Also

* The federal judge overseeing WorldCom Inc.’s bankruptcy filing refused to appoint a panel to represent creditors of the company’s MCI Communications Corp. long-distance telephone unit.

* Monsanto Co., the biggest developer of genetically engineered crops, named Chief Operating Officer Hugh Grant as its chief executive and president.

* Two days after winning a $35-million patent lawsuit against EBay Inc., Thomas Woolston said he is seeking to sell his innovations and is talking with three Web companies, which he declined to name.

* The state Senate approved legislation that would place legal burdens on record labels to accurately calculate artists’ royalties. The bill, which would declare proper accounting a “fiduciary duty,” is one of a series of measures that could result in penalties for labels that underpay or cheat artists out of earnings.

* Conceptual Marketing & Development Inc. is recalling about 1.1 million metal weed-cutting attachment blades because they can break off. The recalled blades were used with the company’s model 4650 weed-cutting attachment and were sold from November 1999 to December 2001.