and wax/resin thermal transfer ribbons from South Korea are not being, nor are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.

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.

In its first full week available, Columbia TriStar’s Something’s Gotta Give was the #1-rented DVD in the U.S. the week ended April 4, Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data showed Thurs. Rentrak said the title earned $7.28 million on DVD in the week, for $7.39 million to date. In combined DVD and VHS rentals, the movie was also #1, earning $9.85 million in the week for $9.99 million to date. The only other 2 new titles in the top 10 for the week were Warner’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake at #2 and Disney’s Brother Bear at #5. Massacre earned $5.89 million on DVD and $7.73 million on DVD and VHS, for totals of $6.77 million on DVD and $8.65 million on DVD and VHS. Brother Bear earned $3.92 million on DVD and $5.33 million on DVD and VHS in the week, for totals of $3.97 million on DVD and $5.42 million on DVD and VHS. Last week’s #1 title -- Warner’s Gothika -- slipped to #3, earning $5.55 million on DVD and $7.39 million on DVD and VHS for totals of $12.61 million on DVD and $17.01 million on DVD and VHS.

Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox knocked Take-Two Interactive’s Mafia on PS2 out of the #1 position on the top 10 U.S. rental chart for the week ended April 4, Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data showed Thurs. Rentrak said the Ubisoft title moved up 7 notches in its 2nd week by earning $296,273, for $436,944 to date. Mafia fell one to #2 in its 10th week, earning $242,377 in the week, for $2.87 million to date. Ubisoft and Electronic Arts (EA) each had 3 SKUs in the top 10. The other 2 Ubisoft titles were Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield on PS2 at #4 (up 12 in its 2nd week, $229,420 in the week and $336,548 to date) and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm on PS2 at #9 (down 3 in its 3rd week, $165,342 in the week and $399,262 to date). EA’s 3 games were all for PS2: Bond 007: Everything or Nothing at #3 again in its 7th week ($231,237 in the week and $2 million to date), Need for Speed: Underground at #6 (down 2 in its 20th week, $213,406 in the week and $6.74 million to date) and NFL Street at #7 (down 2 in its 12th week, $183,893 in the week and $2.42 million to date). Rounding out the top 10 were Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden for Xbox at #5 (up 7 in its 5th week, $216,671 in the week and $1.33 million), Nintendo’s Pokemon: Colosseum for GameCube at #8 (up 6 in its 2nd week, $175,014 in the week and $284,859 to date) and Activision’s True Crime: Streets of L.A. for PS2 at #10 (down 3 in its 22nd week, $153,901 in the week and $5.86 million to date).

An informal working group (IWG) on satellite services took the first step Thurs. to prepare for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07). The group approved a preliminary “view” on WRC-07 agenda item 1.8, resolution 122. The resolution asks administrations to look at how the results of studies by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) affect technical sharing and regulatory provisions for high altitude platform stations (HAPS) that operate in the 47.2-47.5 GHz and 47.9-48.2 GHz bands (V- band). A 2nd resolution (145) addressing HAPS in the 27.5- 28.35 GHz and 31-31.3 GHz bands wasn’t addressed in the view. After WRC-2000, an ITU-R recommendation had been adopted establishing that co-frequency operations between fixed service (FS) HAPS and fixed satellite service (FSS) networks and systems are feasible. According to additional background information in the preliminary view, the ITU-R was asked at WRC-03 to study a number of sharing issues, including power limitations for sharing with space stations and ground receivers; HAPS deployment in the FS near country borders; and sharing criteria for FS HAPS with radio astronomy and FSS systems. The IWG’s preliminary view confirms that the U.S. plans to participate in the studies on “power limitations to be applied to HAPS ground stations to protect space station receivers.” Additionally, the view said the U.S. had an affirmative opinion on co-frequency sharing between FS HAPS and FSS in the identified bands: “With that, there no longer is any need for resolution 122, the restrictions it perpetuates on FSS notices in Region 1 and 3, or the limitless privileges it extends to HAPS notices. Resolution 122 should be suppressed.” A 2nd draft was considered but not approved Thurs. Agenda item 1.18 asks administrations to “review [power flux density] limits in band 17.7-19.7 GHz for satellite systems using highly inclined orbits, in accordance with resolution 141 (WRC-03).” The IWG plans 2 additional meetings, May 12 and 27, to complete all preliminary views before a June 8 meeting of the WRC-07 Advisory Committee in June.

3M has filed suit alleging the light engines built into Samsung’s DLP-based rear projection TVs infringe patents on light engine design technology that 3M acquired when it bought Corning Precision Lens (CPL) 2 years ago.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it has postponed the preliminary antidumping (AD) duty determinations on carbazole violet pigment 23 from China and India to June 18, 2004 (from April 29, 2004).

Canada’s telecom regulator said Wed. it sees little difference between traditional phone service and VoIP, suggesting they should be subject to the same regulations: “Voice communications services using IP …have characteristics that are functionally the same as circuit- switched voice telecommunications services,” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in a notice launching a public review on the issue.