The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
The wireless industry wants a voluntary approach to the creation of an effective, ubiquitous public alert system, said industry sources. Industry wants to improve the emergency alert system (EAS) but hopes the govt. sees the wireless platform’s benefits and limitations, sources said.
A spokeswoman for Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) said Mon. that it was “not unexpected” that the game industry’s request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Mich. law making it illegal to rent or sell mature videogames to children was granted last week (CED Nov 14 p8). But she said Granholm “stands by the new legislation” and there “will be a hearing” as part of the ongoing “court process.” The spokeswoman said she wasn’t sure when the hearing will be held.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
U.S. Dist. Court Judge George Steeh granted the videogame industry’s request for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the new Mich. law that would make it illegal to rent or sell sexually explicit and graphically violent games to minors. In his decision, Steeh said videogames are protected by the First Amendment, as videogame trade groups have consistently maintained. Steeh said he granted the preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs -- the Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA), VSDA and Mich. Retailers Assn. -- “demonstrated that the Act,” Public Act (P.A. 108), “is unlikely to survive scrutiny, and that irreparable harm follows from the loss of First Amendment freedoms.” The judge said the claim by Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and other defendants that a “compelling state interest” justifies the law wasn’t convincing, because the state failed to prove a link between violent videogames and minors’ behavior. Steeh also said the research “did not evaluate the independent effect of violent videogames, and thus provides no support for the Act’s singling out of videogames from other media.” He went on to say that “the response to the Act’s threat of criminal penalties will likely be responded to by self-censoring by game creators, distributors and retailers, including ultimately pulling ‘T’ and ‘M’ rated games off store shelves altogether.” Steeh joined the law’s critics in concluding “there is a serious problem in determining which games are prohibited to be sold or displayed to minors under the Act.” ESA Pres. Douglas Lowenstein said his group was “gratified” by Steeh’s decision. He said that “rather than continuing to play politics and pursuing this case to its inevitable defeat, further wasting Michigan taxpayers’ dollars along the way, we hope the state will start to join us in a common effort to take steps that actually help parents raise their kids in a healthy and safe way.” Interactive Entertainment Merchants Assn. (IEMA) Pres. Hal Halpin conceded that the issue was “far from settled.” But he said “our members can begin the always-important holiday selling season knowing that we will not be placed in the position of trying to discern which games may or may not run afoul of the law.” Granholm didn’t respond to a request for comment by our deadline.
LucasArts Entertainment’s Star Wars Battlefront II on multiple platforms moved up 5 notches in its 2nd week to become the #1-selling game in the U.K., according to the ELSPA’s ChartTrack data for the week ended Nov. 5. Take- Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for PSP was #2 in its first week. The only other new game in the top 10 was Activision’s Call of Duty 2 for PC at #9. Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 5 for PC, PS2 and Xbox
Jamdat Mobile CEO Mitch Lasky told analysts in a Tues. conference call “we expect to go to trial” to resolve a legal dispute with mobile entertainment portal Jamster “sometime in November.” Over the summer, Jamdat sued Jamster for trademark infringement after consumers complained about the similarity in the companies’ names, Lasky said in Aug. (CED Aug 15 p12). He said Jamdat wants to recover damages and stop use of the name Jamster by the latter’s parent, VeriSign.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of certain steel concrete reinforcing bars from Turkey for the period of April 1, 2003 through March 31, 2004.
Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR) filed a preliminary prospectus for an IPO in Canada. CSR officials said the firm will use the proceeds to complete its initial infrastructure rollout and fund operating expenses, among other things.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated new shipper reviews for the antidumping (AD) duty order on freshwater crawfish tail meat from China with respect to the following companies, which are both the producer and exporter, and review period: