United Airlines and its pilots reached a tentative contract agreement, marking the first of the airline's four big unions to reach initial terms in another round of labor cuts. Details were not disclosed by the airline or the union, whose members must ratify it. But United, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has said any revised pilots' contract must provide $191 million in annual savings. The nation's No. 2 airline, a unit of Illinois-based UAL, has said it needs to impose an additional $725 million in annual labor cuts after extracting $2.5 billion in concessions last year.
Movie Studios Sue Server Operators
Hollywood movie studios sued the operators of computer servers that they say help relay millions of bootlegged copies of movies and television programs across online file-sharing networks. The copyright infringement suits expand on a new U.S. film industry initiative whose initial targets were individual file-swappers. The defendants this time run servers that use BitTorrent, which has become the program of choice for online sharers of large files. The Motion Picture Association of America is working with law enforcement to shut down the operators and says copying costs the industry $3.5 billion annually.
A worker checks a batch of BlackBerry pagers prior to packaging at Research In Motion's plant in Waterloo, Ontario. Yesterday, a U.S. appeals court upheld a ruling that RIM infringed on another company's patent and sent the case back to a lower court for some claims to be reconsidered. RIM had appealed an earlier court decision that NTP, of Arlington, owns five patents related to key technology in the popular wireless device. That court awarded NTP $53.7 million in damages and an 8.6 percent royalty on revenue from U.S. BlackBerry sales.
(Norm Betts -- Bloomberg News)
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RealNetworks, which sells songs over the Web, said Apple Computer altered the software for some of its iPod digital music players so songs from RealNetworks won't play. The changes affect the new iPod Photo, a RealNetworks spokesman said. The Seattle company's Harmony program enables its music to be directly downloaded to iPods, bypassing Apple's copy-protection software.
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company run by billionaire Warren Buffett, named Microsoft founder Bill Gates to its board of directors. Gates, 49, fills a vacancy left by Buffett's late wife, Susan. The appointment joins the world's two richest men on the same board.
U.S. industrial production rose 0.3 percent in November, less than the October gain of 0.6 percent, as manufacturing was restrained by stagnant production of consumer goods and utilities faced less demand for heating because of warm weather.
Continental Airlines said it will cut $48 million in labor costs by lowering pay and reducing holidays for managers and clerical workers. The cuts will be on a sliding scale, with the highest-paid workers losing the most. The fifth-largest U.S. airline announced last month that it needed to cut $500 million to help offset losses.
Ronald A. Rosenfeld, president of Ginnie Mae, the Government National Mortgage Association, was appointed by President Bush as chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board. Rosenfeld replaces Alicia Castaneda, who had been chairman since April 11. The board oversees the 12 Federal Home Loan banks.
Russell announced an agreement to acquire Brooks Sports, a private maker of running shoes and apparel, for about $115 million in cash in a deal expected to boost its 2005 earnings. The maker of Russell Athletic, Jerzees and Spalding brands said it expects Brooks to post sales of $95 million in 2004.
Kraft Foods said it will increase the price of Maxwell House coffee by 14 percent. A 13-ounce can will cost $2.29. Coffee futures are at the highest level in 4 1/2 years because of a shortage of quality coffee in Colombia, Central America and Brazil after reduced attention to groves during an extended period of low prices, industry members said.
Carl C. Icahn boosted his stake in Hollywood Entertainment to 9.54 percent and said he supports Blockbuster's bid for the second-largest U.S. video-rental chain. Icahn said he has contacted the heads of both companies and will try to "facilitate a combination" between them.
INTERNATIONAL
The U.S. trade deficit widened to an all-time high of $55.5 billion in October, boosted by a rise in oil prices and record imports from China as retailers geared up for the holidays. The deficit reached $500.5 billion in the first 10 months of the year, surpassing the record for all of 2003, the Commerce Department said. The September trade gap was revised to $50.9 billion from $51.6 billion. Imports rose 3.4 percent, to an all-time high of $153.5 billion, and exports rose 0.6 percent, to $98.1 billion. At $16.8 billion, the gap with China was the largest for any U.S. trading partner and almost three times the size of the deficit with Japan, which at $5.9 billion was the second biggest.
The Commerce Department reduced punitive tariffs on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, but by less than Canada wanted. The department said the decision, which reduced the tariffs from an average of 27.2 percent to 21.2 percent, reflected subsidies by six Canadian provinces that allow their producers to sell lumber in the United States below market value. Canadian officials denounced the decision and said they would challenge it.
The European Union ended a three-year battle with France and Germany, dropping procedures against them and endorsing their 2005 budget proposals after they pledged to get their budget deficits back within the E.U.'s limit next year. The European Commission said in a statement the two were "on track to bring their budget deficits to or below" the limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
Tyco International said the Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking information on the company's involvement in the United Nations Oil for Food program in Iraq. The diversified manufacturer said it "will fully cooperate in ongoing investigations."
