EchoStar subscribers will be able to watch the Super Bowl on CBS Feb. 1 because a preliminary injunction hearing was delayed to Feb. 27. EchoStar received a temporary restraining order (TRO) a week ago after Viacom threatened to pull its programming from Dish Network this month (CD Jan 21 p9). The U.S. Dist. Court, Oakland, partly granted a Viacom motion asking a continuance. Judge Claudia Wilken said the TRO would remain in effect until March 3. Viacom had said the continuance “would have the advantage of pushing resolution of this matter past the Super Bowl, an issue which Viacom has always viewed as a superfluous distraction in this litigation.” EchoStar’s response opposed the continuance unless it extended through May to allow EchoStar more discovery time. Viacom said it was pleased with the judge’s order although it still felt a hearing wasn’t the proper venue for the discussion: “We put a very fair offer on the table a week ago and have had no response from EchoStar, which continues to show more concern with legal maneuvers than providing more choice to their subscribers.”

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

The Editor's page in the weekly Journal of Commerce opines that although the voluntary C-TPAT program has achieved much by responding swiftly to the change in national priorities that followed September 11, it may be time to move on, and work toward formalizing regulations for C-TPAT. The editorial adds that regulations may be needed as it makes little sense to require the use of smart containers through a voluntary C-TPAT program, as there is no guarantee firms will adopt them. (JoC, January 19-25, 2004, www.joc.com )

The temporary restraining order (TRO) EchoStar sought against Viacom earlier this month was granted late Fri. by Judge Claudia Wilken in U.S. Dist. Court, San Francisco. EchoStar took action after Viacom threatened to deny it carriage rights to its CBS stations if the latter didn’t carry certain additional Viacom programming (CD Jan 9 p14). Judge Wilken said the “balance of hardships tips sharply in [EchoStar’s] favor.” A hearing scheduled for Fri. will require Viacom to “show cause why this order should not be converted to a preliminary injunction extending until the conclusion of this litigation,” she said. In its brief, Viacom had said EchoStar had known for nearly 3 years that carriage rights would end in Dec., opting to “[drag] its feet” instead of signing an agreement. It said EchoStar should have asked the FCC for relief, and asked the court to require EchoStar to post a bond to cover damages Viacom would incur while EchoStar broadcast CBS local stations lacking an agreement. The judge did mandate a $10,000 bond for EchoStar due by 5 p.m. PST Tues. EchoStar will continue carriage of Viacom programming under the terms and conditions of its previous agreement at least until the hearing Fri. EchoStar said it was pleased the court had recognized the public interest aspect of the TRO. Viacom called the lawsuit a “delaying tactic… the proper place for this dispute is at the conference table, not the courtroom.”

The latest proposed law aimed at the videogame industry was created as a result of the controversy involving the Haitian- American community’s battle against Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which has been accused of being racist. The N. Miami City Council is trying to pass an ordinance that would restrict sales of violent games to kids. Take-Two declined comment, but Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA) Pres. Douglas Lowenstein said Tues. that “federal courts have consistently ruled that efforts to restrict the sale of all entertainment media, including interactive games, based on their content are unconstitutional restrictions on creative expression.” As an example, he said: “Last year, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the very Washington state law cited by the [N. Miami] Council as a basis for its ordinance… The Council apparently ignored findings reported by Washington state’s own Department of Health concluding that ‘current research evidence is not supportive of a major public concern that violent videogames lead to real-life violence.'” Like before, Lowenstein said: “Beyond the legal realities, the Federal Trade Commission has reported that parents are involved in the purchase or rental of games 83% of the time. In other words, when kids do get Mature-rated games it’s usually with their parents’ knowledge and no law known to man can mandate sound parenting. Finally, the statute is unnecessary. Leading retailers recently announced an all-out commitment to implement voluntary systems to prevent the sale of Mature-rated games to persons under 17. In fact, the National Institute on Media & the Family recently found that in cases where stores have policies to enforce the Mature-rating, sales of M-rated games to minors are prevented 70% of the time, a level surpassing that achieved by movie theaters in preventing minors’ entry into R-rated films.”

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

The European Union (EU) is requesting World Trade Organization (WTO) authorization to apply retaliatory sanctions against the U.S. for its failure to bring the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (Byrd Amendment) into conformity with WTO rules by December 27, 2003. The EU states that this deadline for compliance with the WTO Appellate Body's ruling passed without action from U.S. Congress to repeal the measure.

Analog Devices CEO Jerald Fishman received $11.5 million in fiscal 2003 ended Nov. 1 by exercising stock options, the company said in a preliminary proxy statement filed with the SEC for its annual shareholder meeting March 9 in Waltham, Mass. For the fiscal 12 months, Fishman’s base salary rose to $930,935 from $850,374 in 2002, the filing said. Analog Devices paid Fishman a bonus of $40,728 for the 4th quarter only, the filing said -- it hadn’t paid him a bonus in fiscal 2002. On Dec. 10, Analog Devices granted an annual stock option to Fishman to buy 400,000 shares at $45.27. The option is exercisable in 3 equal installments on each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th anniversaries of the grant date. At the end of the fiscal year, Fishman had 1.7 million exercisable options remaining. On the agenda for the annual meeting is a proposal to authorize the company to double the number of issuable common shares to 1.2 billion from 600 million, the proxy said. Proceeds from their sale would be used to fund possible stock dividends, joint ventures, acquisitions or other general corporate purposes, it said.

(a) For previously reviewed or investigated companies not listed above, the cash deposit rate will be the company-specific rate established for the most recent period.

On January 14, 2004, the International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a news release on its preliminary negative antidumping (AD) injury determination stating that there is no reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of ready-to-cook kosher chicken and parts thereof from Canada.