Internet piracy ring targeted
The government announced Thursday an 11-nation crackdown on Internet piracy organizations responsible for stealing copies of the latest “Star Wars” film and other movies, games and software programs worth at least $50 million.
FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches, starting Wednesday, arresting four people, seizing hundreds of computers and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works.
The Justice Department “is striking at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain — a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of illegal digital content now available online,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.
Called Operation Site Down, the crackdown involved undercover FBI operations run out of Chicago, San Francisco and Charlotte, N.C., and included help from authorities in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
Senators back off China currency vote
Washington
Two senators sponsoring legislation aimed at forcing China to revalue its currency said Thursday they would hold off pressing for a vote at the urging of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow.
Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced the delay after meeting with Greenspan and Snow at the Capitol. The lawmakers said they had received indications from the officials that the Chinese were on the verge of moving voluntarily to a new currency system.
U.S. manufacturers contend that China’s practice of linking its currency to the dollar has undervalued the yuan by as much as 40 percent, making Chinese goods cheaper in America and U.S. products more expensive in China.
The proposed legislation would impose across-the-board penalty tariffs of 27.5 percent on goods imported from China.
The senators said that would give both countries time to negotiate further on the currency issue.
Morgan Stanley names new CEO
New York
Morgan Stanley named former president John Mack as its new chairman and chief executive officer Thursday, replacing Philip Purcell at the head of one of Wall Street’s most storied investment banks. The widely anticipated move ended three months of turbulence that cost the company some of its top employees.
The company said Mack will take over immediately from Purcell, who announced his retirement June 13 under pressure from investors and his own board of directors over his leadership style and management.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mack said he would reach out to any employees who have left the firm under Purcell’s watch. Five of the 14 members of Morgan Stanley’s executive committee left the company this spring, frustrated with perceived favoritism on the part of Purcell.
“I would like to have them come back, along with others,” Mack said. “There are some talented people out there who have left Morgan Stanley, not just those five executives. We need more talented people.”