■INTERNET
eBay, Skype settle suit
E-commerce giant eBay has settled its long-running legal feud with the founders of Skype, clearing the way for a US$2 billion sale of the Internet telephony pioneer, the company said on Friday. Under the terms of the settlement, Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will get a 14 percent stake in the consortium buying Sykpe from eBay in return for an undisclosed cash investment and the withdrawal of their lawsuits. Zennstrom and Friis will also contribute Joltid software that is critical to the operation of Skype.
■MUSIC
Bluebeat to fight EMI
US online music service Bluebeat on Friday said it planned to fight British recording label EMI over rights to stream and sell versions of Beatles songs. Bluebeat.com and sister Web site Basebeat.com were shuttered on Friday, a day after US District Court Judge John Walter in Los Angeles granted a request by EMI to bar Beatles tunes from the online venues. Walter said he was shown no evidence supporting Bluebeat’s claim that it wasn’t infringing on EMI’s rights to Beatles songs.
■OIL
Shell to pay for violations
Shell Oil Co will pay California more than US$19 million because of environmental violations at service stations throughout the state, officials said on Friday. The agreement, filed on Friday in a California state court, requires Shell to pay US$17.8 million in civil penalties as well as US$1.7 million in costs to state and local agencies. Under the terms of Friday’s deal, Shell agreed to take immediate steps to improve spill and alarm monitoring, employee training, hazardous waste management and emergency response at its gasoline stations.
■INSURANCE
AIG records profit
AIG said on Friday it was profitable for the second straight quarter as its core insurance operations continue to stabilize after the company’s bailout by the government last year. Despite the improved performance, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche said earnings would remain choppy as the company executes its restructuring plan. Net income was US$92 million, or US$0.68 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of US$24.47 billion, or US$181.02 per share, during the same quarter last year.
■BANKING
Bank collapse reaches 120
Bank failures in the US have risen to 120 this year as five more regional institutions were added to the list, the US agency that guarantees the safety of bank deposits said. United Commercial Bank in San Francisco with assets of US$11.2 billion was the largest of the failures reported on Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The other banks were located in the states of Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan and Georgia and were substantially smaller.
■CRIME
Police looking for robber
French police are conducting a nationwide search for a bank security driver after he vanished with 11 million euros (US$7.4 million) from a bank in the central city of Lyon. Prosecutor Xavier Richard said the suspect appears to have acted alone and prepared his escape in advance. The driver had picked up the money on Thursday at the Banque de France branch in Lyon with two other security workers. They then stopped at another bank and while the two were inside that bank, the driver made off with the cash.
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