Google and Viacom: YouTube copyright lawsuit back on
A lawsuit by media giant Viacom against Google over copyrighted videos on YouTube can be heard in court again.
Viacom has accused Google of "massive intentional copyright infringement".
In 2010, a lower court dismissed Viacom's $1bn (£630m) case against Google, which owns YouTube.
But a court of appeals said the dismissal was based on a mistake, as a jury could have reasonably found that YouTube knew of specific copyright infringements.
Google took over YouTube for $1.76bn in 2006.
Viacom owns popular cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
Viacom had claimed that "tens of thousands of videos" based on its copyrighted works had been posted on YouTube, and that both YouTube and its owner Google had known about it but had done nothing about it.
Google and YouTube had argued that they were entitled to "safe harbour" protection under digital copyright law because they had insufficient notice of particular alleged offences.
The court in Manhattan in 2010 agreed with this.
But the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals has now reinstated the case.
Samsung expects profits to double from smartphone boost
Samsung Electronics has said it expects its profit for the first three months of the year to almost double as its smartphone sales continue to grow.
The company said it expects an operating profit 5.8tn won ($5.1bn; £3.2bn) for the period.
The success of Samsung's Galaxy range has seen it become the world's biggest-selling smartphone maker.
Analysts said the firm had benefited from keeping its margins healthy, despite growing competition.
"There was a big surprise in profit, while revenue was in line, which suggests a stronger-than-expected profit margin from the handset division thanks to robust sales of high-end models like the Galaxy S and Note," said Choi D-Yeon of LIG Investment & Securities.
"Handset margins are estimated to have topped 20% and profits from the division also topped 4tn won."
The company will release its full earnings report on 27 April.
Further growth?
While Samsung's phone unit has prospered, other divisions, including memory chip manufacturing, have been going through a tough time.
Prices for memory chips have been falling globally, not least due to oversupply.
Analysts said that natural disasters last year in Japan and Thailand had resulted in a fall in production of various electronics products, which use these chips, resulting in high inventory levels putting pressure on prices.
At the same time, slowing demand from key markets such as the US and Europe hurt chipmakers.
However, analysts said that as the global economy recovers and supply chains in the region get back on track, chip prices were likely to recover, boosting Samsung's profits further.
"With memory chip prices rising, chips will play a big part in second quarter profits," said Kim Sung-in, a chip analyst with Kiwoom Securities.
"Expectations for operating profit will reach somewhere between 6.5tn to 7.5tn won."
Challenges
While the company is expected to grow further, analysts warned that Samsung will have to overcome potential hurdles on the way.
To begin with, it will have to fend off competition from its biggest rival Apple, they said.
"Samsung and Apple are expected to launch the new Galaxy S and iPhone in the second quarter, and they will engage in full-fledged war," said Lee Ka-keun of Hana Daetoo Securities.
The fear is that increased competition may force Samsung to lower its prices in a bid to attract customers, a move which, if implemented, would impact on its profit.
At the same time, Samsung is also involved in a legal battle with Apple over patents involving technology it uses in its smartphones and tablet PCs.
The outcome of those cases will have an impact on its growth going forward.
US freezes pay for bailout CEOs
Pay for the chief executives of AIG, Ally Financial and General Motors will remain frozen this year, the US Treasury said, after the bailed-out companies failed to sufficiently repay US taxpayers. The companies are the last of seven that received exceptional assistance at the height of the financial crisis.
While the other four—Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler Financial and Chrysler—have repaid their money AIG, Ally and GM have struggled to earn their way out of the government’s safety net.
As a result, remuneration for the top 25 executives at the three companies is subject to scrutiny by the US Treasury. GM, for example, had some of its requested pay increases rejected. The Treasury said that for certain executives the proposed increases “was not justified”.
The 2012 salary bill for the 69 top executives who remain at the three companies fell ten per cent from last year’s levels. The reduction is largely due to staff leaving and being replaced by people earning less rather than pay cuts. Twenty-one of the 69 are newcomers to the companies whose pay is 30 per cent lower than the 2011 remuneration of those who left.
At AIG, for instance, ten of the 25 highest-paid employees in 2011 have left the company. The companies each have said that the pay restrictions limited their ability to recruit and retain talent. The government pumped $68bn into AIG from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or Tarp, and invested $50bn in GM and $17bn in Ally Financial to save them from collapse during the 2007-2009 crisis.
