FSS competitors SES Americom and Intelsat sent the FCC transponder reports, but only SES made its data public. The annual reports are required by Commission rules. Terming its operational data “commercially sensitive,” Intelsat declared them exempt from release under FOIA. But SES went public on its transponder outages and utilization rates, detailing 2 transponder failures in Sept. 2005. SSPA 23, servicing C- band Channel 23, failed Sept. 21, but was restored the next day, SES said. Chanel 19, interrupted as part of the Channel 23 restoration, couldn’t be fixed, and “was rolled into SSPA Spare 1,” SES said. Other transponders are working, they said. SES reported transponder utilization on 17 craft: Ku- band fill rates generally topped C-band usage in 2005, especially in slots over the central U.S. C-band satellites Satcom C-4 and C-3 are empty, SES said, though a month ago C- 4 was being moved to a new orbital slot. Intelsat withheld its transponder utilization and outage data, claiming competitors like SES Americom, Telesat and Eutelsat could use the data “to enhance their market position at Intelsat’s expense.” The FSS operator did report on Intelsat Americas 9’s construction. The C- and Ku-band satellite, being built by Space Systems/Loral, is set for a late 2007 launch by Sea Launch. Intelsat said SS/L attached the satellite’s communications panels in March, with thermal vacuum tests slated to start in Aug. Launch service preliminary design review is scheduled for June, Intelsat said.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review of the antidumping (AD) duty order on certain softwood lumber products from Canada with respect to the following companies, identified as the producer or exporter, for the noted review period:
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of stainless steel bar from India for the period of February 1, 2004 through January 31, 2005.
Samsung Electronics America renewed a commitment to sponsor the U.S. leg of the World Cyber Games (WCG) tournament for the 5th consecutive year. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Samsung said it agreed to sponsor all WCG U.S. events including the WCG USA online preliminaries, WCG U.S. Open, WCG USA Regional Tournaments and WCG USA Championship National Finals. Samsung will be exclusive provider of HDTV displays for Xbox 360 matches and other monitors for the PC game matches, it said. Other exclusive sponsorship categories include cellphones, MP3 players and computer printers. U.S. competition has started, with matches July 15-16 in Austin, July 29-30 in Indianapolis, Aug. 5-6 in Irvine, Cal. and Aug. 12-13 in N.Y.C. The U.S. tournament culminates in the WCG USA Championship Final Sept. 15-17 at a location to be announced where 175 top gamers will face off for $76,000 in prizes and the chance to represent the U.S. on Team USA at the Grand Final in Monza, Italy. This year’s tournament features 6 PC games - StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft: Frozen Throne, Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault, FIFA Soccer 06 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted - as well as the Xbox 360 games Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3. The U.S. program also adds more competitions at its major live events, including Major League Baseball 2K6, Halo 2, Geometry Wars and others for the Xbox 360. The event, which began as the World Cyber Challenge in 2000, is the world’s largest video and computer game tournament festival, with more than 1.25 million people competing in 2005 in local, regional and national qualifying tournaments, its produce said. Organizers expect up to 700 gamers to travel to Italy in Oct. for the Grand Final. Samsung is the worldwide sponsor for the World Cyber Games; other sponsors include Microsoft.
New Games: World of Warcraft from Vivendi Games moved up 2 spots to return to the top of the PC game sales chart in the U.S., according to NPD Group data for the week ended June 24. THQ’s Cars Radiator Springs Adventure -- the previous week’s #1 title -- dropped to #2 while Half-Life 2: Episode 1 from Electronic Arts (EA) fell one to #3. EA had 3 other titles in the top 10, each in the same position it was in the previous week: The Sims 2 at #4, The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff Expansion Pack at #5 and The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack at #6… Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, in its 21st week, was again the #1-selling game in the U.K., according to the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Assn.’s Chart Track data for the week ended July 1. Sales of the title, initially released only for PSP, saw a recent surge after being released in a SKU for PS2, which accounted for 96% of the title’s sales for the week. Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. for DS was the only new game in the top 10, at #2… Liberty City Stories for PS2 was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended July 2. There were no new games in the top 10… EA shipped The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II for Xbox 360 and said it “will hit store shelves July 7” at $59.99 in the U.S. It said the release, based on the PC game of the same name, “marks the debut of a strategy game available for the Xbox 360 system,” boasting a new and innovative console-specific control scheme that allows novice players to enjoy the game’s signature strategy gameplay while giving expert strategy players the flexibility needed to engage in deeply complex battles. The title was developed at EA’s L.A. studio and is part of the deal it signed with the Saul Zaentz Co. that granted EA the rights to develop games based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Rings books, in addition to a separate deal that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films… Superscape Group said 11 of its mobile game SKUs are now available for download from the Leap Wireless-owned network Cricket: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Paintball Challenge, Jaws 2D, Fight Club 2D, Callaway Golf Mobile Tour 06 2D and 3D, Andretti Racing 2D and 3D, Ali Boxing 2D and 3D, and Street Hoops 3D.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its countervailing (CV) duty administrative review of certain in-shell pistachios from Iran for the period of January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004.
