The House gave final legislative approval to the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act and sent it to President Bush. The bill would protect technology that lets people automatically skip or mute sections of commercial movies that contain foul language, violence or nudity. The bill would assure manufacturers of DVD players and other devices that use the technology that they would not be violating Hollywood copyrights. The bill also would make it a federal crime to use video cameras to record films in movie theaters, and it would set penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song before its commercial release. The Senate passed the bill in February.
Fitch Downgrades Berkshire Outlook
Fitch Ratings downgraded the outlook on Berkshire Hathaway's AAA bond rating to negative from stable. Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service kept their ratings AAA and the outlook stable. Fitch cited as a concern the age of chief executive Warren E. Buffett, even though the 74-year-old appears to be in good health and has given no indication that he will retire. Fitch also expressed concern about an investigation into transactions between American International Group and Berkshire's General Re subsidiary. Buffett, a major stockholder and longtime director of The Washington Post Co., was not available for comment.
Opening arguments were heard in the trial of five former Enron Broadband Services executives charged with fraud and conspiracy. The five allegedly rigged the finances of the division and hyped its technology to mislead investors about the unit's revenue prospects. The defendants are, from left, Kevin A. Howard, former vice president of finance; F. Scott Yeager, former senior vice president of business development; Rex T. Shelby, former senior vice president of engineering and operations; Joseph Hirko, former chief executive; and Michael W. Krautz, former senior accounting director.
(F. Carter Smith -- Bloomberg News)
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Carl C. Icahn, who has been feuding with the management of Blockbuster for several weeks, said the big movie-rental chain should be sold. Blockbuster's largest shareholder made the comment in a one-sentence filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Blockbuster spokesman said the company would be open to offers.
Walt Disney Co. bought game-maker Avalanche Software and will open a development studio in Vancouver. Avalanche, which makes games for consoles and handheld devices, is developing products based on the animated film "Chicken Little," to be released in November. Disney previously licensed movies and characters to companies such as THQ, which made games based on "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo."
Toyota Motor, the world's largest seller of gasoline-electric autos, widened its lead in U.S. sales of the fuel-efficient hybrids. First-quarter sales more than doubled, to 35,474 cars and sport-utility vehicles. Hybrid sales were aided by rising retail gasoline prices.
Microsoft and Research in Motion are partnering so that people with RIM's BlackBerry handheld devices can use the software giant's instant messaging system. RIM, which has 2.5 million subscribers, said it will test the Microsoft software in September and make the service available by the end of the year.
Sears will begin selling a clothing brand aimed at Latinas in an effort to boost declining apparel sales at its Sears, Roebuck department stores. Latina Life, created in partnership with Latina magazine, will debut at 425 Sears stores this year, about half of the chain, Sears and Latina Media Ventures said. Jones Apparel Group will design most of the merchandise.
Prosecutors, their case winding down, asked U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to dismiss two minor counts, one of mail fraud and one of money laundering, against fired HealthSouth chief executive Richard M. Scrushy, who is accused of leading a $2.7 billion fraud. Scrushy would still be charged with 52 other counts if Bowdre agrees to the request.
American International Group put Chief Administrative Officer Michael J. Castelli on leave last week during the investigation of a probe of the company's accounting, AIG said. The reason wasn't given.
Bisys Group said it has ended or will end arrangements with mutual fund advisers that are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and has begun an internal investigation. Bisys, which provides administrative and consulting services to financial firms, said it believes the SEC investigation concerns the company's use of some fees from mutual fund clients to pay fund marketing and distribution expenses and to pay advisers.
INTERNATIONAL
World Trade Organization negotiators on farm-trade subsidies were unable to agree on how most rich countries should calculate their import duties. The issue centers on how to convert those import duties -- which are expressed in dollars per ton -- into percentages, which is required if negotiators are to agree on wide-ranging cuts.
LOCAL BUSINESS
Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago commercial real estate firm, was chosen by the General Services Administration to come up with a master plan for redeveloping part of the 300-acre St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Southeast D.C. The federal government owns 180 acres on the west side of the campus and has said it would consider moving the Coast Guard headquarters there. The District has long wanted to redevelop the campus as a mix of housing, offices and retail. The contract with Jones Lang LaSalle is worth roughly $2.5 million and is expected to be complete in September 2006.
A former America Online executive, Gregory S. Horton, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for fraud. Court records indicate Horton defrauded AOL of $100,000 while he worked at the Dulles-based company as its executive vice president of human resources. He allegedly hired contractors and arranged for them to pay companies in which he had controlling interest. He pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
MCI agreed to buy the Interactive Content Factory software product line from a unit of IMG Worldwide, an independent British production company. The product line specializes in software used for Internet protocol-based media and entertainment services. Terms weren't disclosed. Separately, Ashburn-based MCI said it formed a Digital Media Technologies group, which will develop and distribute products for media, entertainment and gaming organizations.
