Kevorkian gets out of prison for surgery
Detroit Free Press
Friday, February 4, 2005
BY AMBER HUNT MARTIN, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Dr. Jack Kevorkian finally is out of prison — if only for a few weeks.
Kevorkian, the infamous assisted-suicide doctor convicted of poisoning a
man on national television, left his prison cell Thursday to undergo
bilateral hernia surgery, his lawyer said.
Mayer Morganroth, Kevorkian’s Southfield attorney, said his client was
given 10 minutes’ notice early Thursday that he’d be leaving for the
surgery. Morganroth didn’t know whether Kevorkian would go under the
knife Thursday or today.
“I’m really concerned,” Morganroth said. “His health is quite poor.”
In addition to the hernia, Kevorkian reportedly has hepatitis C, high
blood pressure, arthritis, a heart murmur, circulatory problems and the
beginning stages of cataracts in his eyes.
;u=/krdetroit/20050204/lo_krdetroit/kevorkiangetsoutofprisonforsurgery

‘Frank’ the tumor surgery successful
CNN.com
February 3, 2005
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — A 9-year-old boy successfully
underwent surgery Wednesday to remove most of a brain tumor he
nicknamed “Frank,” and which was the subject of an online auction to
help raise money for medical bills.
“It really went very well. I’m thrilled,” said Dr. Hrayr Shahinian,
who performed the surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Skull
Base Institute in Los Angeles.
Cells from the tumor, which had been treated with chemotherapy and
radiation, will now be studied to determine if it is malignant.
David Dingman-Grover, of Sterling, Virginia., went into surgery around
10 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Frank Groff, spokesman
for the Institute. A little more than two hours later, he was awake
and talking, Shahinian said.
Shahinian said David’s oncologists must now decide whether to give him
one more round of chemotherapy. “We have to sit tight and wait to see
… is Frank dead?” he said.
The doctor said he was able to remove nearly all the tumor, but that
some scar tissue in the area may still contain traces of it. He said
David would likely be discharged Thursday.
The boy was diagnosed in 2003 with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. A
grapefruit-sized tumor was impinging on his optic nerves and carotid
arteries, causing blindness and headaches.
The size and location of the tumor made it impossible for doctors to
take out, according to his mother’s ad on eBay.
Chemotherapy and radiation shrank it to the size of a peach pit,
restoring his vision, but there were side effects. For a while he
couldn’t walk or eat and had to be fed through a tube, his mother
said.
David named his tumor after Frankenstein’s monster, who scared him
until he dressed up as the fictional character for Halloween. His
parents auctioned off a bumper sticker reading “Frank Must Die” on
eBay to raise money for his treatment.

RFE/RL Georgia: Zhvania’s Death Likely To Affect Balance Of Forces In
Government
Friday, 04 February 2005
By Jean-Christophe Peuch
Zurab Zhvania, the Georgian prime minister who died yesterday in an
apparent gas poisoning accident, was generally viewed as a stabilizing
element in the youthful team that took the reins of power 15 months ago.
Some analysts believe his sudden death is likely to alter the balance of
forces in the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili in favor of
its more radical elements. But would that also affect Georgia’s policy
toward its separatist republics?
Prague, 4 February 2005 (RFE/RL) — In the hours that followed the news
of Zhvania’s death, Georgian officials worked hard to dismiss concerns
the sudden loss of the government head would affect the work of the
country’s leadership.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a second emergency government
meeting yesterday, Interior Minister Ivane Merabishvili attempted to
project an air of calm.
“The Interior Ministry is continuing work at its usual pace,” he said.
“The situation in the country is under our control, and I would not
advise criminal groups to grow bolder. Just today, 14 criminals were
arrested in Tbilisi alone.”
Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili, State Minister for Economic
Affairs Kakha Bendukidze, and Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili
conveyed a similar message: Everything is business as usual.
But at an earlier emergency cabinet meeting, Saakashvili hinted at
potential discord, as he solemnly called upon his ministers to remain
united and “support each other.”
Later in the day, at a memorial ceremony in Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity
Cathedral, Saakashvili said he would temporarily assume the leadership
of the government and sent his team a strongly worded warning.
“It is very important that we stick to the normal pace of life and
normal working practices, that we do not allow any breaches of
discipline to occur,” he said. “I want to state categorically that
everyone who will be found in breach of discipline will be held
accountable in accordance with the existing regulations.”
Georgian and foreign experts generally agree that Zhvania’s death is
likely to create a void in the Georgian leadership and that the absence
of the prime minister may have far-reaching consequences for the
cohesiveness of the ruling team.
Both Zhvania and Saakashvili had repeatedly said their team remained as
closely knit as it had been at the time of President Eduard
Shevardnadze’s ouster 15 months ago.
But tensions arose last month (4 January), when Okruashvili publicly
accused several Defense Ministry officials of embezzlement and demanded
their immediate arrest.
The controversy was swiftly glossed over. But some of the officials
targeted by Okruashvili had been appointed by Gela Bezhuashvili and
Giorgi Baramidze, his two predecessors at the head of the Defense
Ministry — who were also proteges of Zhvania. This sparked speculation
that there was infighting between so-called “radical” and “moderate”
elements in the government.
Okruashvili — an established hard-liner who belongs to Saakashvili’s
inner circle of friends — took over the Defense Ministry from Baramidze
as a result of last December’s security shakeup that saw Merabishvili —
another close ally of the president — obtain the Interior Ministry post.
A number of analysts suggest Okruashvili has set his sights on the
premiership. Georgia’s “Rezonansi” newspaper today included the defense
minister in its list of potential successors to Zhvania.
Saakashvili’s choice for Georgia’s new head of government will be known
within a week. “Rezonansi” suggested the president may nominate a person
close to the late prime minister — a choice that would reassure
Georgia’s neighbors and foreign partners that political continuity will
be maintained. The daily added, however, that Zhvania’s successor could
prove little more than a transitional figure and that he — or she —
could be replaced after a few months.
Ghia Nodia chairs the Tbilisi-based Caucasian Institute for Peace,
Democracy and Development. In an interview with RFE/RL’s Tbilisi bureau
chief Tamar Chikovani, Nodia yesterday said Zhvania’s death could upset
the current, healthy balance between the government’s two main groups.
“It is true that this is what is generally expected,” Nodia says. “And
maybe this is what will happen. In any case, for those people that were
considered close to Zhvania, their influence is likely to decrease.
However, that does not mean that Zhvania’s cadres will be purged. Those
two teams used to be a single team before, and the fact that they
eventually became two distinct groups is due to the fact that Zhvania
was acting as a center of attraction. Now that this center of attraction
is gone, members of this group will exist as mere individuals because I
don’t think there is among them a single figure capable of maintaining
the unity of the team.’
Zhvania’s death has sparked concerns among South Ossetian and Abkhaz
leaders, who suspect Saakashvili may resort to military force in order
to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity.
There are particular worries in South Ossetia about Okruashvili, whom
separatists blame for triggering a series of armed clashes last summer
while he was interior minister.
Concerns about the consequences of Zhvania’s death have also been heard
in Russia, which supports both secessionist governments.
The chairman of the Russian Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Konstantin
Kosachev, yesterday said he feared a possible resumption of the Abkhaz
and South Ossetian separatist wars of the early 1990s.
“I met with President Saakashvili last week in Strasbourg, and in the
course of the private meeting we had together, he once again assured me
he was determined to solve these conflicts through political, and not
military, means,” Kosachev said. “But how autonomous he is in his
intentions, or to what extent he is under the influence of the hawks
that we know for sure exist in his entourage — we know them all —
remains to be seen.’
But Nodia says Zhvania’s death is unlikely to substantially affect
Georgia’s approach in solving its separatist conflicts — especially
that with South Ossetia.
“I don’t think there will be any particular problems on this issue
because both sides have always been aware of this kind of traditional
game between the ‘good cop’ and the ‘bad cop’ in which Saakashvili would
issue radical statements and Zhvania follow up with some conciliatory
steps,” Nodia says. “This is how it worked with [Ajar leader] Aslan
Abashidze, and this is the way it’s working now with [South Ossetian
leader Eduard] Kokoity.”
