July 12, 2001

New York City announces that it and Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn will pay Abner Louima $8.75 million to settle his civil rights lawsuit only to rescind announcement several hours later; negotiations reportedly stalled on 'technical detail'; photo (M)

Justin Sebik, contestant on CBS TV program Big Brother, is dismissed from program for holding kitchen knife against throat of female contestant, Krista Stegall; network says Sebik was previously warned about threatening behavior; incident is likely to provide further grist for critics who say reality shows are taking too many risks and stretching boundaries of taste on broadcast television (M)

Federal District Court Judge Sidney H Stein rules that term 'book' in book contracts does not automatically include electronic books, in decision that goes to heart of battle over who controls right to sell digital editions of great majority of work published in last century; ruling is latest in series of verdicts indicating that courts view Internet as new and different form of media, not easily governed by rules of more traditional media; decision is boon to authors and agents who hope to gain from reselling digital rights to previously published work; extent of consumer demand for electronic books is not known, but publishers fear authors and Internet start-ups will begin selling digital files of their classic titles, potentially undercutting their own efforts to sell electronic books and even some print sales; Random House had filed suit against RosettaBooks, Internet start-up, for copyright infringement; case now goes to trial in Manhattan (M)

Michelle Slatalla describes reluctantly joining her family for day's outing at beach, taking along latest electronic devices to ease her distress; photo (M)

Article discusses deteriorating exterior and interior conditions of Gracie Mansion, 200-year-old official residence of mayor of New York City; marital dispute between Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Donna Hanover is cited as major reason for current condition; officials of Gracie Mansion Conservancy comment; photo (M)

Switzerland's UBS will postpone spinoff of UBS Capital because of weak financial markets; unit's chief executive Pierre de Weck is leaving by end of July; unit will remain part of UBS Warburg, headed by Markus Granziol; photo (S)

Angry shareholders criticize Luc Vandevelde, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, after company reports its 12th successive quarterly decline in sales but asks investors to vote on remuneration plan that would double amount of stock given to top managers if they meet performance targets; plans is approved with support of institutional investors (M)

South Africa says long-planned public offering for Telkom South Africa will be in November; Telkom Malaysia and SBC Communications, which together own 30 percent of Telkom South Africa, are in talks with government, which owns remaining 70 percent, over which will sell shares and how much of company will go public (S)

Nation's bikers have aged, but they retain their enthusiasm for chrome, leather and thunder; thousands of them attend annual get-together in Hollister, Calif, where biker fracas in 1947 inspired movie The Wild One; writer Hunter S Thompson, who spent year with Hells Angels in mid-1960's, holds that concept of motorcycle outlaw is uniquely American; lure of biker has not faded, even as motorcycle gang members have been sent to jail and killings at rock concert further soured reputations of motorcycle clubs; many bikers now are simply posing hobbyists: doctors, lawyers and other professionals who like to accessorize on weekends; Harley-Davidson will be 100 in two years, and average owner of hog is 45--up from 38 just 10 years ago; one in five Harley owners is 55 or older; many bikers turn off their hearing aids when they ride; photos; map (M)

In a Shift, Microsoft to Give PC Makers More Freedom Acknowledging that it must change its business practices, Microsoft announced that it would give personal computer makers more freedom to choose what software and services they offer on the machines they sell. The concession is a response to the decision last month by a federal court of appeals, which found that many of Microsoft's licensing deals with computer makers were an illegal abuse of its monopoly power. [Page A1.]

Polaroid Corp receives waiver from its banks that will keep it from defaulting on $367 million in loans; waiver is Polaroid's third this year; company expects to renegotiate terms of loans, which mature at end of year; announces it will not make interest payments coming due over next five weeks on more than $500 million in bonds (M)

Microsoft Corp says it will give personal computer makers more freedom to choose what software and services they offer on machines they sell; concession by Microsoft is in response to federal appeals court decision that many of Microsoft's licensing deals with computer makers are an illegal abuse of its monopoly power; industry analysts and company's opponents in antitrust suit consider this a limited step, but do not expect it to have much impact on industry and competition; antitrust suit filed by Justice Dept and several states did focus on market for Internet browsing software, but it raised broader competitive issues as well; what is unclear is whether Microsoft's measured step is initial signal that company is willing to accept court decision, modify its behavior and take significant further steps to settle suit; chart (M)