Business Digest: Judge backs revised Google Books deal

INTERNET

Judge backs revised Google Books deal

A federal judge granted preliminary approval Thursday to a revised settlement between Google and authors and publishers over the Internet giant's effort to create a vast digital library.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin of the Southern District of New York said he will hold a hearing Feb. 18 on the new agreement, which would give Google access to scan and print millions of out-of-print titles protected under copyright.

The parties' first settlement, reached in 2008, was criticized by the Justice Department, online commerce competitors and library groups. Some critics say the revised deal still falls short of protecting competition among book resellers and doesn't adequately address copyright concerns, particularly over works whose authors can't be found or are unknown.

The Justice Department and the public will have until Feb. 4 to comment on the new settlement.

-- Cecilia Kang

EARNINGS

Dell profit fell 54% in quarter

Dell said that its net income dropped 54 percent in the third quarter amid signs the company isn't fully benefiting from the computer industry's fledgling recovery.

Dell's numbers missed Wall Street's forecasts. Its announcement came after the market closed, and in extended trading, its shares fell 94 cents, or nearly 6 percent, to $14.93.

Dell said its profit was $337 million (17 cents per share) in the three months ended Oct. 30. Revenue fell 15 percent, to $12.9 billion. Analysts expected Dell to earn 28 cents per share on $13.2 billion in revenue.

In the last quarter Dell lost its ranking as the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, a slot now held by Taiwan's Acer Inc. Rivals such as Acer and Hewlett-Packard have stolen market share in part by exploiting their bigger presence in retail stores.

-- Associated Press

Also in Business

-- Newspapers' woes persist: Advertising revenue at U.S. newspapers revenue totaled $6.4 billion in the third quarter, a 28 percent drop from the same time last year, according to figures released Thursday by the Newspaper Association of America.

Advertising sales are the main source of newspaper income, and that revenue has declined year-over-year for 13 straight quarters. The slump already has killed some newspapers and wiped out thousands of jobs at publications across the country.

Through the first nine months of the year, ad revenue plunged 28 percent, to $19.9 billion. Barring an unforeseen recovery, U.S. newspapers' annual ad sales are on pace to fall below $30 billion for the first time since 1987.

-- Gap profit climbs in third quarter: Shoppers spent more money at low-price Old Navy stores in the third quarter this year, helping Gap's profit grow, the retailer said Thursday. Gap said profit in the three months ended Oct. 31 rose 25 percent compared with a year ago, to $307 million. Overall sales climbed 0.8 percent, to $3.59 billion.

-- Treasury to sell warrants as three banks exit bailouts: In another sign that the government's emergency financial programs are being reeled in, the Treasury Department said it will auction off warrants for three banks that it acquired as part of last fall's bailouts. Treasury will auction warrants for J.P. Morgan Chase, Capital One Financial and TCF Financial over the next month. The three banks received bailouts totaling $28.9 billion, which they have since repaid.

-- From news services