The International Trade Administration has made a preliminary affirmative antidumping duty determination that lemon juice from Mexico is being, or is likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
The House Commerce Committee will examine cable’s role in carrying broadcast signals, Chmn. Dingell (D-Mich.) told an NCTA gathering. “Not only do we have to see to it that the rulemaking is conducted in a fair fashion, but we have to see to it that the result of any governmental action is first of all something that solves the problems, which enables you to function properly and to compete fairly in areas where you have concerns or where business interests,” he said. He spoke Wed. as the FCC was to vote on a DTV item requiring cable operators to carry local broadcast signals on their analog and digital tiers (CD April 21 p1). Dingell also addressed the DTV transition and an FCC trend of reclassifying communications services under Title I of the Communications Act. Dingell also repeated his support for small bidding blocks in the 700 MHz auction.
In its 6th week, Sony’s God of War II for PS2 was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended April 22. There was no new release in the top 10.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
LG and its U.S. subsidiary infringed 7 Hitachi patents on plasma technology, Hitachi alleged in a complaint filed late Mon. in U.S. Dist. Court, Marshall, Tex. The suit seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the importation or sale of LG panels. It seeks treble damages for willful infringement. LG declined comment. Hitachi said it discussed a patent license deal with LG, but the companies were far apart and the talks “have reached an impasse.”
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
GENEVA -- ITU gave a preliminary nod to the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and developed a module for systems to aid transmission over cramped networks, an official here said. OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) will consider the move before ITU forwards the decisions to administrations for final approval, an official said.
Microsoft confirmed Mon. it had responded to a preliminary European Commission ruling that its royalties for work group server protocol licenses are too high (WID March 2 p9). The company said it’s not requesting an oral hearing to protest the EC ruling. “We need greater clarity on what prices the Commission wants us to charge, and we believe that is more likely to come from a constructive conversation than from a formal hearing,” Gen. Counsel Brad Smith said.
GENEVA -- ITU gave a preliminary nod to the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and developed a module for systems to aid transmission over cramped networks, an official here said. OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) will consider the move before ITU forwards the decisions to administrations for final approval, an official said.
Genius Products released 6 HD movies during 2006 and has “aggressive plans in the back half of 2007 to exploit high- def in both” the Blu-ray and HD DVD “formats as the installed base continues to expand,” Chmn. Stephen Bannon told analysts in a conference call Fri. The company also released more than 200 DVD titles during 2006 and expects to release about 300 this year, he said. It “processed more than 1.5 million orders” during 2006 and expects to ship more than 70 million DVD units this year, Bannon also said. Despite the disappointing showing of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez-directed double feature Grindhouse at the box office, Genius is upbeat about how the title will fare when it’s released on DVD, the company said, noting the filmmakers have loyal fan bases. One factor that could have hurt the title’s theatrical performance is its approximate 3- hour running time which, when combined with the time it takes for some consumers to drive to a theater, could increase a theatergoer’s time commitment to nearly 5 hours at one time - - an issue that won’t affect the movie’s performance on home entertainment formats, Genius said. The company has exclusive rights to distribute that movie on DVD and other optical disc formats as part of the pact it signed with The Weinstein Co. (TWC) in which TWC received a controlling stake in Genius last year. Genius signed 15 “major content deals” during 2006 and an additional 5 this year, said Bannon. The company’s catalog grew from only 750 at the end of 2005 to more than 3,500 titles at the end of 2006, he told analysts. Genius also decided to separate its legacy business from its branded business “to focus more time and energy on our branded business including TWC,” said CEO Trevor Drinkwater. The company is “transitioning” to the new business model during the first half of this year, he said, adding “we believe this will allow us to manage the now-expansive Genius Branded Business with our current sales and marketing team and will expand our ability to effectively service other independent content providers.” The comments came as Genius reported preliminary pro forma revenue of more than $380 million for fiscal 2006 and said it still expects to report fiscal 2007 revenue of $700-$800 million. Genius expects to file a 10-K with the SEC this week, it said, adding its 2006 audit is arriving late due to its “unprecedented growth,” the closing of the TWC transaction in July, the 15 new brand partnerships that closed in 2006 and non-cash restatements. It also recently changed its audit firm to Ernst & Young.