AIG owes the US Treasury $35.9bn, not including $3.9bn in losses the Treasury has already recorded. Ally owes $13.8bn. GM owes $23.4bn, excluding $3.9bn in realised Treasury losses, according to a Treasury statement dated Friday. Public anger over high pay and huge bonuses at bailed-out firms was so high that the Obama administration created a “special master’s office” to monitor pay practices.
The Treasury said on Friday that all three were making progress at repaying the taxpayer funds given to them to keep them from collapsing during the 2007-2009 financial crisis but their pay practices remain under scrutiny of a “special master” until they pay it back.
“Although there has been some modification in the mix of stock, salary and long-term restricted stock for the CEO group, the overall amount of CEO compensation is frozen at 2011 levels,” Treasury said. The Treasury report on Friday does not name any of the executives but it is evident the three CEOs still get pay that puts them among the elite of American income earners.
The top executive at AIG will receive total direct compensation, which includes cash, stock and future stock options worth $10.5 million, while Ally Financial’s leader will get $9.5 million and GM’s chief executive $9 million, according to documents distributed by the Treasury.
The chief executive officer of AIG is Robert Benmosche, GM’s CEO is Daniel Akerson and Ally Financial’s is Michael Carpenter, although their names do not appear in any of the documents that Treasury released. A spokesperson for Ally Financial said its executive pay “continues to be in line with the stated guidelines for Tarp companies” and said its management team was focused on repaying the remaining Tarp funds to Treasury.
Obama to Host Brazil’s Rousseff Monday
President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff at the White House on Monday, several days before both leaders go to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. The White House meeting will be between the leaders of the world’s largest economy and one of the fastest growing economies.
Brazil has the world’s sixth-largest economy, a large and growing middle class and an expanding leadership role in world affairs.
Analysts say a likely goal for President Rousseff, on her first official visit to Washington, is to make the most of her country’s international standing.
Another likely priority is to further strengthen Brazil’s relationship with the United States, which Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, says is already strong, healthy and diverse.
“I think what you are going to see on April 9 with President Obama and President Rousseff is going to be two leaders of the two largest democratic countries in the Western Hemisphere embracing, perhaps literally, but certainly figuratively, and looking for ways to continue to build out a common agenda," he said.
That agenda is expected to include economic issues, such as trade. A free trade agreement between the two countries has stalled, with some analysts in Washington accusing Brazil of protectionism.
President Obama’s visit to Brazil last year produced new economic and commercial agreements, which might lead to more cooperation on international issues.
Brazil is seeking U.S. support in its bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Washington has backed India’s quest for a seat, but has not done so with Brazil.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama might ask Ms. Rousseff to support tougher sanctions against Iran and Syria.
Nonetheless, Eric Farnsworth says the two countries are in agreement on most issues.
“The areas of disagreement, for example, Iran’s nuclear program or some trade disputes or what have you, are always going to capture people’s attention and news reports, et cetera. But the reality is [that] the fabric of cooperation the United States has with Brazil is very deep. It is very strong. And I do not anticipate that this meeting is going to do anything except strengthen that," he said.
Energy is one of the main areas of expected cooperation between the two countries. Brazil has some of the world’s largest oil reserves, and it has made wide use of biofuels and other alternative forms of energy, an area of interest to President Obama.
Other possible agenda items include education, Brazil’s work with other Andean nations to fight the illegal drug trade and cooperation on rebuilding Haiti.
Brazil is also in the process of deciding whether to buy $30 billion worth of jet fighters from France or the United States.
Colombia Farc rebel leader says group is not weakened
One of the leaders of Colombia's biggest rebel movement, the Farc, says it remains ready for battle.
The leader, known as Ivan Marquez, denied claims by the Colombian military that the guerrillas had been weakened.
In a video message, he defended the Farc's actions and rejected accusations that they were acts of terrorism.
Just hours after the message was uploaded, Farc rebels killed at least six soldiers at a military checkpoint in north-western Choco province.
The soldiers were manning a checkpoint on the road leading from the provincial capital, Quibdo, to Colombia's second largest city, Medellin.
Army General Hernan Giraldo said the soldiers were killed by explosive devices.
He said his men killed three of the rebels in the clashes.
