Just Economic Info

Japan's Sega Corp joined the rapidly growing club of video game companies whose computer systems have been hacked by cyber criminals, the company said on Friday.The news capped a week in which the Lulz Security group of hackers launched a cyber crime spree against other video game companies.In an unexpected twist, Lulz responded to the news...

Microsoft has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy the Internet phone service Skype, the Federal Trade Commission said in a website posting on Friday.Microsoft announced in May it was buying Skype for $8.5 billion, its biggest-ever acquisition, placing a rich bet on mobile and the Internet to try and best rivals such as Google Inc.The approval...

A comedian impersonating President Barack Obama was cut short and ushered off the stage at a gathering of Republican activists on Saturday after a series of off-color jokes.The Obama impersonator, Reggie Brown, poked fun at Obama's biracial heritage, a gay congressman and several of the Republican presidential candidates before Republican...

Boeing Co (BA.N) says it feels no pressure to rush a decision on whether to re-engine or redesign its best-selling 737 narrow-body, despite impressive orders for an upgraded version of the competing plane -- the Airbus A320neo.Customers will wait for the best, most-fuel efficient plane Boeing can make, and the company cannot risk promising...

The Finance Ministry will soon impose a new tariff for imported movies, an official says.Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said that he had signed off on the new tariff on Thursday, adding that the revised rate would be implemented pending the final approval from the Law and Human Rights Ministry.“We will impose between Rp 21,000 (US$2.45)...

Workers at a Target Corp discount store in New York voted to reject union representation in what would have been the first unionized Target store in the country, while union officials vowed to press for another election.Employees at the Valley Stream, New York, store voted against union affiliation, 137-85, Target said in a statement released...

The province of Bali is ready to become an economic corridor, Governor Made Mangku Pastika said here on Monday.The governor said that for Bali to become an economic corridor was in accordance with the Master Plan of the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI 2011-2025)."In the MP3EI Bali is defined as the corridor...

State electricity company PT PLN planned to erect a 376 meters power transmission tower, to be the highest in the world in Gilimanuk to smoothen power transmission from Java to Bali.This was disclosed by president director of PT PLN Dahlan Iskan on the sidelines of a seminar themed "The Function of Control for Legal Enforcement and Good Governance"...

Marvell Technology Group USA predicted that the Asian region will become the world largest economic area in a decade to come."Currently there is a shift of economic growth engine from the West to the Asian region," President and Chief Executive Officer Marvell Technology Group USA, Sehat Sutardja said here on Sunday in a joint press conference...

The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged...

The International Monetary Fund has warned that the risks facing the world economy have increased.The fund said it was concerned about the continuing Greek debt crisis, the arguments over US deficit plans and the need to curb growth in Asia.But it said it expected global growth to remain on track, though it lowered its forecasts for the US...

State electricity company PT PLN will go ahead with a plan to take over the stalled development of the Sarulla geothermal power plant in North Sumatra, despite a commitment from the current developer to continue the project, a PLN executive said.PLN planning and technology director Nasri Sebayang said Thursday that his company could not trust...

Nokia and Apple have agreed a technology licensing agreement that ends the long-running legal dispute between the two firms."The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies," Nokia said.Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.Apple had countersued,...

A number of airlines have requested additional flights to serve an anticipated increase in travelers over the school holiday period in June and July, kompas.com reports.According to the Transportation Ministry, four airlines have requested an additional 58 flights in this period.Indonesia AirAsia has prepared Airbus A320 aircraft for 28 additional...

U.S. regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The Journal said the Securities and Exchange Commission was reviewing the conduct of companies...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Oracle Corp is seeking damages "in the billions of dollars" from Google Inc in a patent lawsuit over the smartphone market, according to a court filing.The disclosure on Thursday was the first time either side publicly mentioned the cumulative scale of Oracle's damages claims.Oracle sued Google last year, claiming...

State oil and gas firm Pertamina has decided to distribute dividends of Rp7.12 trillion or 42.46 percent of its last year`s net profit of Rp16.77 trillion.The decision was reached at the company`s general shareholders meeting on Tuesday, Pertamina spokesman M Harun said on Wednesday.He said the 2010 net profit represented a three percent...

New Zealand, Canada and Brazil are ready to supply beef and cattle to Indonesia following Australia`s suspension of live cattle exports to the country over alleged abusive treatment of livestock.Representatives of the three countries expressed the readiness during a meeting with Head of the Agricultural Quarantine Body at the Agriculture...

The governments of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) will discuss strategic issues in Batam, Riau Islands, next week, a regional legislator said."The two countries will discuss defense, economic matters, state boundaries and other issues of mutual concern," Chairman of Commission I on foreign affairs of the Riau Islands Regional Legislative...

Google is making its largest investment yet in clean energy in an effort to help private homeowners put solar panels on their rooftops.The $280 million deal with installer SolarCity is the largest of its kind. SolarCity can use the funds to pay for a solar system that it can offer to residents for no money down. In exchange, customers agree...

Australia’s six-month ban on cattle exports may be considered a blessing to local players, but the sudden cut in a supply chain that contributes a significant slice of the cattle market has been a pain for consumers and shaken the country’s food sufficiency program, a minister said.“Domestic cattle producers can only supply 70 percent of...

China's import growth accelerated in May despite government efforts to cool an overheated economy, while exports weakened.Imports rose 21.8 percent, up from April's 28.4 percent and beating most forecasts, data showed. Export growth eased to 19.4 percent from April's 21.8 percent in a sign of weakening global demand.China's politically sensitive...

The government is expected to raise the tax of imported movies to up to 100 percent, to help protect and stimulate the production of local movies.Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said the finance ministry's directorate general for taxation had approved the proposed raise.“We are waiting for an official letter from the finance minister...