Recording industry sues alleged sharers

LOS ANGELES - The recording industry sued 532 people Tuesday, including scores of individuals using computer networks at 21 universities, claiming they were illegally sharing digital music files over the Internet.

This latest wave of copyright lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of recording companies marks the first time the trade group has targeted computer users swapping music files over university networks.

The RIAA filed the "John Doe" complaints against 89 individuals using networks at universities in states including California, New York, Indiana and Maryland.

GM outsources more white-collar work

DETROIT - As part of sweeping cost-cutting efforts, General Motors Corp.'s manufacturing arm plans dramatically increased spending on white-collar work in Canada and overseas, the company said Tuesday.

The latest spending plan, outlined in an internal company report, represents less than 1 percent of GM's global vehicle operations budget, said company spokesman Dan Flores.

"In 2003, we began offshoring activities moving $3.5 (million) of work to lower-cost locations," the report said, "and we are planning to increase that to $48 (million) in 2004."

Tyco jurors focus on 'criminal intent'

NEW YORK - Jurors in the trial of two Tyco International executives accused of looting the company of $600 million focused on the concept of "criminal intent" Tuesday for the second time during their four days of deliberations.

In making the request to have the term explained again, the panel asked state Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus to "go slowly."

The judge told the jurors: "A defendant is not guilty of larceny if he believes he had the authority to take the property."

Late credit card payments hit record

WASHINGTON - The percentage of credit-card payments that were past due shot up to a new record in the final quarter of last year, but delinquency rates for other types of consumer loans dropped, painting a mixed picture of how Americans are handling their debt.

The seasonally adjusted percentage of credit-card accounts 30 or more days past due rose to 4.43 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, the American Bankers Association reported in a quarterly survey released Tuesday. That surpassed the previous all-time quarterly high of 4.09 percent set in the third quarter of last year.

Production costs surge for top Hollywood films

LAS VEGAS - The cost of big Hollywood movies soared in 2003, with the top seven studios spending an average of $102.8 million to make and market their films, up 15 percent from the previous year, an industry leader said Tuesday.

Studios spent an average of $63.8 million on production budgets for their 198 releases in 2003, an 8.6 percent rise, said Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood's top trade group.

Average marketing budgets for those movies jumped to $39 million, up 28 percent, Valenti said at ShoWest, a convention of theater owners.

Enquirer wire reports