Take-Two Interactive’s PS2 game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., in its 7th week available, Rentrak said its preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Dec. 12 showed. Rentrak said the game earned an additional $848,779 in the week, for $7.53 million to date. Microsoft’s Xbox game Halo 2 -- the previous week’s #2-rented title -- dropped one to #3 its 5th week, earning an additional $305,121, for $3 million to date. It was replaced by Need for Speed Underground 2 for PS2 from Electronic Arts (EA), which moved up one in its 4th week, earning an additional $402,887, for $1.63 million to date. EA had 2 other SKUs in the top 10: The Xbox version of Need at #5 (down one, an additional $213,265 and $1.03 million to date) and Madden NFL 2005 for PS2 at #8 in its 18th week ($172,850 and $4.98 million). The only other publisher with more than one SKU in the top 10 was Activision, with 2, both for PS2: Call of Duty: Finest Hour at #6 again in its 4th week ($198,867 and $890,744) and Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 at #10 in its 10th week ($132,858 and $2.48 million). Rounding out the top 10 were 3 more PS2 titles: Atari’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 at #4 (up one, 3rd week, $213,861 and $702,635), THQ’s WWE Smackdown! Vs. Raw at #7 (up one, 6th week, $194,401 and $1.38 million) and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater at #9 (down 2, 6th week, $162,072 and $722,114).
The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of the antidumping (AD) duty administrative review of stainless steel plate in coils from Belgium for the period of May 1, 2002 through April 30, 2003.
The FCC released a public notice seeking comment on a new study on bird deaths and wireless towers by Avatar Environmental. The study calls for a multiyear research program and asks for industry groups and others interested to file comments by Jan. 13 on its findings. The latest study is expected to reignite the debate on bird deaths and wireless towers.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative reviews:
Other International Game News: The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Assn. (ELSPA) said a S. Gloucestershire company discovered one of its employees was distributing pirated materials in the workplace. ELSPA said a receipt found with one of the counterfeit discs led to a video rental store in the Warmley area of Bristol. Local Trading Standards issued a formal letter of warning to cease selling pirated games and films without BBFC ratings, to no effect. ELSPA said one of its investigators visited the shop at the end of Oct. and overheard a conversation between the proprietor and a customer revealing that the pirated stock was kept elsewhere. Because the proprietor believed Trading Standards didn’t operate after 5 p.m., he moved the discs to the store only after that time of day, ELSPA said. In an evening raid the investigator entered the shop, claimed to have ordered a film and a game and was shown to the storeroom containing a large bag full of made-to-order product. He paid Pounds 9 ($17.88) for the 2 discs and left. ELSPA said police then moved in and seized a large amount of pirated movies and games including Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Authorities also uncovered 3 notebooks full of orders, bagfuls of pornography stuffed behind shelves and a box containing hundreds of pounds sterling… After an emergency meeting with the U.K. govt. last week in London to discuss videogame ratings and controversy over violent titles, ELSPA Dir. Gen. Roger Bennett said the discussions were “very positive.” He said “we all realize that it is important that we work together to look at ways in which the industry can do more to help parents make informed decisions.” Bennett said “a number of initiatives were discussed at the meeting and they will be formulated to create specific proposals to promote greater understanding, recognition and awareness of the games rating system, ensuring that young people are not exposed to inappropriate content.” But he didn’t specify what any of the initiatives discussed were. Culture Secy. Tessa Jowell said it was “a very positive meeting,” adding that the game industry “agreed with government that we needed to make sure that the 18 classification system is understood and enforced.” Games rated 18+ in the U.K. can’t legally be sold to minors under 18. The meeting was held after Howell and Trade Secy. Patricia Hewitt teamed to fight for clearer labeling on games with mature content. Controversy over violent games flared up again in the U.K. after the murder of a teenager by a friend who, it was claimed, was a fan of the gory Take-Two Interactive game Manhunt… China banned the computer game Soccer Manager 2005, claiming the title contained content that harmed the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and therefore violated Chinese law, published reports said. The reports said Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau were classified as independent countries in the game, while Tibet was referred to as Chinese Tibet, which the Chinese govt. claimed elevated the country to the same level as China. The Chinese govt. threatened to fine websites that supplied the game, as well as Internet cafes that allowed customers to download it, the reports said… SCi Entertainment said last week that, as of Thurs., Cantor Fitzgerald Europe owned 2.19 million shares (7.64%) of stock in the company. Earlier in the week, the game maker reported its best preliminary fiscal year results to date. SCi said its sales increased 8.8% to Pounds 31 million from a year ago thanks in large part to strong sales of Conflict: Vietnam, which it said reached #1 in the U.K. and “many other” European countries. The company said it shipped more than 1.2 million units of the game to date, boosting sales in its Conflict series to about 6 million units. SCi also recently agreed to license its games for the Gizmondo handheld entertainment device and for other mobile platforms. CEO Jane Cavanagh said the company “believes that the outlook for the year to [Sept. 30, 2005] and beyond is very strong.”
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing that it is initiating a changed circumstances review of the antidumping (AD) duty order on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Japan.
European telecom regulators began questioning mobile network operators in European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Area states last week about their wireless international roaming practices. The European Regulators Group (ERG) -- made up of heads of national regulatory authorities in EU member states -- agreed to make WIR one of 4 top items on its 2005 work agenda, based in part on concerns by politicians over excessive roaming charges, ERG Chmn. Jorgen Andersen said Dec. 8 at the European Competitive Telecom Assn. annual regulatory conference (CD Dec 9 p9). The questionnaire will give regulators comparable information on such things as operators’ WIR charges, discounts and traffic direction abilities, which will help ERG determine whether WIR should be regulated in Europe, the group said. Some preliminary results of the group’s work could be out in May.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the preliminary results of its antidumping (AD) duty new shipper reviews for honey from China with respect to the following exporter/producer combinations, for the review period of December 1, 2002 through November 30, 2003: