The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty changed circumstances review of low enriched uranium (LEU) from France (A-427-818). The ITA has preliminarily determined that it is appropriate to amend the scope of the order by extending the deadline for the re-exportation of one entry from Eurodif S.A. and AREVA NP Inc. (collectively AREVA), from 18 months to 36 months.
The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of an administrative review of the countervailing duty on certain pasta from Italy (C-475-819). The final results set CV cash deposit rates for four producer/exporters. These rates, which are effective February 10, 2012, are expected to be implemented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection soon.
The Government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Feb 7-8, 2012 (note that some may also be given separate headlines)
The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction against Google in the U.S. District Court in Washington, in an attempt to urge the FTC to take action before Google’s privacy policy changes take effect. Beginning March 1, Google plans to integrate user information across most of its products (WID Jan 26 p3). EPIC alleges that this change in business practice “is in clear violation of the consent order that Google entered into on Oct. 13,” EPIC said in a press release. The commission “has thus far failed to take any action regarding this matter, placing the privacy interests of literally hundreds of millions of Internet users at grave risk,” the complaint said. Google violates the consent order concerning its defunct Buzz service by misrepresenting the extent “to which it maintains and protects the privacy and confidentiality of covered information.” The company also failed to “obtain affirmative consent from users prior to sharing their information with third parties,” EPIC’s complaint said. In the motion, EPIC asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order “compelling the FTC to enforce the consent order.” Google settled claims with FTC last year that it betrayed its own privacy promises to consumers using Buzz (WID March 31 p3). Google is “happy to engage in constructive conversations” about its updated privacy policy, “but EPIC is wrong on the facts and the law,” a spokesman said in an email. “We've undertaken the most extensive notification effort in Google’s history to ensure that users have many opportunities and ample time to learn about our Privacy Policy changes.” The company also continues offering choice and control over how people use Google services, he said.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the February 9, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the February 8, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration has issued a preliminary negative determination that imports of vanadium pentoxide from the Russian Federation (Russia), that are converted into ferrovanadium in the United States, are circumventing the antidumping duty order on ferrovanadium and nitrided vanadium (ferrovanadium) from Russia (A-821-807).
EMI hasn’t shown that it will suffer irreparable harm if the U.S. District Court in New York denies its motion for a preliminary injunction against “used” digital music reseller ReDigi, Judge Richard Sullivan said at a hearing Monday, denying the motion, according to the court transcript (http://xrl.us/bmra2h). EMI had told Sullivan it wouldn’t have “even a fair chance” of understanding the damage to its business from ReDigi without an injunction (WID Jan 24 p8). Sullivan said he let the parties argue for nearly two hours before ruling: “I found it very interesting and very well argued, so maybe that’s why I kept you all as long as I did.” Under the Supreme Court’s standard for injunctions articulated in eBay v. MercExchange, Sullivan said he must deny EMI’s motion. “It seems to me that money damages should be able to take care of all of this” if EMI wins the case, Sullivan said: ReDigi has convincingly argued that it keeps “careful records” from which damages could be calculated. EMI can’t stop ReDigi from operating based on EMI’s fear of market confusion, the judge said: The digital reseller’s “legal theory” to justify its secondhand-sale business model, as espoused in its filings and in public pronouncements, doesn’t meet the controlling 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ standard for confusion. But Sullivan said EMI had “demonstrated that there are arguments that on their face look to be compelling or potentially persuasive arguments,” and that ReDigi’s motion for summary judgment was “premature” because “it’s not clear to me that there are wholly undisputed facts” to which the parties agree. Sullivan suggested he could rule soon: “With limited discovery we should be able to get this teed up for summary judgment or a trial perhaps even on stipulated facts.” According to ReDigi, Sullivan told the parties Monday that the questions prompted by the suit, such as the applicability of the first-sale doctrine to digital files that by nature must be copied to be transferred, were “fascinating,” and raise “a lot of technological and statutory issues.” That portion wasn’t in the transcript. Sullivan told the parties in a formal order to submit a proposed case management plan and scheduling by Feb. 20. The digital reseller trumpeted Sullivan’s rejection of EMI’s argument that it was suffering irreparable harm from ReDigi’s continued operation. “This is an exciting step forward for ReDigi’s and the purchasing public’s fight to keep consumers’ intrinsic and lawful ownership rights to their digital property intact at a time when [EMI’s] Capitol Records is fighting desperately to confiscate these rights,” ReDigi said in its first press release since the litigation commenced (http://xrl.us/bmrahs). It said EMI had “disregard” for ReDigi’s technology, “which clearly works within the parameters of the law” by uploading a user’s purchased music from iTunes into a cloud locker and deleting the original files from the user’s devices. ReDigi CEO John Ossenmacher said the company was “helping consumers unlock billions of dollars of previously unrealized wealth in their digital media collections.” ReDigi is the “bazaar of the future,” where ReDigi’s management of purchasing and selling files “ensures safety, legality and convenience,” said Chief Technology Officer Larry Rudolph. EMI had a different take on Sullivan’s comments at the hearing. The judge “clearly indicated that Capitol had established the likelihood of success on the merits of its copyright infringement claim, calling its legal case for infringement ‘compelling,'” EMI said in a press statement. Sullivan “accepted our legal arguments on the merits of the dispute,” said Alasdair McMullan, executive vice president of legal affairs for EMI Music North America: “We fully expect that ReDigi will ultimately have to answer for its clear acts of infringement."
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the February 7, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of its second administrative review of the antidumping duty order on citric acid and certain citrate salts from Canada (A-122-853) for one manufacturer/exporter. These preliminary results are not in effect. They may be amended in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for this company.