Monday, August 5, 2013

Parting Schotts: NASCAR, FOX Sports agree to two-year contract extension

NASCAR and FOX Sports announced a two-year extension to an agreement the two sides made last October, it was announced Thursday.

The original deal, set to start in 2015, will now run through 2024. FOX Sports added exclusive rights to three additional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and the first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series events of each season. FOX secured exclusive rights to the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season through 2022 last fall, and that part of the agreement also has been extended through 2024.

Last week, NASCAR signed a deal with NBC Sports Group to cover the second half of the NASCAR season, including the Chase to the Championship. That deal begins in 2015 and ends in 2024, so NASCAR has everything aligned with its TV rights.

FOX Sports will air nine Cup races, the other seven will air on the FOX Sports 1, which debuts Aug. 17.

Follow @slapschotts on Twitter. Follow @dgazettesports on Twitter.

Source: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2013/aug/01/nascar-fox-sports-agree-to-two-year-contract-exten/

Pasquale Rotella Michael Clark Duncan

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Obama administration overturns ban on some Apple products

Saturday, August 3, 2013 - 9:12pm

A ban on the sale of some Apple products - including iPhones and iPads - will not go into effect after President Barack Obama's administration stepped in Saturday, a day before the prohibition was to go into effect.

Ambassador Michael Froman, the U.S. trade representative, overturned a June decision of the U.S. International Trade Commission -- which, according to its website, is an "independent, quasijudicial federal agency" that investigates trade issues - that certain Apple products designed for the AT&T network could not be imported to or sold in the United States.

The Obama administration's 60-day window to address, and possibly reverse, that decision was to end Sunday.

The trade representative's rare move stems from a patent dispute between the tech giants Apple and Samsung over patents on wireless communications.

An ITC judge ruled against Samsung on three patents, but the commission sided with Samsung on the fourth - leading to the ban announced in June.

It would have affected models of the iPhone 4, 3GS and 3, as well as iPads and iPad 2s, that were compatible with AT&T's network.

In a letter Saturday outlining the decision, Froman expressed "substantial concerns" about "patent hold-up," in which companies use a patent to gain "undue leverage" over use of technologies. He also noted that communications technology standards, including those covered by patents, "have come to play an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy."

Froman noted that his decision does not stop the dispute between Apple and Samsung from continuing to play out in court. Last summer, Apple won a $1 billion lawsuit against Samsung over patent issues.

A Samsung spokesman said Saturday it was "disappointed" in Froman's decision.

"The ITC's decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license," David Steel said in a statement.

Apple and the ITC did not immediately answer calls from CNN on Saturday for reaction to the U.S. Trade Representative's decision.

Source: http://www.ketknbc.com/news/obama-administration-overturns-ban-on-some-apple-p

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