'Not defeated'
In the Farc video, believed to have been recorded on 24 March, Luciano Marin Arango, better known as Ivan Marquez, said claims that the end of the guerrilla movement had come were wrong.
"There is an intense political and military confrontation and a growing mobilisation of the social sectors," he said sitting at a table in front of a large image of the late Farc leader Manuel Marulanda.
Ivan Marquez, a member of the Farc's secretariat, the group's ruling body, said the rebels were trying to "enlist the solidarity of the people of the world" in their struggle.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had said last month that recent military strikes had weakened the guerrilla movement.
More than 60 rebels were killed in attacks in eastern Meta and Arauca province in March.
The attacks were part of a new strategy by the security forces aimed at eliminating the rebels' regional commanders and hitting their logistics and supplies.
President Santos had ordered the new strategy after the killing over the past two years of the rebels' top two commanders, Mono Jojoy and Alfonso Cano.
Middle ranks
The president said the military had to widen its list of targets to prevent middle-ranking rebels raising through the hierarchy and taking the places of their killed leaders.
"For an organisation like the Farc, the middle ranks, those who are just below the Secretariat, are the most important people," President Santos said.
"They are the ones making the decision on the ground, and these operations hit them at the very heart of their structure," Mr Santos told a security meeting in Chaparral, in central Tolima province in March.
Farc rebels have been fighting to overthrow the government since the 1960s.
Over the past decade they are thought to have lost about half their strength, with about 8,000 guerrillas remaining.
But they remain a powerful force in large areas of rural Colombia, thanks in part to money gained from the cocaine trade.
Communist Cuba marks Good Friday with public holiday
Communist Cuba is marking Easter with a public holiday on Good Friday, for the first time in decades.
This follows Pope Benedict's visit to the country last week, where he requested the move.
Religious holidays in Cuba were cancelled after the 1959 revolution, and fewer than 10% of Cubans are practising Catholics.
Nonetheless, the Church is the most influential organisation outside the Communist government.
The Cuban government said it granted the request as a mark of respect, and to commemorate the "transcendental nature" of the pope's visit.
Live service
The Pope's predecessor, John Paul II, made a similar request before the last papal visit to Cuba in 1998, successfully persuading then-leader Fidel Castro to recognise Christmas as a public holiday.
A service at Havana Cathedral will be broadcast live on Cuban television, indicating the improving relations between the Church and the government, says BBC Havana correspondent Sarah Rainsford.
Religious or not, Cubans have welcomed the day off, and hope that the change will be permanent, our correspondent says.
Some described it as a sign that Cuba was opening up to the world.
"I think almost all Cubans think it's a very good idea," one told the BBC.
The holiday has only been declared for this year, but the government says it will take a decision later on whether to make it permanent.
Haiti: 20 Dead in Accident on Morne Tapion
At least 20 people have died in Haiti after a large lorry overturned on a highway south of the capital, Port-au-Prince, officials said.
Some 40 others have been hospitalised with injuries, doctors said.
A local radio station said the nearby town of Petit-Grove was "overwhelmed" and underequipped to deal with them.
Road accidents are common in Haiti, where traffic regulations are rarely enforced and vehicles are often overloaded.
One witness told the AFP news agency that the road was known for being dangerous. At least four people were killed in an accident in the same area last week.
The lorry, which was carrying retail traders, many of them women, was said to have lost its balance as it climbed a steep incline, according to a local judge who witnessed the incident.
Joel Charles, hospital director in the town of Petit-Goave put the death toll at 27 and said 17 of the victims were found dead at the scene.
"Some of the injuries are critical, a lot of head trauma and broken bones. We need surgeons, other medical specialists and ambulances," Mr Charles said. "The victims need to be transported to hospitals in Port-au-Prince."
Venezuelan Leader Prays for Life Before Cancer Treatment
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he's heading back to Cuba late Saturday for a third round of radiation therapy as part of his cancer treatment.
Little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader’s condition, including what type of cancer he has. Mr. Chavez has undergone three operations in less than a year, and received two sessions of radiation treatment.
He says the latest surgery was successful, and that he will be fit to win a new six-year term in October. On Thursday, a day after returning from Cuba, Mr. Chavez became emotional during a Mass held in his home state of Barinas.
