Key part of AMD suit against Intel dismissed

A federal judge in San Jose, Calif., dismissed a major portion of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s antitrust lawsuit against archrival Intel Corp., ruling that AMD cannot sue in the U.S. for Intel’s alleged monopolistic tactics overseas.

The judge also set a trial date of April 27, 2009 for AMD to argue that Intel forced major customers into exclusive deals and offered secret rebates to undercut AMD in the market for microprocessors that act as the brains of computers.

U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. set the 2009 trial date Wednesday, a day after stripping a key component from AMD’s lawsuit, which alleges anticompetitive practices in several countries including Britain, Germany and Japan.

“Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday that August A. Busch IV will succeed Patrick Stokes as president and chief executive officer, a move that puts a member of the Busch family back in charge of the nation’s largest brewer.

The board of directors of Anheuser-Busch Cos. elected Busch, 42, to the position effective Dec. 1. He is currently president of the flagship U.S. brewery unit of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers.

Stokes, 64, had led Anheuser-Busch since July 2002. He was named chairman of the board, also effective Dec. 1, succeeding August Busch III. The company said Stokes and Busch III will both retire from executive functions at that time, though Busch III will also continue to serve on the board.

“The Children’s Internet Inc., a company that promises to protect children from inappropriate Internet content, bilked more than $5 million from investors and used their money to pay gambling debts, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition to charging the Pleasanton, Calif., company, the SEC sued its 39-year-old chief executive, Sholeh Hamedani, and her father, Nasser Hamedani, 68, both of Danville, Calif.

“Nordic consumer regulators and Apple Computer Inc. moved closer to solving a dispute over iTunes music downloads in their first face-to-face meeting this week, the leader of the Nordic effort said Wednesday.

Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman Bjoern Erik Thon said the goal of Monday’s meeting with Apple representatives from the United States, Britain and Belgium was to discuss ways to resolve the dispute other than legal action.