Nodia says in this way, too, Zhvania’s death is likely to create a void
that will be difficult to fill.
“It will be relatively hard for Saakashvili to find a political figure
with whom he can have the same distribution of tasks as he had with
Zhvania,” Nodia concludes.

Conflicts Cited in Iraq Oil Program
The Washington Post
Friday February 4, 2005
By Colum Lynch, Washington Post Staff Writer
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 3 — The former director of the U.N. oil-for-food
program had serious conflicts of interest that violated the integrity of
the world body and helped undermine economic sanctions against Iraq,
U.N.-appointed investigators reported Thursday.
Benon Sevan repeatedly sought — and received — from Iraqi officials
the rights to purchase millions of barrels of discounted oil while he
was running the program, and then misled investigators about his
relationship with an Egyptian national who sold those rights for $1.5
million in profits, the inquiry found.
The findings are the first to come from a panel appointed by U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate allegations that the $64
billion oil-for-food program was corrupt and mismanaged. Those
allegations have led to calls for Annan’s resignation by some members of
Congress and have spurred probes by five congressional committees.
Those, like the probe by the United Nations, are continuing.
In its preliminary report Thursday, the U.N.-appointed panel, led by
former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker, also said that former
secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali was one of a few U.N. officials
who improperly helped steer contracts related to the program to selected
companies, and that two of his relatives were involved in the sale of
the oil allocated to Sevan.
Annan announced that he will pursue “disciplinary proceedings” against
Sevan and another U.N. official, Joseph Stephanides, who allegedly
helped the British government circumvent the United Nations’ competitive
bidding process to steer a contract to a British company. Stephanides
did not respond to a request for comment.
Annan said Volcker’s report contains “extremely troubling evidence of
wrongdoing” by Sevan.
“Should any of the findings of the inquiry give rise to criminal
charges, the United Nations will cooperate with national law enforcement
authorities pursuing those charges, and in the interests of justice I
will waive the diplomatic immunity of the staff member concerned,” Annan
said.
Annan noted that he is awaiting a report by Volcker probing possible
wrongdoing by Annan’s son, Kojo, who received $150,000 over a five-year
period from a Swiss company while it profited from the oil-for-food
program. The company maintains that Kojo Annan, who had been an
employee, had nothing to do with its work in Iraq and that the payments
were part of a standard agreement that would bar him from working for a
competitor.
Sevan’s attorney, Eric L. Lewis, said that “Mr. Sevan never took a
penny” from the program. Volcker’s commission has “succumbed to massive
political pressure and now seeks to scapegoat” Sevan, Lewis said.
“Mr. Sevan’s goal throughout the life of the program was to expedite the
pumping of oil in order to pay for urgently needed humanitarian
supplies” in Iraq, he said.
Some in Congress viewed Volcker’s report as vindication of their
criticism of the organization. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (news, bio, voting
record) (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations
Committee, said the findings “reinforce evidence we have developed
detailing lapses in program oversight, management, fiscal controls and
an absence of even the most rudimentary standards of accountability.”
Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, said that “part of the blame for the current imbroglio lies
with the U.N.” but that “we must recognize that those nations who sat on
the Security Council . . . another during the life of the program — and
this includes the United States — must also answer questions as to why
they, too, did not pay greater scrutiny to this program.”
The United Nations established the program in December 1996 to allow
Iraq, which had been put under U.N. sanctions after its 1990 invasion of
Kuwait, to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
The program helped ease the plight of millions of undernourished Iraqis,
but it also provided the Iraqi government with at least $2 billion in
illicit kickbacks and payoffs, according to a report last year by CIA
adviser Charles A. Duelfer. Volcker said that the government received
far more in illicit funds from unauthorized oil sales outside the
oil-for-food program to Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Egypt.
Volcker’s report also said U.N. auditors had “inadequate” resources and
staff to conduct a proper investigation of the program, and it charged
that the United Nations violated its own competitive bidding practices
in 1996 when it selected three companies — BNP Paribas of France,
Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere BV of the Netherlands and Lloyd’s Register
Inspection Ltd. of Britain — to monitor Iraq’s trade.