Flanked by family members, Mr. Chavez asked God: "Please don't take me yet." In a breaking voice, he said he still has "things to do for my people and my country."
Mr. Chavez underwent an operation in February in Cuba to remove a tumor from his pelvic region. A tumor was extracted from the same area last year. He has also undergone two rounds of radiation therapy.
Pakistan President Zardari visits India for talks
The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is due to travel to India in the first visit there by a Pakistani head of state for seven years.
Mr Zardari will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, before travelling to an important Muslim shrine in Rajasthan.
Officials say the trip is a private visit, but there is hope it could boost economic ties between the two nations.
However correspondents say little progress is expected on other issues.
Officials say Mr Zardari is coming for private religious reasons - to visit the shrine of Sufi saint Moinudin Chishti in Ajmer, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Delhi.
The president was due to land in Delhi at 11:00 (05:30 GMT) and meet Mr Singh at his residence before flying south to Ajmer and then returning to Islamabad in the evening.
Pilgrimage spot
Relations between the two countries have been gradually improving since peace talks were derailed after the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Mr Zardari recently backed the lifting of trade restrictions on India, and Pakistan is also talking of dropping a restrictive list of what products it will buy from India.
But tensions remain over more sensitive issues, such as the disputed region of Kashmir, and Pakistani militant activity against India.
Only this week, India again called for Pakistan to hand over Hafiz Saeed, the man it alleges planned the Mumbai attacks, after Washington announced a $10m bounty for his arrest.
Pakistan has again refused, asking to see proof for the allegations.
Correspondents say few expect any headway with these issues during Mr Zardari's visit.
The BBC's Andrew North in Delhi says it used to be cricket that gave Indian and Pakistani leaders the cover they need to meet.
The last time a Pakistani leader met Mr Singh was in 2005 when then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf happened to be at the same cricket match as the Indian prime minister in Delhi, our correspondent says.
The shrine of Sufi saint Moinudin Chishti is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the region, receiving a constant flow of devotees.
BBC
Mali’s Interim President Returns to Mali
Mali's interim president arrived in Bamako to take office after military coup leaders agreed to hand power to a civilian government in a deal with neighboring countries announced Saturday.
Former speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore will serve as president with a transitional government until elections are held. He flew into Mali Saturday from a temporary exile in neighboring Burkina Faso.
Ivory Coast official Adama Bitongo said a regional 15-member bloc was lifting the sanctions imposed on Mali to force the military to return power to civilian leaders after reaching an agreement with coup leaders late Friday.
“As a consequence the president of ECOWAS, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, in agreement with his peers,
has decided to immediately lift the sanctions against Mali.''
President Ouattara currently heads the Economic Community of West African States. The bloc also pledged to help Mali fight the Tuareg rebels who have seized much of the country's north and proclaimed an independent state there.
Coup leader Amadou Sanago has said the junta is stepping aside for an interim government of national unity, in order to lift the total embargo ECOWAS has imposed on the landlocked nation.
In Mali's capital Bamako relieved civilians gathered in the streets Saturday, holding up signs calling for peace.
The coup on March 22 plunged Mali into chaos and led to big gains by Tuareg rebels battling Malian forces in the northern part of the country. Ironically, the coup leaders had justified their takeover by denouncing what they said was the former government's ineffectual campaign to suppress the Tuareg rebellion.
Under the agreement, President Amadou Toumani Toure who has been in hiding since the coup, is entitled to live in safety wherever he chooses. He was ousted just months before a scheduled presidential election when he was due to step down.
Mali's neighbors all criticized the military takeover and the removal of President Toure. They also oppose the new “Azawad” state declared by the northern rebels. In their advance against the Malian army and seizure of Timbuktu and other areas, the Tuaregs have been fighting alongside members of the radical Islamist group Ansar Dine.
The self-styled National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad controls Timbuktu, Gao city and other areas in the north. It declared itself independent Friday and said its military campaign was over. The heavily armed Tuaregs, former based in Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, began fighting in northern Mali in mid-January.
There has been nearly unanimous international rejection of the MNLA rebels' proclamation. In addition to ECOWAS and other African states, the United States, France and other European powers have said they do not recognize Azawad.
The agreement with ECOWAS is said to call for a transitional government led by a consensus prime minister, and it calls for the lifting of all sanctions against Mali and an amnesty for coup leaders.