Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Wed, Apr 1 1992 Date: Wed, 1 Apr 92 05:43:26 EST Message-ID: 04-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update April 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FREEMAN FILES LIBEL SUIT: Harry L. Freeman, who retired in January 1990 as an executive vice president of American Express, is suing Dow Jones - publisher of The Wall Street Journal - and reporter Bryan Burrough for libel. Freeman filed the suit Tuesday in federal district court in New York. He seeks $50 million, claiming he was falsely accused in an article of running a smear campaign against banker Edmond Safra. (For more, see special Libel package below.) ORANGE JUICE QUOTA ENDS: Import regulations taking effect Wednesday eliminate a trade quota limiting the amount of orange juice that Japan imports from the USA. The quota had been about 10 million gallons a year, or about a glass a year. Florida will now be competing with Brazil, which provides 75% of Japan's orange juice. MCI TO STOP BILLING: MCI says it will no longer provide billing services for 900-numbers that promise callers help getting credit, credit cards, loans or improving your credit standing. The new policy starts April 1. Previously, MCI stopped billing for adult-oriented 900-numbers. IRS FILES CLAIM: The Internal Revenue Service has filed a federal bankruptcy claim asking for $553.7 million in back taxes from Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. Thousands of creditors filed claims approaching $10 billion this month in Wilmington, Del., in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases of Columbia Gas System Inc. and its Charleston, W.Va., subsidiary, company officials said Tuesday. VOLK WINS DUMPING CASE: Volk Optical Inc., Tuesday won an anti-dumping case against Nikon. The International Trade Commission handed down a final judgment in Washington in favor of Volk and ordered Nikon to place in escrow the difference, determined to be 158%, between what it charged U.S. and Japanese distributors for aspheric opthalmoscopy lenses. HUGHES, INTEL ANNOUNCE DEAL: Hughes Aircraft Co. and Intel Corp. Tuesday announced a settlement in a patent infringement suit filed by Hughes in 1983. The settlement calls for Intel to pay Hughes $35 million and for both parties to dismiss all claims in the action. Hughes' case alleged that Intel infringed three semiconductor patents relating to ion implantation processes. IMPLANT SUIT AMENDED: A suit filed in Detroit against that makers of silicone gel breast implants was amended Tuesday to include the complaints of 18 additional women and nine of their husbands. The suit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court against Dow Corning Corp., McGhan Medical Corp., Dow Corning Wright Corp., Cox-Uphoff Corp., Heyer-Schulte and Aesthetech, Inc. BILL TARGETS INSURANCE FRAUD: Reps. William Hughes, D-N.J., and Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., introduced a bill Tuesday aimed to cut down on fraudulent insurance providers. The proposal would target many businesses that - because of rising health insurance costs - are pooling funds and contracting with entrepreneurs offering health benefits for employees at reduced rates. DISPUTE CAUSES PRICE HIKE: A trade dispute between the USA and Canada is partly responsible for driving up timber prices. A 14.5% tariff on Canadian lumber proposed by the Commerce Department could be enacted this year. The proposal came after two years of unsuccessful trade negotiations. Anticipating the tariff, U.S. and Canadian producers hiked prices, says analyst Sherman Chao of Salomon Bros. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON LIBEL: SUIT LABELED `WITHOUT MERIT': Dow Jones spokesman Roger May said Tuesday that the company - publisher of The Wall Street Journal - and reporter Bryan Burrough think a libel suit filed against them by former American Express executive Harry L. Freeman is without merit. Freeman says he was falsely accused of running a smear campaign against banker Edmond Safra in a Sept. 24, 1990, Journal story written by Burrough. FREEMAN CALLED LEADER: The subject of the suit is a front-page Journal story that said AmEx orchestrated a campaign to discredit Safra - who sold his Swiss bank to AmEx in 1983 and resigned in 1984 due to conflicts - that was overseen by Freeman. Safra agreed not to compete, but AmEx feared he was hiring away employees to form a rival bank and began spreading rumors and news stories to discredit him, the story said. SUIT SAYS FREEMAN NOT A PARTY: The libel suit filed by Freeman claims he did not participate in a smear campaign. It says he instead coordinated an investigation to gather evidence to prevent Safra from getting a license from Swiss regulators for his new bank. In 1989, AmEx paid $8 million charities after admitting that it tried to ruin Safra's reputation. Freeman claims the story created "a fictional" Harry Freeman. (End of package.) Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM