The videogame industry scored its 2nd legal victory this week Wed. as U.S. Dist. Court Judge James Brady, Baton Rouge, ordered a permanent injunction against enforcement of a La. law that would ban the sale of violent videogames to minors, said the Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA).
Shareholders sued several Cablevision executives and board members, including former FCC Chmn. Charles Ferris, over stock option backdating that the company has admitted (CD Aug 9 p12). During expedited discovery plaintiffs’ lawyers will review e-mails, board meeting minutes and all records relating to meetings at which options were granted. A preliminary scheduling order calls for a trial to begin by March 2, 2007, plaintiffs’ attorney Stuart Grant told us. Cablevision cost shareholders $50-$100 million by backdating options grants 1997-2002, Grant said: “What I'd really like is that the options that were improperly issued to be cancelled. That can and should be done for all the officers and directors” who received them. “To the extent you gave rank and file a freebie, so be it,” he said: “But you've got to pay back the difference.” A successful legal challenge would put pressure on the SEC and U.S. Attorney’s office, also investigating Cablevision options, Grant said. Plaintiffs include the La. Teachers’ Retirement System and Teamsters Local 456. Cablevision Tues. declined to comment.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its countervailing (CV) duty administrative review of corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from France for the period of January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated antidumping (AD) duty investigations and countervailing (CV) duty investigations of coated free sheet paper from Indonesia, China and Korea.
GENEVA -- An ITU focus group wants to gauge network operator preparedness for security threats and assess interest in a specification for it. The project, proposed by Russia, would generate recommendations indicating network operators’ readiness and ability for “collaborative and coordinated counteraction to information security threats arising from interconnected networks,” an official working with the Security Baseline for Network Operators focus group said: “Now virtually anybody can set up as a network operator. You really don’t know who you're dealing with a lot of the time.”
GENEVA -- An ITU focus group wants to gauge network operator preparedness for security threats and assess interest in a specification for it. The project, proposed by Russia, would generate recommendations indicating network operators’ readiness and ability for “collaborative and coordinated counteraction to information security threats arising from interconnected networks,” an official working with the Security Baseline for Network Operators focus group said: “Now virtually anybody can set up as a network operator. You really don’t know who you're dealing with a lot of the time.”
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of certain stainless steel butt-weld pipe fittings from Taiwan for the period of June 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005.
In late September 2006, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce sent letters to Senators Dole and Graham regarding their constituents' concerns over the possible granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Vietnam and its effect on the domestic textile industry once Vietnam joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Globalstar wants to be the first company to take Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC)-like services overseas -- after an ATC wireless network is built here and other countries sort out their regulations, said Globalstar CEO Jay Monroe. Speaking to analysts, shareholders and “potential investors” in a Q3 earnings report after market close Tues., Monroe said that “over the next few years” Globalstar wants to jump on ATC opportunities in Europe, Canada, and S. America. The MSS firm wants to capitalize on its worldwide spectrum allocation by offering itself as an international partner for companies interested in beefing up their spectrum holdings, he said.
The EC is investigating a proposed French tax credit for videogame creation, it said Wed. Under the scheme, production studios would get a credit worth 20% of the cost of producing certain games if they adapt an existing work of European origin or satisfy a test of quality, originality of concept and contribution to expression of European cultural diversity and creativity. The EC Treaty permits “state aid” to promote culture if it doesn’t unduly affect competition and trade among member nations, but its preliminary findings show the French proposal might apply to more than videogames with cultural content, and a tax edge potentially harmful to French firms’ European rivals, the EC said.