INTERNET

NBC TO LAUNCH NEW WEB TV CHANNELS NBC Universal said yesterday it is introducing new Web TV channels this fall becoming the latest American television broadcaster to expand its presence on the Internet amid growth in online advertising.

As consumers spend more time on the Web and advertisers follow, television broadcasters don’t want to be left behind, especially as the effectiveness of traditional 30-second TV spots are questioned in the era of digital video recorders.

In its response to this trend, NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric, is launching DOTCOMEDY.com, which will feature videos from “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show,” and “The Office.” It will also have original content such as blogs and podcasts.

– Dow Jones Newswires

PATENTS

SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH EBAY The Supreme Court, siding with eBay and its allies in the technology industry, said companies found to have infringed patents shouldn’t always be ordered to change their products to avoid future violations.

The high court yesterday unanimously set aside a ruling that would have barred eBay, the world’s largest Internet auctioneer, from using patented technology owned by MercExchange, a Virginia company. The justices said a federal trial judge should have discretion whether to issue such an order.

The ruling is a victory for technology companies that backed eBay, including Microsoft and Intel, and a setback for Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and other drugmakers, which said any lessening of that threat would reduce the value of their inventions.

– Bloomberg News

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

BAUSCH & LOMB PERMANENTLY WITHDRAWS LENS CLEANER Bausch & Lomb has permanently withdrawn a new-formula contact-lens cleaner viewed as the “potential root cause” of a far-flung outbreak of fungal eye infections known to cause blindness. Its stock, hit hard over the last month, rose nearly 13%.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

LAY, SKILLING USED ‘HOCUS POCUS,’ PROSECUTORS SAY The former executives of Enron, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, used “hocus pocus” and “trickery” to hide the real financial condition of the company, a federal prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler told jurors yesterday.

– Bloomberg News

IN BRIEF

Morgan Stanley is searching aggressively for mortgage origination and mortgage servicing acquisitions … Honda Motor will build a new plant in North America, the Wall Street Journal reports … D.E. Shaw & Co., the world’s biggest hedge-fund firm, sold its stake in Google as the stock fell 6% during the first quarter, according to a government filing.

– Dow Jones Newswires and Bloomberg News