The FCC raised the reimbursement rates for telecom relay services (TRS) above those recommended by the National Exchange Carrier Assn. (NECA), after deciding to include some costs that NECA had excluded. The FCC raised the overall TRS fund size to $419.7 million for the year beginning July 1, 2006, compared with the $387.8 million recommended by NECA. The higher FCC number reflects, in large part, the agency’s decision to restore advertising and marketing expenses, which NECA recommended dropping. Advocates for hearing-impaired people had argued that advertising and marketing were important to make potential users aware of the relay services. The FCC said there has been confusion about the nature of these expenses, which sometimes are labeled “outreach,” so while the expenses have been restored for reimbursement, this action shouldn’t be interpreted as stopping the FCC in the future from deciding some of these costs aren’t eligible for compensation. For video relay service (VRS), the largest type of relay services, the FCC froze the current compensation rate until the Commission adopts a new rate based on new methodology and clarification of some other cost recovery issues. NECA had recommended reducing the rate. Pat Nola, CEO of Sorenson Communications, which provides VRS products, said the company had argued costs justified raising the reimbursement rate. However, the decision to freeze this year’s rate “is a positive preliminary step” while the FCC begins creating a new rate methodology. TRS reimbursement pays for the cost of providing services.
Google, Yahoo, MSN and others are stonewalling on click fraud to their own and others’ detriment, said research firm Outsell. Online advertisers estimate 14.6% of the clicks they're billed for are fraudulent, representing about $800 million in spending for fraudulent clicks in 2005, according to the study of 407 advertisers responsible for about $1 billion in advertising.
Dutch telecom company KPN said it’s suing the Dutch govt. for subjecting KPN to unequal regulation compared to rivals in the cable sector. Its recent launch of digital TV services makes KPN a direct competitor of Dutch cable operators, which also offer Internet and telephony. KPN said it’s subject to “a complex web of rules and regulations” cable companies don’t face. It said cable operators cross- subsidize new services such as telephony with proceeds from TV and selectively price-dump to keep KPN and others out of the market. Europe is the setting for a battle over growth amid cut-price competition from cable companies in fixed-line telephony and an increasing shift to wireless. KPN is complaining to Dutch competition authority NMa and communications regulator OPTA and seeking a preliminary injunction in court to end “this unequal treatment,” it said. The Dutch govt. still holds a share of about 8% in KPN.
The Belgian govt. has no power over transfer of bank transaction data by the SWIFT financial cooperative to the American govt., a preliminary investigation showed, the govt. said. “After the first analysis of our reports, it appears that all the information furnished by SWIFT to the U.S. Treasury was done through the normal activities of its U.S. subsidiary,” the Belgian govt. said. It still needed to receive a final report before making a decision on the matter, the govt. said, promising to communicate its conclusions to the Belgian parliament, but not giving any timetable for that. SWIFT said it had done nothing that violated the privacy of customers, and that it had done nothing illegal. In a statement, SWIFT said it negotiated with the “U.S. Treasury over the scope and oversight of the subpoenas.” Meanwhile, the ACLU welcomed London-based Privacy International’s (PI’s) call to investigate U.S. tracking. The group will aid PI in pressing European officials to act, it said. “Privacy rights are being violated on both sides of the Atlantic -- and we welcome a European investigation to get to the bottom of this,” ACLU Technology & Liberty Project Dir. Barry Steinhardt said. PI wrote to European privacy commissioners urging they investigate SWIFT data sharing. PI, which fears the practice “substantially violates data protection law,” asked policymakers to “demand that the disclosure program be suspended pending legal review.” The fact that millions of records are involved in the operation “places this disclosure in the realm of a fishing exercise rather than legally authorised investigation,” the group said. “Things have reached a crisis point when some of our best hopes for preserving privacy in America lie with foreign commissioners,” Steinhardt said.