KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Saturday March 26 Housing and Economic stories

Friday, March 25, 2011

Saturday March 26 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

Group Challenges Arrest of Man for 'Linking to Other Websites' - (www.foxnews.com) The Obama administration's aggressive crackdown on websites accused of child pornography crimes, copyright infringement or selling counterfeit goods is being challenged by an online activist group that says federal authorities "overreached" by arresting someone for "nothing more than linking to other websites." The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Bryan McCarthy, 32, earlier this month and charged him with one count of copyright infringement. Since December 2005, McCarthy operated channelsurfing.net out of his home in Texas until federal authorities seized it last month as part of an ongoing investigation into websites that illegally streamed copyrighted sporting telecasts and pay-per-view events.

GE: Too soon to assess Japan impact on nuclear sector - (www.reuters.com) The head of General Electric Co (GE.N) offered Japan support on Monday to deal with the country's worst ever nuclear power crisis and at the same time defended the track record of the industry. Engineers in Japan are scrambling to prevent a meltdown at three reactors after Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami forced an automatic shutdown of the units. GE built the first reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T), and with Toshiba Corp (6502.T) it manufactured the second. "Clearly we are offering any kind of technical assistance to our customer TEPCO and the government of Japan as they go through the recovery efforts with the nuclear power plants," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt told reporters said. "Our first priority is to support the government and people of Japan."

Bahrain calls for help as police are routed - (www.ft.com) Bahrain has called on neighbouring Gulf states for policing help after anti-government protesters routed riot police in a pitched battle that covered parts of the capital in teargas. People familiar with the matter say the kingdom’s Sunni al-Khalifa royal family had asked the five other states in the Gulf Co-operation Council alliance for help with policing. Early on Sunday riot police broke up a small camp of protesters outside Bahrain’s financial centre with teargas and rubber bullets, but, after several hours of fighting, demonstrators drove off the police and took control of much of the capital’s central business district. Some observers fear the country is edging towards civil war, with armed Sunni police and sword-wielding government loyalists confronting Shia demonstrators.

Global supply chain rattled by Japan quake, tsunami - (www.reuters.com) Companies from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders moved to minimize major supply disruption caused by Japan's devastating earthquake. The 8.9 magnitude quake and ensuing tsunami destroyed infrastructure and knocked out factories supplying everything from high-tech components to steel, forcing firms including Toyota Corp (7203.T) and Sony Corp (6758.T) to suspend production. Plant closures and production outages among Japan's high-tech companies, combined with port closures, were among the biggest threats to the supply chain as an estimated fifth of all global technology products are made in Japan, analysts said. Rolling power blackouts are set to hit Tokyo and surrounding areas over coming weeks, adding to the challenge of inspecting and repairing north Japan plants amid continuing aftershocks and the threat of radiation leaks from damaged nuclear power plants. Korean shipbuilders and U.S. solar power companies are among those facing disruptions to supply. But with damage assessments still being made, companies and analysts said it was too early to accurately gauge how long these might last.

Japan Adds $86 Billion to Stabilize Markets After Quake - (www.bloomberg.com) The Bank of Japan poured a record 15 trillion yen ($183 billion) into the world’s third-biggest economy today as the strongest earthquake in the nation’s history triggered a plunge in stocks and surge in credit risk. The yen fell after the central bank added funds to the financial system, reversing earlier gains against the dollar on speculation authorities would sell the currency to aid exporters. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa yesterday said he is ready to unleash “massive” liquidity to support markets. “This is a big and also appropriate move,” said Stephen Schwartz, chief economist for Asia at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA in Hong Kong. “It’s a short-term measure to ensure stability to prevent this shock from spilling over to the financial markets.”