Boutros-Ghali, of Egypt, acting on the instructions of the Iraqi
government, helped steer a banking contract to hold Iraqi’s oil revenues
to BNP, the report said. “When provided with the short list, he
contacted the government of Iraq and asked for its choice,” the report
said. “Apparently the Government of Iraq indicated a preference for BNP,
and the secretary general acquiesced.”
Boutros-Ghali could not be reached at a number in Paris provided by the
United Nations.
Volcker said the “most disturbing finding” is that Sevan solicited oil
for a small company headed by an Egyptian relative of Boutros-Ghali’s. A
brother-in-law of Boutros-Ghali “was a likely intermediary” between the
two men, the report said.
Shortly after he was appointed to run the oil-for-food program in
October 1997, Sevan championed an Iraqi initiative to allow Iraq to use
its oil profits to buy $300 million worth of spare parts to repair its
oil infrastructure. Two days after the U.N. Security Council adopted the
proposal in June 1998, Sevan traveled to Baghdad and asked Iraq’s oil
minister, Amir Rashid, to grant an associate rights to buy discounted
oil, the report said.
The Iraqi government granted the oil company headed by the Boutros-Ghali
relative rights to buy 1.8 million barrels of oil, which were sold for a
profit of $300,000.
The report continued with the following account:
Sevan subsequently made a similar request, but the Iraqis cut the oil
allocation to 1 million barrels to express disappointment with his
failure to counter U.S. efforts to block the export of some spare parts.
Sevan returned to Iraq in the summer of 1999 with a fresh proposal to
expand the spare-parts arrangement. Within five days of his departure,
Iraq approved the rights to buy 2 million barrels of oil, which the oil
company sold for $500,000 in profits.
Volcker’s team has not proved that Sevan received money from the
company’s oil deals. Volcker is examining cash payments Sevan received
between 1999 and 2003 amounting to $160,000. Sevan has filed U.N.
financial disclosure forms saying the money came from his aunt, who died
last year after falling into an elevator shaft.
“Her lifestyle did not suggest this to be so,” the report said. “She was
a retired Cyprus government photographer living on a modest pension.”
“Mr. Sevan placed himself in a grave and continuing conflict of interest
situation,” the report concluded. “The Iraqi government, in providing
such allocations, certainly thought they were buying influence.”
;cid=1802&e=15&u=/washpost/20050204/ts_washpost/a60911_2005feb3

Georgia Official Urges Nation to Press On
Associated Press
February 4, 2005
By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer
TBILISI, Georgia – Georgia’s parliamentary speaker cut short a foreign
trip after the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and returned to the
stunned republic Friday, urging the government to retain its momentum in
reinvigorating the country.
Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, an ally of Zhvania and President
Mikhail Saakashvili, returned from a private visit to Italy and called
on the government to continue working as usual despite “a big loss for
Georgian politics and the Georgian state.”
Zhvania, 41, was found dead early Thursday at a friend’s home,
apparently poisoned by carbon monoxide from a gas-fired heating stove.
Initial tests showed Zhvania’s blood had nearly double the fatal level
of carbon monoxide, a forensics service spokeswoman said. His host also
died.
Authorities called Zhvania’s death an accident, but many people in
Georgia – plagued by a history of political intrigue, conflicts with
breakaway regions and tense relations with Russia – were skeptical. One
lawmaker linked Zhvania’s death and a car bombing Tuesday near
separatist South Ossetia, and hinted at Russian involvement.
A small knot of mourners gathered for a second day Friday outside the
home of Zhvania’s mother in central Tbilisi. Rudimentary repairs were
swiftly made to the old brick building’s dilapidated facade, and flowers
were laid on a windowsill outside Rimma Zhvania’s first-floor apartment.
A wooden coffin was delivered to her home Thursday. Zhvania’s body will
be moved to the capital’s Holy Trinity Cathedral for public viewing
Saturday before Sunday’s funeral.
On Thursday, a visibly shaken Saakashvili lit candles in Zhvania’s honor
at the cathedral and urged Georgians to remain calm.
