Judge in U.S. Dist. Court, Seattle, ruled in favor of Nintendo of America (NOA) in latter’s suit to recover 49 infringing Internet domain names including Pokemon-Trader.com and Growlithe.com. Court ordered all domain names to be returned to Nintendo and awarded company $560,000 in statutory damages ($2,000-$30,000 per name). Suit -- NOA v. Stefani Us et al. -- was filed against 22 defendants under Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) in Oct. 2000. NOA said this was its first domain name suit under ACPA. NOA Vp-Gen. Counsel Richard Flamm said: “Nintendo is pleased the court recognized the company’s intellectual property rights and understood the damages that are caused by cybersquatting. The anticybersquatting legislation is an effective tool to recover domain names in a single lawsuit.”

THQ shipped Xbox version of snowboarding game Dark Summit. PS2 version is to follow Nov. 27.

Confirmation hearing on Video Update’s bankruptcy reorganization plan is scheduled for Nov. 30, setting stage for Movie Gallery (MG) proposed acquisition of 300 of former rival’s stores and creation of new subsidiary. Hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Camden, N.J., had been set for late Oct., but was delayed by investigation into alleged fraud by former management. MG purchased 92% of Video Update’s senior secured bank debt of $121 million in May for $8.5 million. It has advanced chain $5 million through end of 3rd quarter and $1.5 million since Sept. 30, MG said in SEC filing.

Rival recordable DVD formats squared off at Comdex in Las Vegas Mon., heavily promoting their technologies while holding out possibility that warring camps could reach agreement on single standard. In dueling news conferences that broke little new ground technologically, DVD+RW Alliance and Recordable DVD Council, which backs DVD Forum-approved DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R formats, and DVD+RW Alliance, each laid groundwork for continued product introductions despite hints of efforts to standardize rival formats.

Office Depot CEO Bruce Nelson adds chmn. post Dec. 30, replacing David Fuente, who has been nonexecutive chmn. since July 2000 and will remain a dir… Frank Ingriselli, ex-Texaco Technology Ventures, named consultant to Energy Conversion Devices… Grayson Hoberg, ex-Earthlink, appointed CFO, iBlast.

CEA seeks simplified testing of TV X-radiation in petition for rulemaking submitted last week to Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Proposal asks FDA to amend methods TV manufacturers use to confirm compliance, but doesn’t ask agency to change amount of X-radiation sets can emit. CEA wants to reduce govt. and manufacturer administrative costs of testing and certification process “made unnecessary by modern transistorized circuitry,” it said. Current FDA rules require manufacturers to test each new family of sets for X-radiation and submit detailed report. Complex testing and reporting method was necessary in 1960s when TV technology and set manufacturing were in infancy, CEA said, but “set design has improved to… eliminate most of the components that could fail and result in excessive X-radiation.” Recent survey of manufacturers found level of emissions from TV sets hadn’t approached that of naturally occurring background radiation -- about 1/5 of FDA limit -- in last 20 years, it said. “During the last 2 decades television set manufacturers have voluntarily reduced X-radiation emissions to levels well below the FDA’s limit and it is time the regulatory process caught up with technology,” CEA spokesman said.

Electronics industry and state and local regulators reached “key” understanding on financial model for management of used CE products at meeting of National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) Nov. 8-9 in Boston, said regulators involved in initiative. “The significance of last week’s meeting was that the industry agreed to take the focus away from a taxpayer or ratepayer model,” said Sego Jackson, principal planner for Snohomish County, Wash. NEPSI came up with “road map” for agreement to be on table by Sept., said Scott Cassel, dir. of Mass.-based Product Stewardship Institute.

Sony’s far-reaching alliances with AOL Time Warner and Nokia are latest evidence that CE giant is abandoning go-it-alone strategy that has been hallmark of its history. Sony unveiled agreements with AOL Time Warner and Nokia at Comdex in Las Vegas Mon. as part of latest effort to speed rollout of broadband strategy that focuses on home networking. Several years ago Sony unveiled plans to combine film and music properties and its CE expertise with Internet, but to date projects have remained in planning stages. Playstation 2 also was developed with Internet and home networking in mind, but online game service has yet to emerge.

Losses continued for Cablevision’s N.Y. metro area CE retail chain The Wiz in 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30. But Cablevision CEO James Dolan told analysts in conference call Tues. “we are determined to bring the loss down in 2002” and reducing Wiz loss “has been and will continue to be of paramount importance as the 2002 budget is finalized.”

EM Holdings (EMH) proposed buying beleaguered eMachines for $117 million, in move that would put PC maker in hands of major supplier and shareholder. EMH’s 78?-per-share bid, 156% premium over average stock price in last 30 days, was proposed to eMachines board in late Oct., but not made public until SEC filing late Nov. 9. It expires Wed. and, if accepted by board and approved by shareholders, could be completed by year-end, said Lap Shun Hui, CEO of eMachines shareholder/supplier Korea Data Systems (KDS) provided EM Holdings with $5 million in initial capital. Hui and EMH own 1.8 million shares (1.26%) of eMachines outstanding common and KDS 19.8%. eMachines stock closed last week at 43?, down 5?.