U.S. Dist. Judge Lawrence Kahn, Albany, N.Y., promised ruling soon on Madster’s bid to take enforcement of preliminary injunction against filing-sharing service away from Chicago court that held company in contempt, RIAA said. Kahn said he wouldn’t disturb order or other previous actions of U.S. Dist. Judge Marvin Aspen, Chicago. Madster, formerly Aimster, contends Aspen and record company plaintiffs overstepped bounds in copyright infringement action set by Bankruptcy Court hearing Madster’s Chapter 11 reorganization in Albany.

Sirius projects subscriptions will rise to 321,000 by year-end 2003 from 29,947 activations as of Dec. 31, reaching 1.3 million subscribers by end of 2004. So said Sirius in preliminary proxy statement filed with SEC for as-yet- unscheduled special shareholder meeting to ratify terms of company’s proposed $1.2-billion recapitalization deal. Projections on Sirius subscriber growth would put it roughly year behind progress of rival XM, which began commercial service nationally 8 months earlier than Sirius. XM announced at CES it had reached 360,000 subscriptions Dec. 31 and projected growth to million by end of 2003. Sirius expects its activations to reach 2.9 million by end of 2005, 4.9 million by end of 2006, it said in proxy filing. Sirius has projected it will reach cash flow breakeven in 2005 at 2 million subscribers, assuming recapitalization plan is approved.

European Commission is investigating several European TV and pay-per-view companies and their relationships with several Hollywood studios, spokeswoman for European Commission delegation confirmed. She declined to identify companies, but said there were 2 separate investigations and both were in preliminary stages. She said first was centered on duration of contracts involving one pay-TV company and studios, and 2nd involved “most-favored-nation” clauses in contracts. With such clause TV companies would commit themselves to offer higher price, which they also would do with other companies, she said. “The Commission’s concern is that such contracts might lessen competition and keep film prices artificially high in Europe,” she said. Financial Times said AOL Time Warner’s Warner Bros., Disney and Sony’s Columbia Tristar Motion Pictures were part of investigation. British Sky Bcstg. told Bloomberg News that it had been contacted by investigators.

FCC staff members plan to look at new issues such as review of TELRIC pricing, powerline broadband offerings and voice-over-IP (VoIP) this year, they told Commission in special meeting Wed. to look at bureau activities. Much of meeting was devoted to reviews of bureaus’ achievements and look ahead to new projects, often with praise from commissioners for bureau chiefs’ work. “This is further evidence that lawyers can manage,” Comr. Adelstein told Enforcement Bureau Chief David Solomon, who is lawyer.

Sirius projects subscriptions will rise to 321,000 by end of 2003 from 29,947 activations as of Dec. 31, reaching 1.3 million subscribers by end of 2004. So said Sirius in preliminary proxy statement filed with SEC for as-yet-unscheduled special shareholder meeting to ratify terms of company’s proposed $1.2- billion recapitalization deal (CED Oct 18 p1).

FCC Chmn. Powell lauded pace of progress of World Radio Conference 2003 Advisory Committee (WAC) Wed. “By all accounts, we are further ahead, in better cohesion, better prepared going forward on this one than we have been in a long time,” he said of U.S. preparatory process for WRC that starts in June in Geneva. “I hear that over and over again. I've heard that in the White House. I've heard that in Congress. I've heard that from industry. And I think if you hear that enough, it must be true,” Powell said at start of WRC Advisory Committee meeting Wed. at FCC. While meeting ran through draft preliminary views and handful of new proposals for WRC 2003 agenda items, organizers said they had no news on who would head U.S. delegation. List of finalists for WRC 2003 ambassador is said to have been narrowed by Administration to former NTIA Dir. Janice Obuchowski (CD Nov 19 p1), although White House has yet to make announcement. “Hopefully, the head of delegation will be in soon and the delegation will be formed,” said Brian Fontes, WAC chmn. and Cingular Wireless vp-federal relations. “We are in a very good position timewise and on substantive issues.”

Govt. and industry participants in U.S. Task Group on ultra-wideband (UWB), which is providing input to nascent ITU policy in that field, have rehashed some of same contentious arguments that were in play domestically before FCC approved UWB order in Feb., 2002, several observers and participants said. FCC officials advised preparatory group early in process that U.S. input to ITU couldn’t veer from emissions limits and other requirements for UWB devices adopted by Commission. But debate on positions U.S. will take at ITU Study Group meeting this month in Geneva has centered in part on how to protect existing services from harmful interference.

Proton K launch vehicle didn’t cause failure of Astra 1K launch Nov. 25., Russian State Failure Commission announced. Engine of Block DM upper stage is now focus of investigation. Commission released preliminary conclusions to International Launch Services (ILS) Tues. Commission suspects excessive temperatures, possibly caused by burn of extra fuel in main engine, destroyed Block DM during 2nd ignition. Final report and recommendations will be released in Jan. following end of investigation. ILS will conduct independent review of final report. SES Americom recently announced extent of launch delay for company’s AMC-9 will depend on findings of ILS’s independent review (CD Dec 31 p3).

Consumer intentions of buying TV sets rose slightly in Dec. from Nov., according to preliminary data in Conference Board monthly survey. Of 5,000 households polled, 7.3% said they planned to buy TV set in next 6 months, vs. 6.7% in Sept., 7.5% in Aug., 6.7% in Dec. 2001 . Consumer Confidence Index, which rebounded in Nov., declined more than 4 points in Dec., Conference Board said: “Weak retail sales over the holidays clearly reflect the current mood of consumers. Until there is an improvement in labor market conditions, there is not likely to be a significant upturn in consumer confidence.”

Federal judge said he would order Microsoft to stop shipping outdated and inconsistent version of Java in its Windows operating systems. In 42-page decision, U.S. Dist. Judge Frederick Motz, Baltimore, granted Sun Microsystems preliminary “must-carry” injunction against Microsoft, adding: “I further find it is an absolute certainty that unless a preliminary injunction is entered, Sun will have lost forever its right to compete, and the opportunity to prevail, in a market undistorted by its competitor’s antitrust violations.” He said there was “substantial” likelihood court would impose “elegantly simple remedy” of requiring Microsoft’s software to support Java.