“I assume control over the executive branch and I call on members of the
Cabinet to return to work and to continue their work as normal,” said
Saakashvili, who appointed Zhvania after his election in January 2004 –
rewarding a key ally in the November 2003 protests against election
fraud that became known as the “Rose Revolution.”
Zhvania was considered a moderate in the government of the fiery
Saakashvili, and worked to overcome endemic corruption that had enriched
some officials during the era of ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze while
the economy deteriorated.
Many people rely on gas or wood stoves in their homes in Georgia, where
central heating is scarce, and fatal leaks and accidents are common. But
several Tbilisi residents said they believed the prime minister’s death
was suspicious.
“There were plenty of people who envied Zurab. Many were hoping that a
conflict would break out between him and the president,” said historian
Grigory Dardzhanian.
Georgian lawmaker Alexander Shalamberidze linked Zhvania’s death to a
car bombing that killed three policemen in Gori, the city nearest to
South Ossetia, this week. Shalamberidze pointed at “outside forces” in
remarks clearly aimed at Russia, which has ties with the separatist
Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Zhvania was a key figure in efforts to resolve the conflicts with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which broke away from the central government
after wars in the 1990s. Saakashvili has vowed to reunite his fractured
country, but tension is high and erupted into deadly fighting in South
Ossetia last summer.
Zhvania “counterbalanced Saakashvili’s policies,” said Georgy
Gelashvili, a former colleague of Zhvania in the Greens party. “I’m
afraid that the people close to the president who didn’t much like
Zhvania may push (Saakashvili) toward extreme measures in settling
conflicts and in the economy.”
A minister in South Ossetia’s separatist government, Boris Chochiyev,
said Zhvania was “among the Georgian politicians who favored a peaceful
settlement of the conflict” and expressed hope that his death would not
aggravate tensions.
;u=/ap/georgia_prime_minister

Alcatel’s Tchuruk seeks closer Thales ties to gain
access to defence market
AFX News
Thursday, February 3, 2005
PARIS (AFX) – Alcatel wants to build up its defence communications
business by strengthening its relationship with Thales, in which it
holds a 9.1 pct stake, and is open to every option, said chief
executive Serge Tchuruk.
‘Defence is an important market for Alcatel,’ Tchuruk told daily Le
Figaro in an interview, adding: ‘We now want to build ourselves up
more clearly in the defence communications market beyond our (current)
position in satellites.
‘But it is difficult for us to do this with things as they are… That
is why we want to to develop our relationship with Thales.
‘We are open to every possible option other than the current status
quo,’ he said, reiterating his position on the future of the Thales
stake.
‘I have always said our stake in Thales is too much or not enough.’
He said Alcatel is also open to transatlantic acquisitions ‘and why
not in France?’ where he feels there are ‘too many players.’
The company this morning announced it will permit ‘flexibility’ in its
2005 gross margin to allow growth.
But Alcatel is not seeking a major merger ‘as we are already one of
the big boys.’

Alcatel returns to profit in 2004, but weak 4th
quarter spooks investors
Agence France Presse
Thursday, February 3, 2005
PARIS (AFP) – The French telecommunication equipment maker Alcatel, a
big casualty of the high-tech shake-out, posted a net profit in 2004
for the first time for three years, but its shares slumped on weak
fourth-quarter performance.
Net profit reached 281 million euros (365 million dollars) after a
1.944-billion-euro loss reported in 2003, marking the first time the
company had turned an annual profit since the bursting of the
technology bubble.
Meanwhile, sales fell to 12.27 billion euros in 2004 from 12.5 billion
euros in 2003. But calculated on a so-called pro forma basis,
excluding the impact of its divested mobile handset, optical fiber and
power system businesses, sales rose 5.7 percent over the period.
Alcatel was severely hit by the shake-out which followed the end of
the Internet and technology boom four years ago.
Chief executive Serge Tchuruk said that the increase was even better
when calculated to smooth out variations in volatile exchange rates
last year.
“While carrier markets showed a modest recovery, Alcatel’s sales
increased by close to 10 percent at a constant euro/dollar exchange
rate,” Tchuruk said in a statement, adding: “We are confident that
Alcatel is on the right track.”
