The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of its antidumping duty new shipper review of certain preserved mushrooms from China for the period of February 1, 2006 through September 12, 2006.
New provisions on broadband mapping and 911 services are among amendments likely to be adopted in a multi-titled farm bill (HR-2419) on which the Senate resumed work Friday after nearly a month of inactivity. Leadership limited amendments to 40, half Democrat and half Republican. That forestalled a reprise of the amendment clog that paralyzed the measure on the floor as November began. Prospects for passage remain dim, with the White House vowing a veto.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a revised version of its notice listing the addresses and other information involving the payment of CBP bills and other specific bill-related issues. CBP's revised version has been updated to reflect the correct address for sureties to send checks received by principals.
New Games: The Xbox 360 version of Activision’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare moved up three positions in its fourth week available to be the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Dec. 2. Microsoft 360 game Mass Effect -- the previous week’s No. 1 game -- slid to No. 2 its second week. No new releases made the top 10, nor did any PS3 titles. The top 10 had more games for 360 -- six -- than any other platform. Other leading games for Microsoft’s console were Kane & Lynch: Dead Men by Eidos at No. 3 (up four its third week), Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed at No. 4 (up two its third week), Need For Speed: ProStreet from Electronic Arts at No. 5 (down three its third week) and Microsoft’s Halo 3 at No. 8 (down three its 10th week). The only top 10 Wii game, Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy, was No. 10, down two its third week. Rounding out the top 10 were three PS2 games: EA’s ProStreet at No. 6 (down three in its third week), THQ’s WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2008 at No. 7 (up three its third week) and EA’s Madden NFL 08 at No. 9 again its 16th week… Development is underway on Street Fighter IV, Capcom said Thursday, not specifying what platforms it will be for or when it will ship. The first new entry in the action series announced in nearly eight years followed Street Fighter III Third Strike… JoWooD Productions and DreamCatcher Games will ship real-time strategy game Seven Kingdoms: Conquest for Windows in first quarter 2008 at $39.99 in the U.S. The game is the third entry in the Seven Kingdoms franchise… BigWorld Technology signed a deal with Vivendi Games’ Sierra Online to use the BigWorld Technology Suite to develop a coming PC online game targeting a mass market audience. The game wasn’t named nor were terms disclosed. The technology suite offers tools and technology for use in developing “cutting-edge, next-generation online games,” the companies said… Development has begun on a Nintendo DS version of FIFA Street 3, EA said Thursday. The game will ship Deb. 15 on the EA Sports Big label in Europe and Feb. 19 in North America, as the game becomes available for PS3 and Xbox 360, EA said. The DS version will offer touch-screen control and exclusive mini-game Kick Ups… 505 Games will ship Cooking Mama 2 in Europe during “early 2008,” the publisher said Thursday. The game sequel already shipped in the U.S. for Nintendo DS, from publisher Majesco Entertainment. European sales of the first Cooking Mama game for DS and Wii “surpassed one million units,” 505 said, making the franchise its “most successful title to date”… EGO Game Technology Engine is the new name for Codemasters Studios’ proprietary middleware, it said. The first generation version of the middleware -- dubbed “Neon” -- was used to create its racing game Colin McRae: Dirt. The latest version of the engine is being used to create its new games Race Driver: Grid and Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, it said. Development on the engine “formed part” of the Pounds 40.5 million ($84.3 million) that Codemasters invested in game design and technical development in the 12- month fiscal year ended June 30 -- up more than 150 percent over the year before, it said. The company made “significant investments” in its own cross-platform, multi-genre development solution in anticipation of the transition to next-generation consoles, Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens said.
The International Trade Administration has issued its final results of the antidumping duty administrative review of stainless steel wire rods from India for the period of December 1, 2005 through November 30, 2006.
The International Trade Administration has initiated antidumping duty investigations to determine whether imports of sodium nitrite from China and Germany are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value; and a countervailing duty investigation to determine whether manufacturers, producers, or exporters of sodium nitrite in China receive countervailable subsidies.
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice stating that it is postponing the preliminary countervailing duty determination on raw flexible magnets from China by 65 days to February 19, 2008.
The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of its antidumping duty new shipper review of honey from China for the period of December 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006.
The International Trade Administration has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping duty administrative and new shipper reviews:
Adult publisher Perfect 10 suffered a pair of unfavorable appeals rulings Monday. The Supreme Court denied cert. in Perfect 10 v. CCBill, a case against credit-card processors for Web sites that were illegally hosting Perfect 10’s nude images. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld a broad grant of immunity for service providers under the Communications Decency Act, which would preempt state intellectual-property law claims by Perfect 10 and others (WID June 1 p6). The Supreme Court action practically nullifies the right of publicity in state law, Perfect 10 President Norm Zada told us. “The celebrities don’t realize what just happened,” and will have great difficulty preventing the unauthorized commercial use of their names on the Internet, he said. The 9th Circuit Monday amended its May ruling in Perfect 10 v. Google, which found that Google could create thumbnails of infringing images because they were “transformative” but said Google may be liable for linking to infringing images themselves (WID May 17 p1). That case was remanded to a district court in Los Angeles. The appeals court reinstated a “potential cause of action” against Google by saying the search company had the burden of proof to show that its thumbnails constituted fair use, and that it must remove infringing material when notified, Zada said. But the ruling is actually “somewhat worse for us,” because the court also said Google was likely to prevail on its fair-use defense, he said. The 9th Circuit panel wasn’t swayed by screenshots that Perfect 10 submitted last month, in which Google searches for Perfect 10 models returned “bestiality images right next to our models.” “In retrospect I wish I had never filed” a motion for preliminary injunction against Google, in light of the ruling, Zada said. His business has largely shut down -- the print Perfect 10 closed and the Web component is struggling for subscriptions and mobile downloads because of Google-enabled infringement, Zada said. He still believes Perfect 10 will win at trial, but “it’s going to be too late” for his business. Every new court order before trial starts will delay the case further, he said. Zada has spent $15 million in litigation. “I can see that people who are playing by the rules are losing big time.” We couldn’t reach Google right away for comment.