FCC relaxes network rules

        The government gave major TV networks permission Thursday to combine with upstarts WB or UPN, the first in what is expected to be a series of actions to ease media consolidation. Such decisions could ultimately affect the breadth of information Americans read, watch or hear.

        More immediately, the decision by the Federal Communications Commission means that Viacom Inc., which merged with CBS last year, won't have to sell UPN.

        The FCC voted 3-1 to modify its restriction against one company owning two networks.
       

Apple rises on report

        Apple Computer Inc. shares rose after the maker of the iMac computer said fiscal second-quarter profit fell less than expected because it won sales of new, more-powerful machines.

        Apple gained $2.93 to $25.72. The stock has risen 68 percent this year.

        Sales of the company's titanium laptops and new PowerMacs boosted profit above expectations, Apple said.
       

Mattel posts $34M loss

        Mattel Inc. posted a first quarter loss of $34 million Thursday, citing flat sales of its flagship Barbie brand in the United States. The results met Wall Street expectations.

        Excluding one-time charges, the first quarter 2001 loss was $12.1 million, or 3 cents a share, matching the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.
       

Swindler gets 15 years

        The son of a Wisconsin plumber who swindled would-be investors by saying he was the sole heir to a historic Italian trust was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison by a judge who called his scheme “one of the biggest and most outrageous frauds” he'd ever seen.

        Luigi Alexander, 55, declined to address the court in White Plains, N.Y., before sentencing.

        Mr. Alexander was arrested last year in a sting operation after he accepted a $1.8 million check from an investigator.

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