Short Reports

Scour Inc. has shut down its controversial Scour Exchange file transfer service in a step the company hopes will end the money-draining lawsuit against it and smooth the way for a sale of its remaining assets. Scour Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last month and asked the court for permission to end its peer-to-peer service, which allowed individual computer users to swap music and video files.

Groups of Amazon.com workers across the country are trying to unionize, hoping the threat of disruptions during the holidays will persuade the Internet retail giant to grant their demands for a contract. The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America, is trying to recruit 400 customer-service representatives in the Seattle area, while the United Food and Commercial Workers and a small nonprofit called the Prewitt Organizing Fund are targeting employees at Amazon’s eight distribution warehouses.

Housing construction moderated last month as builders broke ground on more apartments than single-family homes, the latest evidence that the economy is slowing to a more sustainable pace.

Agilent Technologies Inc., the testing and measurement equipment company spun off from Hewlett-Packard Co., is selling its medical supply group to Royal Philips Electronics for $1.7 billion.

McDonald’s Corp. is getting into the hotel business with a plan to open two Golden Arch Hotels - dubbed “McHotels” by one spokeswoman - next year in Switzerland.

Omaha Steaks, the mail order and food service company, will use irradiation on its ground beef products to guard against harmful bacteria such as E. coli, the company said Friday.