Four families have sued News Corp. and its MySpace social-networking site after their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met on the site, lawyers for the families said Thursday. The law firms, Barry &Lowey LLP of Austin and Houston-based Arnold &Itkin LLP, said families from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and South Carolina filed separate suits Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging negligence, recklessness, fraud and negligent misrepresentation by the companies.
Checkout push may hurt Google
Google Inc.’s hard-charging promotion of its Checkout online-payment feature is hurting the company, according to analysts and Internet-industry watchers. The hurt from Checkout is coming in two ways: economically, albeit slightly, and also by undercutting Mountain View-based Google’s own reputation for search. Google has been offering an almost nonstop series of Checkout promos since its debut.
Profits fall for motorcycle maker
Harley-Davidson reported Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 9.7 percent on an international sales surge of 29.4 percent. Meanwhile, the domestic market grew just 0.3 percent. Shares of Harley-Davidson fell $1.26, or 1.8 percent, to $71.48 in afternoon trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. Net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled $252.4 million, or 97 cents per share, compared with a profit of $230 million, or 84 cents per share, a year ago.
Salaries rise faster than prices
Inflation in 2006 eased to the slowest pace in three years as consumers finally got some relief on energy and medical bills. In further good news, inflation-adjusted wages rose at the fastest clip in nearly a decade. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the Consumer Price Index climbed by 2.5 percent last year, the best showing since 2003 and nearly a full percentage point lower than the 3.4 percent jump in 2005.
Time Inc to cut magazine staff
Time Inc. is eliminating nearly 300 jobs as it continues to revamp its huge portfolio of magazines such as Time, People and Sports Illustrated in an effort to adapt as readers and advertisers move to the Internet. The giant magazine publisher, which is part of the media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., announced to its staff Thursday that it was eliminating 289 jobs in various departments across the company, which publishes about 150 magazines.
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