Company News: ITunes plans more free offerings
Apple Inc. is expanding the free educational content available on its online iTunes Store beyond lectures and videos from universities.
Materials ranging from recordings of Supreme Court arguments and public radio broadcasts on the civil rights movement to video interviews with sculptor Richard Serra are among the offerings under a new category called “Beyond Campus.”
The section can be found within iTunes U, a free service which Apple has offered to universities since 2006 to distribute their course lectures or other digital content through the iTunes Store. The schools decide whether they want to open the free materials to the public or limit access to students and alumni.
A bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. to refund up to $650,000 in application fees and other mortgage costs it collected from more than 1,000 customers who never got their loans because of the company’s collapse into bankruptcy.
Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington signed off Wednesday on an order allowing American Home to return the funds, and escape pressure from state consumer-protection officials.
Once one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders, American Home filed for Chapter 11 protection Aug. 6. Because of the bankruptcy filing, the company needed court permission to make the refunds “to all those presently known to have claims for the advanced fees and costs.”
Two shareholder advisory firms came out Thursday on opposite sides of whether Applebee’s International Inc. investors should approve the restaurant chain’s proposed sale to IHOP Corp.
Proxy Governance Inc. was against the sale, while Glass Lewis & Co. LLP was for it.
IHOP has said it plans to sell a majority of the Applebee’s company-owned stores to franchisees as well as real estate associated with those locations to pay for the transaction.
In securities filings, Applebee’s said its board of directors considered similar efforts as part of a stand-alone plan but ultimately voted 9-5 to sell to IHOP.
The deal been criticized by some Applebee’s shareholders who say that in a cash-only deal, they’ll see no benefit if IHOP’s strategy pays off, an argument mirrored by the five directors who voted against the sale.
IHOP shares closed up 14 cents at $62.57 Thursday.