■ Insurance
Data-loss policy launched
Hitachi Ltd and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc developed an insurance policy for companies wanting to shield themselves from damages due to losses of personal data, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. Hitachi and Sompo Japan will offer a package, which includes the costs of press meetings to announce details, restoring lost data, repairing damage caused by viruses and compensation paid to individuals and companies, the paper said without saying where it obtained the information. The companies aim to sign contracts with more than 100 companies in the next 12 months, the paper said. They will announce the new package on Tuesday, the paper said. Schemes to steal personal information have become more frequent and sophisticated, prompting Japanese companies to look for ways to improve protection of customers.
■ Media
News Corp forms Web unit
News Corp, the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, is launching a new unit grouping together the Internet properties owned by its Fox entertainment, news and sports businesses. The new unit, to be called Fox Interactive Media, will be headed by Ross Levinsohn, formerly chief of Fox's online sports business. In addition to sports, the group will also oversee the online operations of the Fox television network, cable TV's Fox News Channel and the Web sites of Fox's local TV stations. The division will coordinate back-office functions such as advertising sales across the Web sites, and also make it easier for browsers to move from one Fox-owned site to another, personalize what they see and get access to a greater variety of content such as video.
■ Appliances
Maytag sets merger vote
Maytag Corp, the US appliance maker that's the subject of a bidding contest, said it expects a potential second bidder to complete its due diligence by July 22. China's Haier Group (海爾) and two buyout firms made a preliminary offer last month to buy the third-largest US appliance maker for US$1.28 billion, or US$16 a share, about a month after a group led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC offered US$1.12 billion, US$2 more per share. The Haier group said it needed to examine Maytag more closely before making a final offer. Maytag shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Ripplewood offer Aug. 19.
■ Energy industry
Enron to pay for gouging
Bankrupt energy company Enron Corp has agreed to pay US$47.5 million in cash in a settlement that could eventually top US$1.5 billion to resolve claims that it gouged California and other western states during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. The settlement will end claims of market manipulation and price gouging against the once high-flying Houston-based company, California Attorney-General Bill Lockyer said on Friday. The agreement requires approval by the bankruptcy court and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In addition to the cash payment, Enron will provide California with an unsecured claim for US$875 million in the energy company's bankruptcy proceedings. Oregon and Washington would be entitled to US$22.5 million each from that unsecured settlement. The settlement also calls for the company to pay a US$600 million penalty to the three states. The deal will allow California to "squeeze justice from this corporate turnip," Lockyer said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last