Operating profits jumped to 978 million euros from a pro forma 449
million, yiellding an operating margin of 8.0 percent.
Tchuruk said: “We will maintain our strategic direction in 2005,
closely monitoring our operations in order to reach our priority
target, which is a 10 pct operating margin.”
In the final quarter of 2004, the company turned a net profit of 40
million euros compared with a loss of 524 million euros in the same
quarter in 2003.
Sales rose to 3.812 billion euros over the period from 3.009 while
operating profit increased to 393 million euros from 334 million
euros.
But analysts were expecting a much higher net profit figure for the
fourth quarter and the outlook for this year left investors
unimpressed.
By early afternoon here Alcatel’s shares were showing a loss of 8.99
percent at 10.22 euros in heavy volume.
US brokerage Raymond James had forecast a fourth-quarter net profit of
154 million euros while Exane BNP Paribas analysts had pencilled in a
profit of 180 million euros.
Global Equities analyst Laurent Balcon said: “The fourth quarter
results and the accompanying statements need no comment”.
“The group’s growth should be limited this year and in the coming
years by an intense price war in the sector,” he added.
At press conference Tchuruk sought to dispell criticism saying, “The
fourth-quarter results are notany different than what we had indicated
to the market.”
“We could have done several percentage points more but at the price of
not enetering some emerging markets,” he said, adding: “we chose to
bet on the future”, citing Brazil, India and Russia.
Despite the return to profit last year, chief financial officer
Jean-Pascal Beufret said Alcatel would not pay a dividend for 2004
although it planned to do so in 2005 if possible.
The board decided against a pay-out this year, in order to be able to
accumulate profits and issue a “more significant” dividend at a later
date as well as aim at a “more durable” dividend policy, he said.
;u=/afp/20050203/tc_afp/francetelecomcompany_050203130610

Alcatel Swings to $52 Million Profit
Associated Press
Thursday, February 3, 2005
PARIS – Alcatel SA, the French telecommunications equipment maker,
said it swung to profit in the fourth quarter as a year of
restructuring began to show results.
Net profit came in at 40 million euros ($52 million) in the three
months to Dec. 31, after the 524 million euro net loss posted for the
year-earlier period.
Revenue rose 1 percent to 3.81 billion euros ($4.98 billion), and
operating income jumped 18.7 percent to 393 million euros ($513
million).
Alcatel said Thursday it expects “low-to-mid single-digit” sales
growth in 2005 and a “double-digit” increase in earnings per share. It
continues to target a gross margin – operating profit as a share of
revenue – of 10 percent.
The company – which competes with companies like Germany’s Siemens AG
and Cisco Systems Inc. – returned to profit in 2004. Nevertheless,
Alcatel said Thursday it does not plan to pay a dividend this year,
but hopes to for 2005 earnings.
The lack of dividend and cautious 2005 guidance disappointed
investors. Alcatel shares dropped 9 percent to 10.24 euros ($13.37) in
Paris trading.
In the past year, Alcatel has stopped making fiber optics, mobile
handsets and batteries as part of a strategy focused on more
profitable sectors such as those associated with “triple play” – the
use of mobile phones for voice, television and Internet access.
“We are confident that Alcatel is on the right track,” Chairman and
Chief Executive Serge Tchuruk said.
As part of its restructuring, Alcatel has been investing in Asia and
Africa, building mobile networks and strengthening its commercial
activities there. These investments helped deflate the company’s
gross margin in the fourth quarter to 34.4 percent from 36 percent the
year before.
“An aggressive strategy has also been followed in establishing
footprints in certain high potential markets of the emerging world,
accepting temporary losses as an investment for future growth,”
Tchuruk said.
Tchuruk said he saw first-quarter sales growth between 3 percent and 5
percent.
Alcatel’s full-year 2004 net profit stood at 281 million euros
($367.01 million) after a 1.9 billion euro loss the previous year,
mainly on writedowns and restructuring costs. Revenue fell 2 percent
to 12.27 billion euros ($16.02 billion).
