Top 10 Stories / Sept. 25-29
1. Some Studios Offer to Curb Marketing to Kids: Executives of eight major film studios admitted to a Senate panel Thursday that they often go too far in marketing violent movies to children. But their reactions were mixed as to whether to end the practice, which has come under scrutiny by federal regulators. The heads of Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks SKG, Fox and Warner Bros. offered a firm commitment to stop such marketing. But executives of Universal, Paramount, Sony and MGM refused to go along and were put on notice by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other Commerce Committee members that tougher scrutiny could result.
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2. OPEC Calls for Talks With West: As oil prices moderated, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries adopted a conciliatory pose at a summit meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, last week. The heads of state of OPEC, meeting for only the second time in history, called for meetings with industrialized nations in an attempt to reach common ground on oil prices. No. 1 producer Saudi Arabia was more explicit, declaring it would produce enough crude to stabilize prices below recent levels. With the recent release of oil from U.S. reserves, November contracts for crude oil stood at $30.84 a barrel by week’s end versus $37.80 on Sept. 20, which was a 10-year high.
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3. Court Gives Microsoft Delay: Microsoft Corp. won a key legal battle when the Supreme Court on Monday sent the company’s landmark antitrust case back for a full review by a pro-business appeals court. The government’s failure to get swift review of the case means that Microsoft will have six months to more than a year to continue business as usual and prepare itself for a time when the dominant way to access the Internet is no longer desktop PCs running Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows software but an array of wireless hand-held devices. In an unrelated development, billionaire investor Paul Allen said Thursday he is stepping down from Microsoft’s board.
(Jube Shiver)
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4. Agency Issues Furnace Warning: The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about faulty attic furnaces made by now-defunct Consolidated Industries. Regulators say the furnaces caused scores of residential fires in California in the last decade. The CPSC issued the warning after The Times reported that hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting homeowners may own the attic furnaces, which fail because of alterations Consolidated made to comply with regional air quality rules. The units were sold under at least 30 brand names from 1984 to 1992. The federal agency recommends that consumers with Consolidated furnaces call a licensed contractor to inspect them.
(Jennifer Oldham)
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5. Firestone Tire Woes Mount: Firestone’s woes spread around the globe. The government of Saudi Arabia took the extraordinary step of banning imports of all vehicles equipped with Firestone tires. Saudi Arabia became the third national government, after the U.S. and Venezuela, to wade into the controversy involving a wave of tire tread separations that have been linked to scores of vehicle rollovers and fatalities. Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. denounced the Saudi ban as “extreme” and in violation of international treaties. Meanwhile, U.S. regulators opened an investigation Friday into another brand of Firestone tires after receiving reports they were involved in accidents in which two people died and 12 were injured. And Wednesday, a House subcommittee unanimously approved criminal penalties for auto makers who fail to report dangerous safety defects.
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6. Sony Halves PlayStation2 Shipments: The maker of one of the holiday season’s hottest gifts announced that it would drastically cut in half the number of coveted PlayStation2 video consoles that will be available this fall. Sony Corp. blamed the situation on a shortage of parts for keeping it from meeting its production goals of having 1 million available in the U.S. Now it will ship only 500,000 of the device, considered the first video player that would allow users to play games, surf the Internet and play DVD movies on their TVs. Compounding Sony’s woes was that thousands of consumers had put down cash deposits for the sophisticated $299 consoles. Sony’s American depositary receipts lost nearly $10 on the news. On Friday, they closed at $100.94, down $3.50.
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7. FTC Finds Gas Price Concerns: The Federal Trade Commission said its investigation into gasoline prices on the West Coast has found evidence of so-called zone pricing and redlining, practices that the agency said “raise competitive concern.” Under zone pricing, refiners set wholesale prices by an area; redlining is when independent distributors are prohibited from selling branded gasoline in certain areas. Oil company spokesmen said the practices are used to respond to competition in localized marketplaces and to protect their business investments.
(Nancy Rivera Brooks)
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8. Kaiser, Unions Sign National Contract: Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of unions agreed to an unprecedented five-year national contract that will raise pay, guarantee job security to 62,000 workers and strengthen their role in staffing decisions that affect patient care. Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente is the largest health maintenance organization in California, and the second-largest in the nation. All workers covered will receive at least 4% annual raises and will be eligible for bonuses if certain goals--including improved patient satisfaction and reduced medical errors--are met.
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9. Corn Maker Decides to Stop Sales: The developer of the genetically modified corn found in Taco Bell brand taco shells decided Tuesday to halt sales of the product until it is approved for human consumption. But Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would buy all bushels of the corn made by Aventis Corp. Environmentalists, food makers and even biotechnology proponents had called for a ban on genetically altered crops that haven’t been cleared for food. They say it’s too easy for these crops to find their way into the food supply.
(Melinda Fulmer)
10. Offspring Drops Internet Plan: Fans knew it was too good to be true: Citing paralyzing legal pressure, multi-platinum rock band the Offspring bowed to the demands of Sony Corp. and scrapped plans to post an entire album on the Internet more than a month before the CD went on sale. Industry watchers said the Orange County rockers were poised to lose this battle, considering that Sony and other major record labels are embroiled in a lawsuit against controversial music-swapping firm Napster Inc. More important, analysts say, the incident proved that record companies still retain control over the most important weapon in today’s war over music on the Net--the artists.
(P.J. Huffstutter)
