The neighboring state commissions of Cal. and Ore. drew exactly opposite conclusions on whether they needed to conduct the 90-day case to challenge the FCC’s presumption that unbundled switching isn’t essential for local competition in the “enterprise” market for large business customers served by DS-1 or larger loops. Meanwhile, several other states set deadlines for CLECs to request a challenge to the FCC’s presumption.
In its first full week of availability, Columbia TriStar’s Anger Management was top-rented DVD in U.S., VSDA said preliminary data for week ended Sept. 21 showed. VSDA said title earned $6.22 million in week for total rental earnings to date of $6.34 million. It was only new DVD in top 10. Last week’s #1 DVD -- same company’s Identity -- slipped to #2, earning additional $3.11 million and increasing total rental earnings to $12.04 million.
PS2 version of Madden NFL 2004 from Electronic Arts (EA) was #1-rented videogame in U.S. again, VSDA said preliminary data for week ended Sept. 21 showed. VSDA said PS2 SKU of latest entry in EA’s hit football franchise earned additional $310,000 in week for total of $1.87 million to date. EA and Namco again led publishers in top 10, each with 3 SKUs making cut. EA’s PS2 version of NCAA Football 2004 again was #3 game (additional $150,000 in week and $2.48 million total to date), while its Xbox version of Madden dropped 2 notches to #10 (additional $80,000 in week and $660,000 total). All 3 of Namco’s entries in top 10 were Soul Calibur II, with PS2 version again at #2 (additional $200,000 in week and $890,000 total); Xbox version again at #4 ($120,000 and $460,000) and GameCube version at #5 again ($110,000 and $400,000). It again was only GameCube title in top 10. PS2 again was represented by total of 6 titles in top 10 and no new games from any publisher made list. Only other non-PS2 game in top 10 again was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic from LucasArts, which moved up one notch to #9, earning additional $80,000 in week for total $1.37 million to date, VSDA said. Rounding out top 10 were Take-Two Interactive’s Midnight Club II on PS2, moving up 3 notches to #6 ($100,000 and $6.67 million); Sega’s ESPN NFL Football 2K4 on PS2, dropping one step to #7 ($100,000 and $260,000); Atari’s Enter the Matrix on PS2, down one to #8 ($90,000 and $8.93 million since May).
Chinese TV glass-maker Henan Anyang confirmed it had begun 3-month preliminary work on transferring Corning Ashai’s equipment from State College, Pa., factory to its facilities in China. Corning, which in April announced it would close 36-year- old plant, signed agreement in June to sell equipment to Henan. Terms weren’t disclosed, but Corning has said sale price offset “significant portion” of $40-$65 million cost of closing State College facility. Once Henan engineers complete preliminary work, Sida Corp., which is company’s U.S. buyer and distributor, will hire contractor to dismantle equipment, company said. About 35 Corning employees have resumed work at plant this month to help Henan engineers prepare equipment for shipping and 10 will travel to China to install it, company said.
Covad is the biggest company winner in the FCC’s Triennial Review Order, after the preliminary decision in Feb. had looked fatal to the data CLEC, Precursor Group analyst Patrick Brogan said late Mon. The order encourages line splitting between CLECs, protecting Covad’s DSL business and allowing it to compete against Bells with a voice-data bundle, Brogan said. That’s a much more favorable outcome than the earlier announcement emphasizing elimination of line sharing by data CLECs with Bells, he said.
ITC postponed preliminary decision on alleged dumping of TVs in U.S. by Chinese and Malaysian manufacturers until Nov. 21 from Oct. 7, commission officials confirmed. Final decision will be issued 6 months later. No reason for delay was given, but sources said ITC needed more time to review investigation, which stemmed from complaint filed in May by Five Rivers Electronic Innovations and labor unions from Sanyo and Toshiba. “I think they realize it’s a complicated business and it’s not that easy to understand,” source said.
Regardless of whether divide in CE industry over “hybrid” financing model for collection and recycling of electronics waste (e-waste)is bridged, state and local govts. are seeking to press forward with hybrid model and get agreement among stakeholders for interim system at what’s considered crucial meeting of full group of National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) at Chicago Sept. 23-24.
Electronic Arts (EA) and Namco Hometek were biggest winners on videogame rental chart in U.S. for week ended Sept. 14. Preliminary data announced by VSDA Thurs. showed that PS2 version of EA’s Madden NFL 2004 was again #1-rented title, earning additional $350,000 during week for total rental earnings to date of $1.57 million. Xbox version of game dropped one notch to #8 (additional $100,000 in week and $580,000 to date). PS2 version of EA’s NCAA Football 2004, meanwhile, was again #3-rented title ($160,000 in week and $2.33 million to date). All 3 next- generation console versions of Namco’s Soul Calibur II were again in top 10 with PS2 version in lead (at #2 again, earning additional $250,000 during week for total to date of $690,000), followed by versions for Xbox at #4 again (additional $120,000 during week and $340,000 to date) and GameCube up one notch at #5 (additional $120,000 during week and $290,000 to date). There were no other titles for GameCube in top 10 but one other game for Xbox made chart -- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, down 2 notches at #10 (additional $90,000 during week and $1.29 million to date) -- as PS2 again proved dominant. Rounding out top 10 were one game each from Sega, Atari and Take-Two Interactive: ESPN NFL Football 2K4 at #6 ($110,000 during week and $160,000 to date), Enter the Matrix at #7 ($110,000 during week and $8.84 million to date) and Midnight Club II at #9 again ($90,000 during week and $6.57 million to date), respectively. VSDA said its rental data was now being provided by Rentrak’s Home Video Essentials division for 2nd week. VSDA Vp-Public Affairs Sean Bersell said data had previously been provided by Rentrak’s Streamlined Solutions subsidiary. As result of change, he said, “VSDA and Rentrak mutually agreed to rebrand the charts” and VidTrac name is now no longer being used.
Columbia TriStar’s thriller Identity was again top-rented DVD in U.S. for week ended Sept. 14, preliminary data from VSDA showed Thurs. VSDA said title earned additional $3.95 million in rentals during week for total to date of $8.93 million. There were 4 new DVDs in top 10: MGM’s Bulletproof Monk at #2 ($3.94 million during its first full week of release and $4.01 million in rentals to date), Paramount’s The Core at #3 ($3.34 million in week and $3.43 million to date), Warner’s Malibu’s Most Wanted at #5 ($2.70 million in week and $2.77 million to date), Miramax’s View From the Top at #10 ($1.66 million in week and $1.68 million to date).
Former WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan pleaded not guilty Wed. in Okla. Dist. Court to 15 felony charges of violating state security laws, a spokesman for Okla. Attorney Gen. Drew Edmondson said. Sullivan appeared before State Judge Russell Hall in response to charges Edmondson filed against him, WorldCom/MCI and 5 others last month (CD Aug 28 p1). Sullivan, who was free on $50,000 bond, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing conference Nov. 13, the spokesman said. Another defendant ex-WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers pleaded not guilty Sept. 3, and a preliminary hearing conference for him was scheduled for Oct. 30. A pretrial conference for MCI/WorldCom, which also pleaded not guilty last week, is scheduled for Nov. 6. The spokesman said no arrangements had been made for other defendants, but “we are in communication with their attorneys.”