;u=/ap/20050203/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_france_alcatel_2

Senate OKs anti-piracy measure
Hollywood Reporter
Thursday, February 3, 2005
By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) – The third time could be the charm
for legislation that would make it a federal crime to camcord a movie
and would protect the manufacturers of players that edit out
purportedly offensive content from movies.
Although the Senate late Tuesday approved the Family Entertainment and
Copyright Act (FECA) of 2005 — a package of copyright bills — for
the first time in the 109th Congress, it twice passed the legislation
in the 108th only to see it die at the end in a squabble over
unrelated legislation.
Included in FECA is the camcorder legislation, the Family Movie Act
and legislation designed to make it easier for law-enforcement
officials to combat the growing problem of music and movies being
distributed on file-sharing networks and circulating on the Internet
before they are released. FECA also contains a measure to reauthorize
an existing program for the preservation of historically and
culturally significant films.
“This important, bipartisan legislation will crack down on what has
become a growth industry in this era of rapid technological
development: the theft and distribution of copyrighted material. I
appreciate my colleagues moving this bill so quickly and urge our
friends in the House to do the same,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Sens. Cornyn and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were the key boosters of the legislation in the
Senate.
While supporters of the bill hailed its passage, approval in the House
could be more problematic even though the House approved different
versions of the bill, according to industry sources. The House failed
to approve the bill last year because of a dispute between Sen. John
McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., and House Commerce
Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, over boxing-reform
legislation. Industry officials hope the hangover from that fight and
some resentment of the industry will not bring the current bill to a
similar fate.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, a primary author of the legislation and
chairman of the House’s copyright subcommittee, has expressed hope the
bill could move quickly there, too.
“There is no word on that yet,” said MGM chairman and CEO Alex
Yemenidjian, who has aggressively lobbied for the bill. “It’s long
overdue. I hope the House can pass it quickly so we can start
prosecuting these criminals.”
;u=/nm/20050203/en_nm/film_piracy_to_1

A Death in Georgia
Intelligence Brief
Stratfor.com
February 3, 2005
By Marla Dial
The prime minister of Georgia, Zurab Zhvania, was found dead early
Feb. 3 in a friend’s apartment — the victim of an apparent gas
leak. Zhvania’s death, which will be investigated by the FBI as well
as local authorities, raises political concerns both in and around
Georgia.
The former Soviet republic, a key land bridge between the Caspian and
Black seas, is an important pawn in the rapidly accelerating Great
Game still being waged by Russia and the United States. A Georgia
where Russian influence holds sway allows Moscow to project power into
the Middle East, whereas a pro-U.S. regime means Tbilisi can cut
Russia off from any potential allies to the south. Iran and Turkey
also seek to influence opinion in Georgia’s power circles.
What, if anything, this political backdrop has to do with the death of
Zhvania remains to be seen. Security forces found the prime minister’s
body in the home of Raul Yusupov, the deputy governor of the
Kvemo-Kartli region. Yusupov also died; both men apparently having
suffocated on fumes from a small heater that was in use, though foul
play has not been ruled out.
In this case, disguising a murder as an accident — by sabotaging a
space heater so that it would emit carbon monoxide, for instance —
would not have been difficult, and sources in Georgia say many actors,
from hard-line nationalists to organized crime groups, might have had
reason to want Zhvania dead.
The deaths appear to have unsettled Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili, a passionate nationalist who has consistently defied and
annoyed Moscow since taking office. Saakashvili, who temporarily
assumed the prime ministership for himself, relied heavily upon the
advice of the more sober-minded and tactical Zhvania. According to a
source in the Georgian Interior Ministry, Saakashvili has requested
personal protection from the United States in the wake of Zhvania’s
death — highlighting concerns that the prime minister’s demise could
have been more than accidental.
Even if Zhvania’s death proves to be nothing more sinister, the
consequences could be great. The last powerful Georgian leader to die
was Zviad Gamsakhurdia, in 1993. His death left the state in political
limbo until Eduard Shevardnadze took power — and in the process of
solidifying control, waged two wars against separatist provinces.
With separatist movements (backed by Russia) still lingering in the
provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and given the number of other
players — both domestic and foreign — who take an interest in
Georgia, any perception of instability in Tbilisi could be enough to
prompt any one of them to make a move.